Chiprovtsi Monastery

Chiprovtsi, Bulgaria

Chiprovtsi Monastery is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery 5 kilometres northeast of the town of Chiprovtsi in Montana Province in northwestern Bulgaria. It belongs to the diocese of Vidin and lies in the valley of the Ogosta river.

According to Petar Bogdan, the monastery was built in the 10th century and remained a religious and cultural centre despite Tatar and Magyar raids in the 13th century, the Ottoman invasion in the 14th century and Michael the Brave's raids in the 16th century. The monastery has been razed six times, in 1412, 1688, 1806, 1828, 1837 and 1876, with the one of 1688 after the Chiprovtsi Uprising being particularly devastating. The current monastery church was built in 1829.

The Chiprovtsi Monastery consists of a church dedicated to Saint John of Rila, residential buildings, a small graveyard and a three-storey tower featuring an ossuary, a chapel and a belfry.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Chiprovtsi, Bulgaria

See all sites in Chiprovtsi

Details

Founded: 10th century AD
Category: Religious sites in Bulgaria

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Lopushna Monastery (7,6 km)

Belogradchik Fortress (31,9 km)
Klisurski Monastery (32,9 km)
Ratiaria (46 km)
Castra Martis (63,4 km)
Magura Cave (45,7 km)
Castra ad Montanesium (23,1 km)

User Reviews

Sylvia Hristova (16 months ago)
Amazing place with so much history and so important form our Orthodox faith

Miroslav Sevlievski (17 months ago)
Very quiet and spectacular area. Old tradition for pilgrims. The church is very interesting. Flowers rich yard. Must see.

Antonia P (2 years ago)
First of all, this is an active monastery, not a shopping mall, so if you want to buy magnets, food or drinks, this is not a place for you. This is a place to touch history, to sit in peace and observe the beautiful nature around it. This is a place to light a candle and to say a prayer. I have visited it many times and will visit it again.

J& W (5 years ago)
Peacefull and really nice place.

Christo Nickolov (6 years ago)
The Chiprovski monastery "St Ivan Rilski" is in the Northwestern part of Bulgaria. You need to drive about 7 km to northeast of the town of Chirprovtsi to view its buildings. Actually the cloister is at 29 km on the west of the regional center, the town of Montana. It was founded in the beginning of the X-th century and it is one of the thirty monasteries from the First Bulgarian Kingdom and approved in the country the mission of Kiril and Metodi brothers who are the fathers of the Slavic Alphabet.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Photo from Flickr, copyright CONTROTONO

Historic Site of the week

Clementinum

The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.

Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.