Bulgarian Monasteries

 

Rilski Monastery

You can get information from Object Protected by UNESCO

 

Bachkovski Monastery

The monastery is 30 km from Plovdiv and is the second in importance because of its architecture, art and spiritual life of the country. It is founded by the Georgian Grigorii Bakuriani in 1083. It grew fast and its land reached even Solun. Tsar Ivan Alexander during the Õ²²² c. donates it richly with land. In the end of Õ²V c. the monastery is destroyed. Only the charnel-house is preserved. The monastery is restored in the end of the ÕV² c. During the ÕV²²² c. Zahari the Icon Painter paints the church St. Nikola and the arc under the church St. Archangel. During the ÕV²²² c. the monastery gains wealth and is a spiritual center with a rich library which holds rare ancient books and manuscripts. All rare relics connected with its history and life are kept in a museum. The monastery is visited annually by thousands of Bulgarian and foreign tourists.

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Troyan Monastery

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 The monastery is famous like most of Bulgarian monasteries with its icon paintings which are the art of Zahari the Icon Painter and with its original wood-carving created in the end of the ÕV²² c. and the beginning of the ÕV²²² â. According to historical chronicles the monastery was founded in 1600. An architectural landmark are the large living buildings (1835-1855), which surround the monastery yard. During the second half of the ÕVIII C. and the beginning of the ÕIÕ C.it turns into a literary and educational center. During the Renaissance the monastery provides shelter for Bulgarian revolutionaries and in the beginning of 1872 Vasil Levski founds a secret revolutionary committee here.. In the church and the museum of the Troyan Monastery many old icons and interesting objects of Bulgarian applicable art are kept.

 

 

Rozhenski Monastery

It is situated in Pirin, 6 km from the smallest town of Bulgaria - Melnik. The monastery is founded by despot Slav during the Õ²² – Õ²²² C. During the Turkish yoke like the most of our monasteries it turns into a spiritual and literary center. The old monastery church is preserved with wall-paintings dating ÕV² C. Also precious works of calligraphy, wood-carving and icon-painting are preserved in the monastery.

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The Ivanovo Rock Monasteries

You can get information from Object Protected by UNESCO

 

Dryanovo Monastery

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 The monastery is situated in the gorge of river Dryanovska, 4 km from the town of Dryanovo. It is founded during the Second Bulgarian kingdom. It has been destroyed two times during the Turkish yoke. It has been restored in 1845. The monastery is connected with the name of the national revolutionary Vasil Levski. During the April Rebellion cruel fights are fought here and the monastery was burnt down. After the Liberation it gains its present look. In the monastery museum many relics from the April Rebellion and exceptionally precious icons are kept.