Location: Bankya, Bulgaria
Season: May 24, 2025 to June 7, 2025
Session Dates: 24 May - 7 June, 2025
Application Deadline: April 24, 2025
Deadline Type: Rolling
Website: https://www.bhfieldschool.org/program/medieval-fresco-photo-expedition
Discount for AIA members: 5% discount off the regular admission fee
Program Type:
Field School
RPA Certified:
No
Affiliation:
Balkan Heritage Foundation (BHF); New Bulgarian University, Bulgaria and Center for Field Sciences, USA
Project Director:
Ivan Vasilev, president of the Balkan Heritage Foundation and archaeologist;
Dr. Vassil Tenekedjiev, archaeologist, Varna Regional Museum of History;
Dr. Angel Angelov, archaeologist, National Ethnographic Institute and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences;
Miroslav Marinov, professional photographer, Sofia Photography School
Project Description:
The “Fresco-Hunting” Photo Research Expedition to Medieval Balkan Churches provides a unique opportunity for students and volunteers to take part in an expedition for the documentation of abandoned medieval churches/chapels and their frescos in western Bulgaria, and to visit many other Christian Orthodox churches and monasteries, museums and archaeological sites in Sofia, western Bulgaria. The number of these monuments has sadly been permanently decreasing due to the lack of effort to preserve and protect them from weather damage and vandalism. During the last fourteen years, specialists from Bulgaria, North Macedonia, USA, Canada and Japan as well as students from all over the world participating in the “Fresco-Hunting” Photo Expedition have expanded and upgraded the existing database of drawn and photographic records of fifteen churches and chapels in western Bulgaria. We aim to publish a complete corpus of these medieval frescos and to develop further projects to support and record the remaining endangered sites through conservation, restoration, development and/or improvement of each site’s management, and fund-raising. Our work so far has been successful in raising public awareness. And, some of the sites we documented have been protected (Balsha, Kalotina, Zimevitsa). In 2017, the Balkan Heritage Foundation issued the first e-book dedicated to one of the churches documented by the Expedition, the 17th century church St. Thedore Tyro in Zimevitsa. The work on a publication of two more churches (Balsha and Golesh) is now in progress. Unfortunately, many more churches remain in desperate condition, awaiting either better times or continued deterioration.
In 2025, the project envisions supplementing the database created during the previous seasons by documenting the architecture and frescos (and their condition) of three to six medieval Christian Orthodox chapels or small churches in western Bulgarian borderlands and collecting new data on their history, artifacts and environment.
The Field School is comprised of:
Period(s) of Occupation: Late Medieval Period (13th to 17th century): Late Byzantine, Post-Byzantine, Early Ottoman.
Notes:
The "Fresco-Hunting" Photo Research Expedition to Medieval Balkan Churches offers a unique opportunity for students and volunteers to document abandoned medieval churches and chapels, along with their frescoes, in western Bulgaria and eastern Serbia. Participants will also visit various monasteries, museums, and archaeological sites in Bulgaria and Serbia, including the capital city, Sofia. The expedition and the field school are coordinated by the Balkan Heritage Foundation (BHF).
Participants will receive training in survey management, digital photography, architectural surveys, iconographic programs, technical drawing, and the use of a dumpy level. They will also learn to develop archives of digital images and receive a theoretical introduction to Byzantine art, architecture, and religious iconography, as well as photographic techniques for documenting cultural heritage, including photogrammetry and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI).
Project Size: 1-24 participants
Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: Full session (Two weeks)
Minimum Age: 18
Experience Required: All candidates should have some familiarity with the basic principles of photography and DSLR cameras.
Room and Board Arrangements:
Accommodation: Participants will stay at Hotel Zheravna in Bankya, located in the Sofia Metropolitan area, and Hotel Happy in Dimitrovgrad, Serbia. Rooms will accommodate two to three beds and include bathrooms with showers, WC, TV, and Wi-Fi. Upon arrival, taxi transfers from Sofia Airport to Bankya are available for an additional fee of approximately 25 EUR. All participants will receive a complimentary drop-off transfer to Sofia Airport on the last day of the project.
Meals: Three meals per day are included in the reimbursement payment. Meals typically take place in the hotel restaurant, except for brown-bag lunches provided when participants are on-site or during excursions. Requests for vegetarian and vegan options are accommodated. Participants are responsible for covering the cost of any additional days at the project hotels, single room accommodation, as well as any meals, beverages, services, or products outside of the project package. Single rooms are available upon request for the duration of the field school for an additional cost of 500 EUR.
Academic Credit:
New Bulgarian University grants 6 ECTS credits to students for attending this field school. Transcripts of Records (ToR) are available upon request for an additional tuition fee.
Participants who are not interested in academic credits don't need to pay the NBU tuition fee.
Balkan Heritage Foundation
7 Tulovo St., Floor 4, Apt. 6
Sofia
1504
Bulgaria
Phone: +359 988 250 901; +359 898 681 366 (both available on WhatsApp)
