Sokolski Monastery, Gabrovo, Bulgaria

The Sokolski Monastery is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery founded in 1833 and named after its founder Yosif Sokolski. It is located 15 km southwest of Gabrovo on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains in the Bulgarka Nature Park and is close to the Sokolovo cave.

Originally, a small wooden church was built in 1833 and the frescoes were finished a year later. Hristo Tsokev, a Gabrovo-born artist, donated the church icon, which represents the Virgin Mary and Christ and is considered to be miraculous. In 1862, Father Paul Zograf and his son Nikola from the village of Shipka decorated the church with frescoes.

The monastery has a big yard surrounded by residential and utility buildings. In the centre of the yard, in 1865 the master Kolyu Ficheto constructed a big stone fountain with eight taps. The whole monastery was built during the Bulgarian National Revival with the strong support of the people of Gabrovo and the local villages.

The monastery played an important role during the April Uprising. In this monastery, the leader Tsanko Dyustabanov formed a group of volunteers for the resistance. In a short period of time during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 the monastery was a hospital.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Miroslav Dimov (6 months ago)
?

siyami ali (7 months ago)
Wonderful place just need to find how to go in. Which is strange because its monastery should be always open....maybe I am wrong.

Arturr Nazwiskoo (10 months ago)
30 December 2023 in the morning (9.20) the gate was closed. The biggest attraction happened to be the playground.

Dimitar Dimitrov (12 months ago)
Interesting monastery. Great view above the church. Kids can play nearby and also near there is a restaurant.

Иван Иванов (12 months ago)
The monastery was founded in 1833 by Archimandrite Joseph, later known in the struggle for church autonomy as Uniate Archbishop Joseph Sokolski. He came here from the Troyan Monastery together with Hieromonk Agapiy in 1833. They built a small wooden church next to the entrance of the nearby cave, and the following year they demolished it in the same place, with funds and the help of the villagers from the nearby villages of Etara and Nova Mahala, who built today's large church.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Staffan O Andersson

Historic Site of the week

Gamla Uppsala Church

The stone church of Gamla Uppsala, built over the pagan temple, dates from the early 12th century. Due to fire and renovations, the present church is only a remnant of the original cathedral.

Before the arrival of Christianity in Sweden, Gamla Uppsala was the seat of Swedish kings and a ceremonial site known all over northern Europe. The settlement was home to royal palaces, a royal burial ground, and a great pagan temple. The Uppsala temple, which was described in detail by Adam of Bremen in the 1070s, housed wooden statues of the Norse gods Odin, Thor and Freyr. A golden chain hung across its gables and the inside was richly decorated with gold. The temple had priests, who sacrificed to the gods according to the needs of the people.

The first Christian cathedral was probably built in the 11th century, but finished in the 12th century. The stone building may have been preceded by a wooden church and probably by the large pagan temple.

Sokolski Monastery

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Gamla Uppsala Church