Saint Nicolas Chapel

Отлично — имам изключително богата и точна информация от официалния сайт на Музеен център Созопол. Ето текстовете: English: The Sozopol Monastery of St Nicholas the Wonderworker is a medieval monastic complex located at the entrance of the Old Town of Sozopol, between the southern gate of the ancient fortifications and the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, in Sozopol Municipality, Burgas Region. The complex was discovered by chance in early October 2011 during archaeological excavations near the southern fortress wall, and the full archaeological study of the site was carried out between 2008 and 2013. The site is multilayered and spans a remarkable period from the 7th century BC to the 17th century AD, encompassing structures from ancient Apollonia, late Antiquity, and the medieval period. In the western part of the complex stands the late antique fortress wall of Sozopol (4th–6th century AD), in front of which a second wall (6th–14th century AD) was added at the end of the 6th century, encircling the entire peninsula. The southern entrance of the fortress, flanked by two U-shaped towers (bastions), and the levels of three paved streets in front of it are preserved. At the beginning of the 7th century AD a single-nave church was built in front of the gate — in the altar of which a ceramic vessel was found still preserving the relics of a saint, most probably a relic of St Nicholas, which effectively gave the monastery its name. The monastery church, of the three-nave basilica type, was subsequently raised over this earlier single-nave early Christian temple from the 5th–6th century, and was rebuilt at the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th century. The monastery continued to function until the 17th century. Around the church complex a large necropolis developed, spanning the early Christian period through to the late medieval age. Three imperial seals were discovered at the site — of Emperor Basil II Bulgaroktonos, of Empress Theodora, and a third — suggesting that this church was under the direct patronage of the Byzantine emperors. The complex is associated with the Bulgarian ruler Presiyan II and is thought to be connected with the history of the First Bulgarian Empire. One of the most extraordinary finds was uncovered in 2012 in the central part of the church: a reliquary containing myrrh attributed to St Nicholas of Myra — a small clay pot with a lid, found in a small brick niche, characteristic of the early Christian period, and containing an emulsion and powder identified as myrrh from the saint. This discovery definitively confirmed the dedication of the church to St Nicholas the Wonderworker and is among the most significant religious finds made in Sozopol in recent decades.