The Monastery of the
Dormition of the Most Holy
Mother of God
''Theotokos'' ( Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or '' Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations ar ...
( bg, Троянски манастир „Успение Богородично“) or, as it is more commonly called, the Troyan Monastery is the third largest monastery in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. It is located in the northern part of the country in the
Balkan mountains
The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border bet ...
and was founded no later than the end of the 16th century.
The monastery is situated on the banks of the
Cherni Osam near
Oreshak, a village 10 km from
Troyan
Troyan ( bg, Троян ) is a town remembering the name of Roman Emperor Trajan, in Lovech Province in central Bulgaria with population of 21,997 inhabitants, as of December 2009. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Troyan Mun ...
in
Lovech Province
Lovech Province ( bg, Област Ловеч, translit=Oblast Lovech, former name Lovech okrug) is one of the 28 provinces of Bulgaria, lying at the northern centre of the country. It is named after its main city - Lovech. As of December 200 ...
, and is a popular tourist destination.
The main church of the monastery was reconstructed near the end of
Ottoman rule
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
during the
Bulgarian National Revival period by a master-builder called Konstantin in 1835. The ornate interior and exterior of the church were painted between 1847 and 1849 by
Zahari Zograph
Zahariy Hristovich Dimitrov ( bg, Захарий Христович Димитров) (1810–1853), better known as Zahari Zograf (or Zahariy Zograf; Захари(й) Зограф) is a famous Bulgarian painter of the Bulgarian National Revival, ...
, a popular Bulgarian painter of the time, who also painted the central church of the
Rila Monastery, the largest monastery in Bulgaria. Many of the "moral and
social experiments" of art at the time such as ''Doomsday'' and ''Wheel of Life'' were reproduced at Troyan. One highly controversial move by Zograph was to paint his image around one of the windows in the back of the church.
The
iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed a ...
in the central church is a wood carving dating to 1839.
The Troyan Monastery is also, since the 17th century, the home of one of the holiest icons in
Bulgarian Orthodoxy, the ''Three-Handed Virgin''.
Many people make a pilgrimage to this monastery on St. George's Day because of an icon of St. George in the main church.
The room in which Bulgarian revolutionary Vasil Levski was hiding and meeting with other revolutionaries during the Ottoman period is a museum.
Gallery
Image:Trojan-manastir-1876.jpg, An 1876 drawing of the monastery
Image:Courtyard of Troyan Monastery.JPG, The courtyard inside the monastery
Image:Three Handed Virgin of Troyan Monastery.JPG, The ''Three-Handed Virgin'' icon
Image:Троянски манастир 1.JPG, Mural paintings on the church "Holy Mother of God" (in the monastery)
Image:Троянски манастир 2.JPG, Another example of mural paintings
Image:Troyan Monastery plan.png, Plan
External links
Troyan MonasteryTravel Bulgaria: Troyan MonasteryTroyan Monastery*
ttp://www.sofiabulgariatravel.com/3-miracle-working-icons-in-sofia.html The legend about Three-Handed Virgin icon
{{Authority control
Christian monasteries in Bulgaria
Bulgarian Orthodox monasteries
Balkan mountains
Buildings and structures in Lovech Province
Tourist attractions in Lovech Province