A Journey from the Altar to the Narthex: Metropolitan Christophor and the Monastery of Bachkovo
A Journey from the Altar to the Narthex: Metropolitan Christophor and the Monastery of Bachkovo

Summary/Abstract: In late 2019, an altar column and table were entirely uncovered with a Greek inscription on it at the catholicon of the Monastery of Bachkovo while mounting the restored 17th-century ciborium. The first part of the inscription was copied from an authentic source, an antimension or a book/codex, while the second was added containing typical of the period errors revealing the literacy skills of the scribe. The inscription is published here for the first time, but has been known since the first half of the 20th century. The donor’s inscription on the Holy Table in Bachkovo, containing the name of Metropolitan Christophorus, logically raises the question about its connection with the other donor’s inscription, used to date the construction of the Church of the Most Holy Mother of God Petritsonitissa, above the west door to the narthex: were they inscribed by the same hand, were the murals at the naos and those at the narthex painted at the same time?

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