Period: year round Trip duration: 2 hours total
| Prices per person | ||
| 1 person | 2 people | 3 or 4 people |
| 20 € | 15 € | 10 € |
| For more people - price is on request | ||
*Please note that all payments should be in Leva or in Euro only and are given directly to the driver after the trip is completed.
The Red church near Perushtitza ( 20 km from Plovdiv)is one of the rare examples of early christian Byzantine architecture, which has been conserved in a good condition.It is fascinating to see in reality the remains of this religious monument, which north-western parts have been preserved up to 14m height.The church is built in the end of the 4th century, and at that time it supposedly served as a martyrium (a home to the relics of a saint).Later, during the 6th century, the building was turned into a basilica, and to its central part a chapel was added to the South and a baptistery to the North. In the baptistery a piscina (small pool for the baptising ritual) in the form of a rounded cross is still visible.Probably in the 7th century, during the time of the raids by the Kumans and Pechenegs, the building suffered serious damages. In the 11th – 12th century a renovation was done both of the building itself and of the frescoes; a necropolis was build on the Northwest around the church, a portico with colonnade was added from the West. Its steps are still visible nowadays. The whole construction was built with red bricks (plynths), joined together with pink mortar, which is where the church gets its name from. The frescoes, fragments of which can be seen today on the left wall and on the arches of the passages, are left from the restoration in 11-12 century. During the same time the floor and the lower parts of the walls were covered with mosaics made from small marble pieces, probably gray and yellow. The colourful marble covering reached up to 2m height and had been crafted in the same tonality as the frescoes above.
You start 9.00 A.M. After 35 minutes you arrive at Perushtitsa. You walk on foot to the Red Church for about 10 minutes. You explore the area on foot for about 30 minutes . Then you are back in the car and drive back to Plovdiv for 35 minutes.
