Albotin Monastery ( bg, Алботински манастир, also: ''Albutin Monastery'', Албутински манастир) is a presently inactive

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 Macedon ...

n medieval

cave monastery A cave monastery is a monastery built in caves, with possible outside facilities. The 3rd-century monk St. Antony the Great, known as the founder of monasticism Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monach ...

on the territory of Kula bishopric of

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as o ...

Diocese of

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

, in the locality Albotin (''Albutin'') along river Topolovets between villages Gradets and Rabrovo, nearby village Deleyna. The monastery complex was built in the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

rock massif on the northern side of the river, on some 25 metres height, using shallow natural caves and rock sheds, with additionally hewn premises and niches with religious and every-day purposes. The monastery is reached by a steep and narrow sandy pathway in the beginning of which was constructed a water tap, known as ''Haiduk cheshma''. Being easily accessible, in later times the cave monastery was used by shepherds and stone-cutters as a shelter, and robbed and vandalized by treasure-hunters. Albotin monastery was active in the 14th century according to the account of the preserved fragments of

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es and inscriptions, as well as adornments (earrings, tabs, bracelets) found in the 29 discovered Christian graves. The large number of burials of

laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

among the clergymen is an evidence that the monastery was a reputable sanctuary and a desired place for the eternal peace of its donors. Among the scarce historic records, it is noteworthy the mentioning of the nowadays non-existent village ''Altovin'' in a registry of Vidin kaaza (district) from year 1560."Алботински скален манастир“, Йеромонах Сионий
("Albotin rock monastery", article by Hieromonk Sioniy) The monastery complex consists of eight premises in a row, with the church located in the middle sector, in the most concave part of the rock massif curve. The church contains three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s and is oriented according to the canon from west to east, its southern and southwestern parts being fully devastated. The presence of a

baptisterium In classical antiquity, a baptisterium ( grc, βαπτιστήριον) was a large basin installed in private or public baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Tho ...

bespeaks of the temple being used not only for monastic praying but also for public liturgies. In the north-western of the monastery, there is a second floor, containing the second largest premise of the monastery, which was presumably used for a

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the La ...

. Other premises were located in the western part of the monastery : the monks cells, kitchen, cellar, store-rooms.Information about the monastery
in web-portal vidin-online.com Two water tanks can also be seen. The name of the monastery church is unknown, but there are suppositions that it was devoted to the

Resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...

, due to the preserved old tradition of playing chain dances (horo) in the memory of the deceased on the second day of Easter. This custom is widely observed by

Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...

who hang the portraits of their dead relatives on the branches of a venerable tree in the meadow under the monastery. Each of the chain dances played before noon-time is devoted to a separate dead man, and the afternoon dances are devoted to the living people. Bulgarians and Vlachs pick up

dictamnus ''Dictamnus'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae, native to temperate Eurasia from Spain to China. The genus was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Species , Plants of the World Online accepted two species: *''Dictamnu ...

and hand out a sprig per each deceased relative. "За празничната система на българи и власи“, Рачко Попов, списание "Българска етнология“, издание на Етнографски институт с музей при БАН, кн.5, 1995 г. ("Regarding the System of Holidays of Bulgarians and Wallachians", Rachko Popov, journal "Bulgarian Ethnology" (5/1995)) The Albotin cave monastery was announced monument of culture in the Bulgarian state gazette on 28 December 1927, Issue 221, and on 26 December 1969, Issue 100.

References

{{coord, 43, 59, 31, N, 22, 33, 35, E, region:BG, display=title Christian monasteries in Bulgaria Bulgarian Orthodox monasteries Cave monasteries Balkan mountains Buildings and structures in Vidin Province Christian monasteries established in the 14th century

See also

References