Krisi Johnson
Dr. Armstrong
PR Writing II
Church of St. George
When we talk of traveling to Europe, there is a romanticism that seems to be presumably attached. Where as if I was to tell you I was going to Cancun or South Padre to taste aged wines and century old delicacies such as fermented canary eggs or curdled blood pudding, and to par ooze through local markets and first century churches you would surly gawk and think me insane. One square mile of any European metropolis can offer a dose of culture and class that the spring break vacation destinations can not even dream of representing.
Sofia, Bulgaria is an archetypal example of this classic Europe. Like many other cities, one of its most fascinating features is the synagogue, mosques and towering churches of stone, oak, marble and gold. However, the most precious house of worship in the city is also the oldest and most poorly built. Known as the Church of St. George, “it was built [in the fourth century] when Sofia was under the name of Serdica. It was then destroyed by the Huns, rebuilt and turned into a mosque by the Ottomans” Says, a writer for Sofiatravel.uk. Although most European architecture is admired for its splendor and structural integrity, St. Georges “frescos were made by amateurs, [they] had been hidden by plaster since the sixteenth century.”
The Rotunda is dripping with religious history and ancient relics. “According to the historians and archeologists [the] frescoes date to the middle of 10th century and portray 22 prophets.” One cannot avoid being fascinated by the age of the structure; or the fact that as the iron curtain fell so did the lack of technology and modernization. As the city has grown with its freshly accepted freedom, St. George has remained right in the center, reminding its people of their faith and heritage. “It is located behind the presidency” as though a symbol of the past to flank its bright independent future. One may run right into its outer ruins if they were to stroll through the sleek mall that wraps itself around the Rotunda, an example of ageless symmetry.
There is another side to the Church of St. George, it represents the faith that its country has abandoned with their modern cafés and sky rise corporations. The orthodox churches are tourist attractions and souvenir shops for the worship regulars and visitors who just haven’t managed to find St. Peter or St. Mary to add to their holy prayer card collection. True genuine faith was washed out with hate and during the communist reign and is only beginning to bud again in a few tender hearts of the Bulgarian people.
Their lives are very similar to the rest of metropolitan Europe, and although they are not a third world country, their hearts are just as starved as the children’s stomachs of Mozambique and Zimbabwe. St. George is a symbol as it crumbles from a poor foundation and continues to erode. As the Rotunda falls to its knees, it is waiting for its country to do the same.
In many ways, Europeans class is just as corrupted as the beaches of Ft. Lauderdale, all over the world there are bleeding hearts and starving souls.
