The Sokolski Monastery is a

Bulgarian Orthodox The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgars ...

monastery founded in 1833 and named after its founder Yosif Sokolski. It is located 15 km southwest of

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( bg, Габрово ) is a town in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an internati ...

on the northern slopes of 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 be ...

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 The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

with the strong support of the people of

and the local villages. The monastery played an important role during the

April Uprising The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally ...

. 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. The Sokolski Monastery was declared a historical site in 1973.

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File:Bulgaria-Sokolski manastir-01.jpg, File:Bulgaria-Sokolski manastir-02.jpg, File:Bulgaria-Sokolski manastir-03.jpg, File:Bulgaria-Sokolski manastir-04.jpg, File:Bulgaria-Sokolski manastir-05.jpg, File:Sokolski-monastery-church.JPG,

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See also