Believing or not is a choice, but you can be sure working with matchsticks like this requires holy patience… This is the work of Bulgarian artist Plamen Ignatov, who has been developing a replica of the Rila Monastery using only matchsticks. The matchstick count so far? Around 6 million. Check it out for yourselves:
The Rila Monastery is an Orthodox institution located in Bulgaria, and is considered one of the most important pieces, culturally and historically speaking, of Southern Europe, to the point of where the UNESCO considers it part of the World Heritage.
We’ve seen some matchstick recreations before, but this one has to be one of the most detailed pieces ever created. Shingles were recreated realistically, and there’s even a picture of Jesus carved into one of the walls, as well as many other religious figures all over the piece.
Just a quick look should be enough to understand just how passionate Ignatov was about this piece, and how come it took about 16 years to complete it. We say those were 16 years well spent.
Users curious about what the real thing looks like have a picture below, just for the sake of comparison. Not bad, Ignatov, not bad at all!
Users who want to see more sculptures might want to head over to Unbelievably Magnificent Chinese Ice Sculptures and 35 Geeky Themed Construction Artworks.
