Glozhene Monastery

The Glozhene Monastery (is an Eastern Orthodox monastery near the village of the same name.

About this building

Legend has it that when the monastery was founded, an icon of St. George was placed in the church. The icon disappeared repeatedly to appear on a nearby hill. The monks interpreted this mysterious disappearance as a wish of St George to erect his convent on the hill, so they built another complex on the site indicated by the saint. Both monasteries remained connected by a tunnel.

The national hero Vasil Levski found shelter in the monastery while planning his revolutionary campaigns against the Ottomans in the 19th century. The original monastery was destroyed by the earthquakes in 1904 and 1913. It was rebuilt in 1931 and all the wooden icons that could be saved were brought to the new building.

Key Features

  • Architecture
  • Monuments
  • Atmosphere / quiet space
  • Famous people or stories

Other nearby buildings

Wikimedia Commons/Красимир Косев

Troyan Monastery

Although less well known than the Rila Monastery or the Bachkovo Monastery, the Troyan Monastery is a popular destination for religious tourism in the Balkans. The monastery was built at the turn of the 16th to 17th century and houses one of the most treasured icons of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church: the Three-Handed Virgin.

Wikimedia Commons/Nikolai Karaneschev

Eski Mosque

The only remaining mosque in the town, the building was used as a touristic center for many years. Built in the 18th century, the mosque lost its minaret in an earthquake and was abandoned even during the Ottoman period.