Restoration of “Virgin Mary - Mother of Holy Hope” Sanctuary

Robert Yozov is organizing this fundraiser.

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The sanctuary of Virgin Mary – Mother of Holy Hope was built in 1929 and is located in the eastern part of the village of Bardarski geran, Bulgaria.

Visit the church in 3D: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=vm165Dm26iB

The village is inhabited by Banat Bulgarian Catholics who returned to their motherland in 1887 after the Ottoman slavery was ended. They were followed by German families – Schwabs, with whom they lived together in the district of Banat (part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at that time). The two communities were cooperating well – the Bulgarians were very good at farming and the Germans were excelling in crafting. That is why they decided to keep this symbiosis and moved out together to Bulgaria creating a peculiar spiritual, architectural, cultural and agricultural Catholic center by building a German-Bulgarian school and two churches to serve the two communities.

The end of this fairytale was set during World War II when Adolf Hitler issued an order stating that all Germans based in Eastern Europe must move back to Germany. Among these over 2200 people there were 164 who lived in Bardarski geran and were made to leave their lives and homes behind.

With the establishment of communism in Bulgaria in 1946 all religious activities were slowly quenched, which resulted in the closure of the German-Bulgarian school and the church, both left in ruins, depravity, disbelief and oblivion for more than 70 years.

In 2021 Virgin Mary - Mother of Holy Hope Foundation was established.

Our aim is to save that sacred and special piece of culture that represents a period of enlightenment, revival and architectural mastery.

Together with volunteers and donors we managed to scan and make a project for the reconstruction of the church but we need massive support to be able to complete our mission.

So far with donations we have managed to make a project for the restoration and complete a very important part of it - basic reconstruction of the roof.