Today I will tell you more about the palace garden. I will take you to see a beautiful part of the garden, we will also see a holy spring.
The first stop will be at the Temple of water.

Here in the daytime, in the little spots with water, you can see in the water reflects the sky. You can see all the stars and the moon reflected in the water in the night.

This kind of water temple was common also in ancient times. They were sanctuaries of nymphs, the deities of the spring healing water. Because of this, the temples were also called Nympheu.
Queen Maria chose this fountain to recreate the famous Vitezda ( Home of Charity) in Jerusalem.
The fountain was built with the help of Asan Ugli, the son of Holed aga. Above the fountain, there is an inscription ” Drink in the health of the limpid water of this new fountain.”
The famous Vitezda, according to the Bible, God’s angel used to come down and humble the water which healed the ill people.
.From the Temple to the little chapel that is nearby used to be a garden with beautiful white flowers, white lilies, the favorite flowers of Queen Maria. Unfortunately, you can’t enter the chapel, at least when I was it wasn’t open. In this chapel, the heart of Queen Maria stood closed in a small coffin from 1938, when the Queen died, until 1940 when Balcic returned to Bulgaria.

In 1932, near the chapel, a fountain was built so the worshipers could wash their hands before entering the Temple. On the fountain wall, there is a relief of the Virgin Mary.
This ritual was taken by Christians, suggesting keeping the soul clean and reminding of Christ washing the Apostles’ feet as a symbol of humbleness.

Unfortunately, you can’t drink water from here, but you can have some water from the Holy Spring, which is our next stop.

The Holy Spring

The Holy Spring

The holy spring was discovered before the construction of the palace. The belief was that the spring water was healing, cleansing the evil thoughts. Believers used to throw coins in the water for health. The spring is inside this small building.

Here in the Balkans, the holy springs are associated with Saint Marina, who succeeded the cult of Artemis. The sanctuaries of Artemis Bendida were often situated near a spring or a lake, symbolizing fertility.

There is also a legend talking about a blind girl who dreamed of the place where the water was issued from. After she came to the place where the spring was, she washed her face with the spring water, and her sight recovered. This happens on Saint Marina day.

Marina became a saint after being tortured to renounce her faith in God. Marina was tortured and maltreated, but she didn’t give up on her faith. Her body was full of wounds. Wounds that were burned with fire. While she was in pain, she started to pray to God to pass through the water of baptism as she passed through the fire in His name.

Hearing her prayers, her tortures decided to drown her. They brought a large barrel full of water and threw Saint Marina into it. At that moment, the earth shook, the chains fell from the hands of Saint Marina, above her head shined a great light, a dove with a golden wreath in its beak flew away. Saint Marina received her baptism, and the water cured her wounds.

In many places in Bulgaria, where is a holy spring, the spring is dedicated to Saint Marina.

In the power of Saint Marina, believe the Christians and the Muslims.

Now, after I told you a bit about the ancient but not only believes, let’s just take a walk in the Gethsemane garden and enjoy the view.

Later you can also enjoy how the palace looks in the night when it is full of light, as you can see here. But before the night comes, you can also enjoy the beach and the view from it. I hope you will enjoy it!