Troyan Monastery

On the bank of Cherny Osam River, in the northern foot of the Balkan Range at 400m sea level stands a famous Bulgarian monastery: the Troyan Monastery, named “Assumption of Virgin Mary”. Lying 9km in a southeastern direction from the town of Troyan and 190km away from Sofia, it is the biggest monstery in the Balkan Mountain Range and the third largest in the country. Surrounded by wonderful forests and a river valley, the location of the monastery offers a beautiful view of the neighborhood. The monastery’s complex is a well developed tourist site with plenty of shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities.

It is believed that in the beginning of the 17th century at the site of the today’s monastery a monk from Aton came and built a small wooden church. The monk quickly won the respect of the local people who started visiting him for prayer and advice. Later on, he built a church consecrated to the Holy Virgin. In the course of its existence, like most of the religious buildings in Bulgaria, the Troyan Monastery was burnt several times. During the Bulgarian Renaissance, around 1830, the building of a new church and other smaller buildings was begun in the place of the early monastery and gradually it turns into an important cultural and spiritual site. In fact, it is believed that during the Ottoman rule in the monastery were tought and had been hidding many great Bulgarian writers, teachers and historians, such as the monk Spirodon, author of the second book on the Bulgarian history (1792). Many times the Troyan Monastery has offered shelter to Bulgarian rebels and revolutionaries for national liberation, among which the most famous and love Bulgarian national hero and apostle of freedom, Vassil Levski. In addition, during the actual Liberation Russian-Turkish war, the monastery was transformed into a field hospital for Russian soldiers and provided the Russians with all possible medical assistance.