Kaloyan

Who is Kaloyan?

Kaloyan was a 13th-century Bulgarian noble, sebastocrator of Sredets and the surrounding region during the Asen dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

Kaloyan may have been the grandson of Tsar Ivan Asen I from his younger son sebastocrator Alexander, as he is mentioned as a cousin of Tsar Constantine Tih; however, his relation to the royal family may have been merely titular. Kaloyan was an opponent of Tsar Michael Asen I's pro-Byzantine policy and took part in the plot against him.

Sebastocrator Kaloyan is mainly known as the main donor of the Boyana Church, a medieval Eastern Orthodox church in Boyana, Sofia. An inscription from 1259 in the church describes Kaloyan's role in its construction; he is also referred to as a grandson of the Serbian king Saint Stephen. The church also features donor portraits of Kaloyan and his wife Desislava.

It has been theorized that Kaloyan reconstructed Roman Emperor Constantine I's palace in Sofia and used it as his city residence. Two other small churches in Sofia, St Petka the Old and St Nicholas, have also been attributed to his donorship.