Basilica near Lutivrod village

The early Christian basilica is located between the rock phenomenon "Ritlite" and Lyutibrod, above the railway. Archaeological excavations were carried out at the site in the period from 1967-1972 by G. Dzhingov and S. Mishev. A pagan sanctuary and two church buildings, located 10 m apart, were discovered. One is a small single-nave church (dated to the 4th century), which was destroyed during the expansion of the terrain for the railroad at Lyutibrod station. The other church is a large three-nave basilica, which has undergone significant reconstructions and additional constructions.

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  The great basilica was originally a three-nave church measuring 18.8 x 13.5 m. It was built on the site of a pagan sanctuary. This is the only early Byzantine church with side conches discovered so far in our lands. It finds parallels with the basilicas in Greece - Didona, Klapsi, etc., but is earlier than them. This is also prooved by the mechanical addition of the conches from the north and south without forming a transept. The walls are made of uncoursed rubble masonry and roughly hewn stones bonded with white mortar. This original church was destroyed, and then rebuilt into a three-nave church, and the side conches were removed. The interior space is divided into 3 naves lengthwise by two rows of 8 columns. The first pair of columns on the altar side is slightly set back towards the facades, so that a transept is implied. This impression is increased by the presence of a bema (raised platform) in the area between these set back columns. The apse has retained its three-stepped syntron (stone bench). A narthex is separated from the central nave with three transverse columns at the western end of the nave. Thus, the side naves are longer than the central one, which is a rare practice in churches. The entrance on the western facade was formed by a portico. In addition to it, there was also an entrance on the eastern facade north of the apse. On the northern side of the church, a building was added with a length equal to the nave. It housed a catechumen and a baptistery (baptismal font), which ended in an apse to the east. There was a semicircular pool in the apse. The construction is the same as that of the main building. Bricks were used only for the arching of the openings. The walls are covered with plaster, and there are traces of black, blue and red paint in the plaster. Outside, the building had smooth walls, except for the apse, where there was a cornice. On the other hand, the interior of the temple was richly decorated. 14 Byzantine capitals with a remarkably diverse decoration of plant, geometric and animal motifs (pigeons, sheep, cattle) were discovered. They are more primitively made, but reflect local influences in the motifs and the method of manufacture. Large quantities of columns, bases, fragments of partition slabs, etc. were also discovered. A stone sarcophagus was discovered in the narthex of the basilica, probably belonging to a high clergyman buried here. According to archaeological data, the original basilica with side conches was built in the 5th century as an episcopal temple, and was destroyed at the beginning of the 6th century. It was rebuilt as a three-nave basilica with a baptistery soon after. This second basilica was also destroyed and abandoned at the beginning of the 7th century.