On the Issue of the Construction of Christian Churches in the Dervendji Settlements in the Balkan Range During the Early Centuries of the Ottoman Rule

The Christian churches constructed in the Bulgarian lands during the Ottoman period show direct influence of the Islamic theology and law and the underlying postulates. The construction works depended also on the financial situation of the Church, the ethnic diversity of the population and the economic potential of the settlements. The subject of this study is the relation between the settlements having dervendji status in the Balkan Range in the early centuries of the Ottoman rule and the Christian cult monuments in these settlements. It was found that there were 29 church buildings in 18 out of the 50 dervedji settlements in the Balkan Range in the early centuries of the Ottoman rule. In comparative terms this number exceeds substantially the number of the existing Christian churches situated in the other settlements of the relevant diocese during the same period. The reason for this is that the dervendji settlements were populated only by Christians. In such cases the Hanafi School of Law, which was dominant in the Ottoman Empire, had a somewhat more liberal approach to the construction of Christian churches