The Patleina Monastery of Saint Pantaleon ( bg, Патлейнският манастир „Свети Пантелеймон“) is a ruined
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=Balgarsk ...
monastery. It is an archaeological site situated at the outskirts of the capital of the
First Bulgarian Empire,
Preslav
The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new ...
. At its heyday in the 9th and 10th centuries, the monastery was among the leading centres of the
Preslav Literary School
The Preslav Literary School ( bg, Преславска книжовна школа), also known as the Pliska Literary School or Pliska-Preslav Literary school was the first literary school in the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It was established by ...
, as well as one of the most prominent centres of production of painted decorative ceramics.
Location
The monastery is situated high on the right bank of the Golyama
Kamchiya
The Kamchiya (also Kamchia and Kamčija, bg, Камчия ) is a river in eastern Bulgaria. From its longest source, Golyama Kamchiya (Big Kamchiya), it has a total length of (. The river Kamchiya proper starts from the confluence of the two ...
River within the territory of the
Patleina Reserve in Dragoevska Mountain at the foothills of the eastern section of the
Balkan Mountains. It is located about 6 km south of the town of
Veliki Preslav
The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new ...
and 2.5 km from the outside fortress walls of the old city.
History
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/St._Theodor.jpg)
The monastery was established after the
Christianization of Bulgaria
The Christianization of Bulgaria was the process by which 9th-century medieval Bulgaria converted to Christianity. It reflected the need of unity within the religiously divided Bulgarian state as well as the need for equal acceptance on the in ...
in the 9th century during the reign of
Boris I (r. 852–889). It was destroyed in 971 by the Byzantines when they seized Preslav in the aftermath of the
Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria
Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria refers to a conflict beginning in 967/968 and ending in 971, carried out in the eastern Balkans, and involving the Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, and the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines encouraged the Rus' ruler Sviatosl ...
and was repeatedly plundered and devastated by the
Pechenegs
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
and the
Cumans
The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many so ...
in the 11th and 12th centuries during the Byzantine rule of Bulgaria.
According to researchers, the monastery was an important literary centre during the
First Bulgarian Empire and of the most important sites of the
Preslav Literary School
The Preslav Literary School ( bg, Преславска книжовна школа), also known as the Pliska Literary School or Pliska-Preslav Literary school was the first literary school in the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It was established by ...
, there the disciples of the Saints
Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited wit ...
,
Clement of Ohrid
Saint Clement of Ohrid ( Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian: Свети Климент Охридски, ; el, Ἅγιος Κλήμης τῆς Ἀχρίδας; sk, svätý Kliment Ochridský; – 916) was one of the first medieval Bulgarian ...
and
Naum of Preslav
Saint Naum ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: Свети Наум, ''Sveti Naum''), also known as Naum of Ohrid or Naum of Preslav (c. 830 – December 23, 910) was a medieval Bulgarian writer, enlightener, one of the Seven Apostles of the First Bu ...
had worked.
The Patleina Monastery was also an artistic-production centre. During the excavations of the site carried out between 1909 and 1914, a 10th century mosaic ceramic icon of Saint
Theodore Stratelates
Theodore Stratelates ( grc-gre, Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος ὁ Στρατηλάτης (); cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲑⲉⲟⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ), also known as Theodore of Heraclea ( grc-gre, Θεόδωρος Ἡρακλείας; AD 281–319) ...
was discovered. It has since become one of the symbols of the medieval Bulgarian heritage and is now kept at the
National Archaeological Museum. Other artefacts dates from the 9th and 10th centuries excavated at the site include ceramic icons of Saint Philip and Mark the Evangelist, crucifixes, a bronze matrix of an icon of blessing Christ sitting on a throne.
The monastery was declared a monument of culture.
In the 1940s a new monastery was constructed on the slope over the medieval site. However, it was never consecrated as it was nationalised after 1944 by the new
Socialist authorities and converted into a vacation home.
Description
![Patleyna monastery 9th c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Patleyna_monastery_9th_c._Iz13.jpg)
The Patleina Monastery is ruined. The complex included of cross-shaped church, residential and commercial buildings. The edifices are set on a narrow terrace at the foot of a steep mountain slope overgrown with linden, hornbeam and oak trees. There are three courtyards – one for prayer, one facing the residential building and one with ceramic and glass workshops. The church with the residential quarters south of it occupied the western part of the terrace; the rest of the buildings used to against the slopes from the west and north. A few metres to the north of the church was the monastery crypt consisting of six burial chambers.
The church had been refurbished. It was originally cross-domed with a narthex and an apse and a total length of 12.60 m. After the reconstruction, the side walls are reinforced. There were two lateral apses next to the altar, was well was two rectangular premises adjacent to the western façade. The interior of the church was richly decorated with marble plinths with ornamental friezes. The cladding on the walls was of painted ceramic tiles; the floor was covered in multicoloured mosaics.
[Енциклопедия: Шуменска област, Изд. ''Захарий Стоянов'', 2011, стр. 450, ]
There were two isolated buildings were the painted ceramics workshops were housed. There used to be ovens at the northern part of the courtyard, as well as a facility used for flushing and purification of the raw material for the ceramics – the white Preslav clay with high-quality plastic properties.
See also
*
First Bulgarian Empire
*
Preslav Literary School
The Preslav Literary School ( bg, Преславска книжовна школа), also known as the Pliska Literary School or Pliska-Preslav Literary school was the first literary school in the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It was established by ...
*
Veliki Preslav
The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new ...
Citations
External links
*
* {{cite web , url= http://www.planinite.info/Istoricheski_zabelejitelnosti/Belejiti_manastiry/http://www.pravoslavieto.com/manastiri/patleinski/index.htm, title= Patleina Monastery, publisher=Bulgarian Orthodox Portal, accessdate=24 June 2018
Preslav
Buildings and structures in Shumen Province
Christian monasteries in Bulgaria
Christian monasteries established in the 9th century
9th century in Bulgaria
10th century in Bulgaria
Tourist attractions in Shumen Province
Medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church buildings
Preslav Literary School