The Submerged Church at Zhrebchev Reservoir: Sacral Site, Center, Scene

Abstract

A number of settlements are evicted and erased along with their public, religious and cultural and historical sites during the construction of many reservoirs. However, some of them are not completely forgotten and often their remains attract an interest from tourists, artists, and media.
The main focus of the paper will be the church of the nowadays nonexistent village Zapalnya “St. John of Rila”, submerged during the building of Zhrebchevo Reservoir in Southern Bulgaria, and its construction as a cultural heritage with typical religious, cultural and natural features. Zapalnya’ church is extremely interesting in terms of its unusual development and reinstatement, which are actually depending on the waters level of the reservoir during seasons changing. Being an almost deleted cult site until recently, due various events, activities, projects (which include feasts, media reports, movies, etc.) and actors (settlers, municipal officials, church representatives, tourists, etc.), today we are witnesses of resumption and revitalization of the church. Its uses at present are divergent – from meeting place of displaced former settlers of the two submerged villages Zapalnya and Zhrebchevo, through a reviving religious center, music videos favorite décor to individual and collective tourist route.