The X th Cent. Church in Drustar: Study of Wall Paintings by Spectroscopic Methods

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Dept. of Physics, Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki, GREECE. Dept. of Archeology, Univ. of Sofia, 3Semiconductor Physics & Technology Inst., Sofia, BULGARIA.

ABSTRACT The technique and painting used in the earlier wall paintings from the characteristic Christian church in Drustar - close to the river Danube - in Bulgaria, are studied. The fragments of wall paintings used in this study are examined mainly by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDS). It is concluded that the technique used was fresco and that the pigments used are common to those used in the Byzantine era. INTRODUCTION Bulgaria lies in the north-eastern part of the Balkan peninsula. The north is bounded by the Danube River, the south by Turkey and Greece, the east by the Black Sea and the west by Yugoslavia. Several Greek colonies were established along the shores of the Black Sea as early as the VIIth to VIth centuries B.C. They imported many Hellenistic elements, and later Roman centers exercised an immense economic and cultural influence. Finally, the Slavs and the ProtoBulgarians actively joined in the cultural circle of the Mediterranean from their origins in the Peninsula, by means of their close contact with the ancient cultural heritage of the Balkans and their constant and many-sided association with Byzantium. Generally, the entire historical life of official Bulgaria -from the foundation of the state until her fall under Ottoman domination- was imbued with close relations between the country and Byzantium. This closeness is explained not only by geographical nearness, but also by identical social, economic, political and cultural relations in both countries. The Byzantine Church had made it a rule imposed on the national churches it founded that the entire inside walls of every place of worship were covered with pictures of Christ, the Saints and other Christian images [1]. Churches in Bulgaria, that were built or rebuilt, from the second half of the IXth to the beginning of the Xth century were decorated with painted murals. The Archbishopic Church in Drustar The Archbishopic Church in Drustar (Figure 1) is a basilica of which the design is connected with the church traditions of the Balkans in the VIth century. These traditions have been traced down also in the representative churches in the old capitals of Pliska and Preslav from the time of the adoption of Christianity. The site on which the church and the building compound around it were built, was carefully chosen. The church, was finished in the IX century. Its dimensions are 25.40 X 14.70 meters. The plan has a one-part narthex with two entrances. As early as the late Xth century the church was reconstructed, most probably into a dome. In the presbyterium, a three-seat synthrone was built. A flooring of stone blocks, limestone and marble paving stones, were renovated several times, as the church was used untill mid-XIIIth century. The church bears clear traces of a destr