THE SUBMERGED CHURCH OF ST.NIKOLA IN MAVROVO

Church "St. Nikola"- Mavrovo is the former main village church of the village Mavrovo, which today is mainly submerged in the waters of the Mavrovo Lake.

It was built in 1850. In 1953, with the construction of the hydro system "Mavrovo" and Mavrovo Lake, the church was under water. More recently, in periods of drought, the church is located on dry land and it can be visited.
Although it is mainly soaked in the lake waters, the church still has its appearance. The building itself and the bell tower still exist, although the interior is mainly destroyed, and the roof is completely dropped.

The Church was at the top of the list of abandoned churches in the world by the Huffington Post magazine.

The church was built by the Renaissance masters in 1850. It was completed in 1857, and it was built with marble and granite, it had a marble altar, valuable iconostasis and icons made by the great master Dicho Zograf. The villagers of the village Mavrovo have stated that the construction used the highest quality stone and
was performed a special technique.

It was built as a three-nave church with a five-sided apse, tower bell tower and iconostasis.

The throne icons were painted in 1855 by the distinguished master Dicho Zograf. Later, the Debar master Meleti Bozinov worked on the church.

Towards the end of 1952, when the Mavrovo Lake began to form, the icons and other church objects were transferred to the small church opposite the submerged. During the immersion, the wooden iconostasis and icons made by the famous Miyako painter, Dicho Zograf, were forgotten, as well as books and other church objects. However, they were later retrieved and conserved.

The church was submerged by the lake in 1953, but today when the lake is of reduced in capacity (in the summer period), the church is dry and can even be visited.

New church

In the mid-1990s of the 20th century, started the building of the new church "St. Nikola", which was completed in 2006.

Before the new church was built, there was an idea by the Metropolitan Kirill that to completely dismantle and place the old church above the water level, but still, that idea was renounced and instead, the new church was built.
In the past period, there has been an initiative for several times to move the church  or to stay on the same church and serve the purpose. A project for reconstruction and adaptation in a modern cultural center was presented by the company "Teatrix". The project envisions the development of a stone siding around the church in two variants. In the first proposed model, the stone sheath is sculptured by glass piles, which keep the touch of water and open visions to the environment. In the second variant, a stone sheath is provided, which is shaped like a system for moving walls, which, depending on the water level, is regulated by height.