Saint
Paisius of Hilendar or
Paisiy Hilendarski (1722–1773) was a
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
n clergyman and a key
Bulgarian National RevivalThe Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
figure. He is most famous for being the author of
Istoriya SlavyanobolgarskayaIstoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya is a book by Bulgarian scholar and clergyman Saint Paisius of Hilendar...
, the second modern Bulgarian history after the work of Petar Bogdan Bakshev from 1667, “History of Bulgaria”. Most Bulgarians think of him as the forefather of the
Bulgarian National RevivalThe Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
.
Paisius was born in the
SamokovSamokov is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a kettle between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia...
eparchy of the time, probably in the town of
BanskoBansko is a town and ski resort in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of Pirin at an altitude of 925 m above sea level. It is considered to be the most developed Ski and Winter Resort in Eastern Europe....
,
MacedoniaMacedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but the region is nowadays held to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania and Serbia...
.
Saint
Paisius of Hilendar or
Paisiy Hilendarski (1722–1773) was a
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
n clergyman and a key
Bulgarian National RevivalThe Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
figure. He is most famous for being the author of
Istoriya SlavyanobolgarskayaIstoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya is a book by Bulgarian scholar and clergyman Saint Paisius of Hilendar...
, the second modern Bulgarian history after the work of Petar Bogdan Bakshev from 1667, “History of Bulgaria”. Most Bulgarians think of him as the forefather of the
Bulgarian National RevivalThe Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
.
Paisius was born in the
SamokovSamokov is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a kettle between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia...
eparchy of the time, probably in the town of
BanskoBansko is a town and ski resort in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of Pirin at an altitude of 925 m above sea level. It is considered to be the most developed Ski and Winter Resort in Eastern Europe....
,
MacedoniaMacedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but the region is nowadays held to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania and Serbia...
. He established himself in the
HilandarHilandar is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos in Greece. It was founded in 1198 by the Serbian Saint Sava and his father, Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja of Raška...
monastery on
Mount AthosMount Athos is a mountain on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Agion Oros , or in English, "Holy Mountain". In Classical times, the peninsula was called Aktí...
in 1745, where he was later a
hieromonkHieromonk Hieromonk Hieromonk (Greek: Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; Slavonic: Ieromonakh, , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a *priest in Eastern Orthodox Christianity....
and deputy-abbot. Collecting materials for two years through hard work and even visiting the lands of the
GermansThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
, he finished his
Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya in 1762 in the
Zograf MonasteryThe Saint George the Zograf or Zograf Monastery is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos in Greece...
. The book was the first attempt to write a complete history of Bulgaria and attempted to awake and strengthen Bulgarian national consciousnesses.
The most famous part of the whole book is the very first sentence:
"Why are you ashamed to call yourself Bulgarian?"
This more or less signifies the purpose of the author who speaks about the danger of Bulgarians falling victim to the
hellenizationHellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon...
policies of the mainly Greek clergy. The book's first manual copy was done by Sophronius of Vratsa in 1765. Structurally, Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya consists of two introductions, several chapters that discuss various historic events, a chapter about the "Slavic teachers", the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, a chapter about the Bulgarian saints, and an epilogue. As Paisius toured Bulgaria as a mendicant friar, he brought his work, which was copied and spread among the
BulgariansThe Bulgarians are a South Slavic people, generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. Emigration has resulted in Bulgarian minorities or immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-Ethnogenesis:...
. He is thought to have died on the way to Mount Athos near Ampelino (modern-day
AsenovgradAsenovgrad is a town in central southern Bulgaria.Asenovgrad was originally founded by the Thracians as Stenimahos around 300-400 BC. In 72 BC the city was captured by the troops of the Roman Empire as part of the Roman expansion towards the Black Sea. After a long period of peace, the town was...
).
Honour
Paisiy PeakPaisiy Peak rises to approximately 550m in the Delchev Ridge, Tangra Mountains, eastern Livingston Island, Antarcticasurmounting Sopot Ice Piedmont to the N and E.The peak is named after St. Paisiy Hilendarski Paisiy Peak (Vrah Paisiy \'vr&h pa-'i-siy\) rises to approximately 550m in the Delchev...
on Livingston Island in the
South Shetland IslandsThe South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military...
,
Antarctica| style="border-top:solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align:top;" | 14,000,000 km
2 280,000 km
2 13,720,000 km
2 |-! style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top;...
is named after Paisiy of Hilendar.
The saint is portrayed on the
obverseThe term, obverse, and its opposite, reverse, describe the two sides of units of currency and many other kinds of two-sided objects - most often in reference to coins, but also to paper currency, flags , medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics...
of the Bulgarian 2
levsThe lev is the currency of Bulgaria. It is divided in 100 stotinki . In archaic Bulgarian the word "lev" meant "lion".Bulgaria seeks to adopt the Euro, the tentative deadline is 2012, set by Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski....
banknote, issued in 1999 and 2005.