Hierarch 13th century

Joachim I Patriarch of Trnovo

d. 18 January 1246

First patriarch of Trnovo and a great ascetic who renewed the Bulgarian Church.

Feast Day

January 18

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Commemorated as

Our Father among the Saints Joachim I, First Patriarch of Trnovo and Bulgaria

Life

Joachim I was a thirteenth-century Bulgarian hierarch who became the first Patriarch of Trnovo (Tarnovo) when the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1235. He is remembered as a great ascetic whose monastic foundations and pastoral leadership accompanied a period of cultural and ecclesiastical renewal in the Second Bulgarian Empire.

In his youth he renounced what his hagiography calls 'the deceit of the world' and devoted himself to the religious life, traveling to Mount Athos, where he spent years in prayer, fasting, and vigil within one of its monasteries and became known for his ascetic discipline. Returning to Bulgaria, he settled with three disciples in the gorges of the Rusenski Lom river near the village of Krasen, where they carved a small rock church.

His holiness and learning drew the patronage of Emperor Ivan Asen II, who raised him first to the archbishopric and then to the restored patriarchal throne. He governed the Bulgarian Church through its flourishing, served the poor and orphaned, and after the emperor's death acted as regent for the infant Kaliman I Asen until his own peaceful repose on 18 January 1246, after which he was proclaimed a saint.

Timeline 6 moments Read Hide

c. 1220s Ascetic life on Mount Athos and return to Bulgaria After embracing the religious life in his youth, Joachim spent years on Mount Athos in prayer, fasting, and vigil, gaining a reputation for his ascetic practice. He then returned to Bulgaria and settled with three disciples in the Rusenski Lom river gorges near Krasen, where they carved a small rock church.
1220s Founding of the Ivanovo rock-hewn monastic complex The monastic community Joachim established in the caves above the Rusenski Lom, near the village of Ivanovo, grew into a major complex. With patronage from Emperor Ivan Asen II, who funded the Church of Archangel Michael (later called the 'Buried Church'), the foundation expanded into a center of monastic life.
1234 Elevation to archbishop When Archbishop Basil I relinquished his office to retire to monastic life, Ivan Asen II had Joachim succeed him as archbishop of the Bulgarian Church.
1235 Restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate and confirmation as Patriarch After Ivan Asen II ended the union with the Roman Papacy established in 1205 and allied with the Nicaean emperor John Doukas Vatatzes, a church council at Lampsacus in Asia Minor restored the Bulgarian Patriarchate. The exiled Ecumenical Patriarch Germanus II, with the validation of all the Eastern Patriarchs, confirmed Joachim I as the first Patriarch of Trnovo.
1241 Regent for Kaliman I Asen Following the death of Ivan Asen II in 1241, Joachim became regent for the infant emperor Kaliman I Asen.
18 January 1246 Repose Joachim I died peacefully on 18 January 1246 and was subsequently proclaimed a saint. Basil II succeeded him as Patriarch.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributions Read Hide

Monastic foundations

On returning from Athos, Joachim and three disciples settled in the gorges of the Rusenski Lom river near the village of Krasen, carving a small rock church into the cliffs. His reputation reached Emperor Ivan Asen II, who visited him and formed a close spiritual bond with him, donating substantial gold for the construction of the Church of Archangel Michael — later known as the 'Buried Church' — which became the center of an expanding monastery.

The community he founded in the 1220s near the village of Ivanovo grew into the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, a complex that at its peak contained roughly forty churches and some three hundred additional structures perched on rocky banks above the Rusenski Lom. Patronized by the rulers of the Second Bulgarian Empire, it became a center of hesychasm in the fourteenth century and is renowned for its thirteenth- and fourteenth-century frescoes, considered outstanding examples of medieval Bulgarian and Palaeologan art. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

Restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate

The Bulgarian Patriarchate, first established in 927, had lapsed, and after the restoration of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185 the church in Trnovo functioned as an independent archbishopric created in 1186. Ivan Asen II discontinued the union with the Roman Papacy that Kaloyan and Pope Innocent III had established in 1205, and in 1235 met with the Nicaean emperor John Doukas Vatatzes to forge an alliance and secure the restoration of the patriarchate.

At a church council held in Lampsacus in Asia Minor in 1235, the exiled Ecumenical Patriarch Germanus II confirmed Joachim I as Patriarch of Bulgaria, with the validation of all the Eastern Patriarchs. Joachim thus became the first Patriarch of Trnovo, the autocephalous Bulgarian patriarchate whose seat remained in the capital throughout its existence from 1235 until the Ottoman conquest of 1393.

Patriarchal ministry and legacy

Joachim I presided over the Bulgarian Church during a period of cultural and economic flourishing. He devoted significant effort to pastoral care, helping orphans and the poor, and his hagiography reports that he saved many from the emperor's anger by preventing capital punishments.

After Ivan Asen II's death in 1241 he served as regent for the infant Kaliman I Asen. His hagiography emphasizes his piety and his role as the 'first Patriarch of the God-protected Imperial city of Tarnovo.' He died peacefully on 18 January 1246 and was proclaimed a saint, with Basil II succeeding him on the patriarchal throne.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Jan 18