The church "St. St. Constantine and Helena ”Plovdiv

The church "St. St. Constantine and Helena ”Plovdiv - The Church of St. St. Constantine and Helena is one of the ancient Christian churches in Plovdiv. There was a Christian sanctuary at this place in the beginning of the IV century. It is located in the center of the ancient part of the city, on the fortress wall of the Acropolis. The church is part of the Architectural Complex "Old Plovdiv", which includes the Dzhumaya Mosque from the XIV-XV centuries, the Cathedral Church of the Assumption, the Metropolitan Church of St. Marina and the Ancient Theater. In the immediate vicinity of the temple is the so-called "Hissar Gate", which in Roman times was the eastern gate of the ancient city, the road to the Far East.

In 304, the martyrs Severian and Memnos were beheaded at the site of the church today because of their Christian faith. Before them, the 38 Plovdiv martyrs also suffered because of their faith. According to archaeologists and historians, the temple near Hissar Gate was built about thirty years after the martyrdom of Saints Severian and Memnos and their 38 comrades and was named in their honor. When the name of Emperor Constantine began to be written in the parchment sheets as the name of a saint, the inhabitants of the city decided to dedicate the existing temple to him and his mother Elena, and so the temple remained for centuries with the name "St. St. Constantine and Helena". Today the church is a valuable religious, historical and cultural monument in the city on the hills. That is why it is the most visited by Bulgarian and foreign tourists Orthodox church in Plovdiv.