To the holy places: Bulgaria's monasteries
The walls of Bulgaria’s mysterious and impregnable monasteries, lost in the picturesque corners of the country, have protected the canons of faith, the foundations of culture and other riches of the Bulgarian people from foreigners for many centuries. All this, and many more stories and legends, they have brought to our days.
The colorful monastery of Aladzha
One of the most mysterious and popular holy places on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria is the Orthodox rock monastery of Aladzha. The brightly colored wall paintings, whose roots stretch back to the Middle Ages, gave it its name – Aladzha, which translates from Turkish as “colored”, “motley”. The study of the monastery does not stop even in our time, as the exact history of its origin is not known. It is believed that it existed already in the X-XІІ centuries. Asylum was found there during the Second Bulgarian Empire by hermit monks who practiced Hesychasm. Here, among the impregnable rocks, 14 kilometers north of Varna, they found a safe haven and a place of union with God.
There are many legends about this monastery and the monks who inhabited it. One of the legends tells of a mysterious lonely monk called Rim Papa. This monk supposedly guards the ancient riches found in the monastery and the surrounding forest. It is said that this ghost now and then walks among the mighty rocks and tries to make conversation with random passers-by about human life. He appears suddenly and, just as suddenly, he closes his eyes and disappears. He will do this as long as the Aladzha Monastery itself and the ancient forest around it exist. The legend says that something inexplicable and surprising may happen if the forest and the monastery suddenly disappear. But we hope that they will stand for many more centuries and preserve the legacy of the ancients.
The monastery itself is located inside a sheer limestone cliff. The monastery complex consists of two tiers of natural caves and includes a chapel, a crypt, a church, a catholicon, a refectory, a kitchen and outbuildings.
Now the monastery is uninhabited. It has rooms on three or four levels, and the floors are connected by stairs and paths. Today there is a small museum with exhibits telling about the past of Aladzha Monastery, and only 600-700 meters away from the monastery you can see the catacombs where monks used to hide.
The complex regularly hosts a stunningly unique audio-visual performance “Legends of the Aladzha Monastery”, which is widely popular among tourists.
Ivanovo Rock Monastery, or the Monastery of St. Michael the Archangel
Bulgaria’s most famous cave monastery is located in the Rusenki Lom Nature Park, which is just 20 kilometres from the town of Ruse. Thanks to the family of the Bulgarian king, who allocated funds for its construction, the monastery was carved into the rock in the XV century. The best masters and artists of the Tarnovo school worked on the interior decoration and frescoes of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which today are the main attraction of the entire monastery. The church itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These frescoes are known for the virtuoso work of the artists, who used delicate pastel colors, natural lifelike poses, gestures and real proportions in their compositions, which was truly unique for such an early era.
The monastery complex includes 300 monastic cells, a number of chapels and 20 churches located 36 meters above sea level. Today, five of these churches have preserved authentic frescoes with fragments of unique wall paintings from the XIII-XVI centuries. It is these that have influenced the tourist attendance of the monastery. Today they are an example of the high level of medieval culture in Bulgaria. Even if you are not fond of painting, these frescoes will amaze you with their beauty.
Rila Monastery: in the struggle for existence
The most famous stavropegial male monastery and the largest active monastery in Bulgaria traces its history back to the tenth century. At that time, the disciples of St John of Rila, a hermit who dwelt in a cave, established a monastery here. Then, destroyed by an earthquake, the monastery as an architectural ensemble was rebuilt only in 1335, thanks to the local feudal lord Hrelo Dragol.
The 15th century was a century of destruction and looting by the Turks, but at the same time, thanks to three brothers from Kyustendil, the monastery was rebuilt again, and in 1469 the relics of John of Ryla were brought here.
The main monastery church, the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was built here in 1834, and the finishing works lasted more than twenty years. Today it is crowned with five domes, and inside there are two aisles and three altars.
The Rila Monastery is famous for its miracle-working icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”, with thirty-two quadrangular partitions with the relics of the saints. It is among the three most honored icons in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Most of the cultural artefacts are preserved in the monastery’s ancient library and museum. Among them are old printed editions, engravings of the Bulgarian Renaissance period, manuscript books, the Cross of Raphael, and icons. Since 1983, the Rila Monastery has been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is under its protection.
Cheripish Monastery - at the foot of the cliffs
Despite the fact that the Cheripish Monastery, located at the foot of the Balkan mountain range, is one of the smallest monasteries in Bulgaria, there are many legends surrounding it. One of them gives a sad explanation of the monastery’s name. Tsar Ivan Shishman, who in the XIV century won a victory in a battle with the Turks, ordered the monastery to be laid on the bones of his comrades-in-arms who died here.
Later the monastery became a refuge for Bulgarian haidukes during the period of the Ottoman invasion, which attacked the monastery more than once. The author of the first Bulgarian autobiographical novel, Sofroniy Vrachanski, hid here twice from 1798 to 1799. This is not surprising – after all, the monastery had a rich library. And its founding father is St. Pimen Zografski, who once turned the entire monastery into a literary center. Translators, writers and calligraphers, whose generations worked here for centuries, have left many reminders of themselves. The Cherepish Gospel with a gilded cover dating back to 1612 is worthy of nothing! Here active activity on creation of church books did not stop even in the XVIII century.
Another legend about the monastery, not the first century beckons here for mountains of gold desperate treasure hunters. They say that untold treasures are hidden somewhere near the monastery walls….
The Rozhen Monastery is a medieval beauty
One of the largest and one of the most beautiful monasteries operating in Bulgaria today is the Rozhen Monastery. Its full name is the Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is one of the few medieval monasteries in Bulgaria that has survived to this day. It is located in the low southwestern part of the Pirin Mountains, just six kilometres from the famous town of Melnik.
When, in fact, the Rozhen Monastery was built remains a mystery. It was caused by a big fire, which broke out at the end of the XVII century and destroyed the entire monastery archive. Only thanks to Athonite sources, we can assume that the monastery was founded around 890.
In 1732, with funds provided by the nun Melania, a chapel in the name of St Cosmas and Damian was built in the northern part of the narthex. Today, you can see a portrait of this nun with a model of the chapel in her hand, which is located here.
The Rozhensky Monastery reached its heyday in the nineteenth century. During this period it became a real regional spiritual center that influenced life in its surroundings, and at the end of the century it became a refuge for many revolutionary figures. As evidence of this is the tomb of Yane Sandanski, a famous national hero of Bulgaria, located here. During the Balkan War, his army fought bravely against the Turks and played an important role in the liberation of the country.
It is believed that the miracle-working icon of the Virgin Mary protects and defends the Rozhensky Monastery. There is also a beautiful legend about how it appeared in this monastery. Once this icon allegedly belonged to a widow from the Greek city of Nicea, who, in order to save it from the Byzantine emperor Theophilus, who persecuted the worship of icons, threw it into the river. The current of the river threw the icon onto the shore near the Greek monastery of Ivirion. Some time later, the icon was transferred to the walls of the Rozhensky Monastery.
The monastery is known far beyond the borders of Bulgaria for the fact that it was within its walls, in the calligraphic school, which existed at the monastery since the XIV century, that a unique manuscript copy of the “Interpretation of the Book of Job” was created.
The monastery’s paintings, icons and its openwork wood carvings are rightly considered a valuable and important part of the Bulgarian art monuments, which many pilgrims and connoisseurs of art, history and tourists come to see every year.
The most famous monasteries in Bulgaria also include the Troyan Monastery, the Bachkovo Monastery, the Shipchen Monastery, the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary (Arbanasi village) and the Zemen Monastery. And to the holy shrines of the New Age can be attributed the Chapel of St. Paraskeva, which in the village of Rupite was built with funds raised by the famous prophetess Vanga.
Each of the Bulgarian monasteries surprises in its own way, each has its own unique history and unique monuments. What unites them is their incredible resilience – after all, they have all managed to survive hard times over the years of their existence to rise again today in their pristine beauty.
