The Zemen Monastery ( bg, Земенски манастир, ''Zemenski manastir'') 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=Balgarsk ...

monastery located one kilometre away from the town of

Zemen Zemen ( bg, Земен ) is a town in Pernik Province, western Bulgaria. Located near the Pchelina Reservoir on the banks of the Struma River, it is the administrative centre of Zemen Municipality. Geography Location Zemen is located in a ...

Pernik Province Pernik Province is a province in western Bulgaria, neighbouring Serbia. Its main city is Pernik, and other municipalities are Breznik, Kovachevtsi, Radomir, Tran, and Zemen. Population Pernik province had a population of 133,750 according ...

in western

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 ...

. The monastery was established in the 11th century. It comprises a church, belfry and two residential buildings. It is currently uninhabited. The church is a monument of culture. The church dates from the foundation of the monastery in the late 11th century and has a cube shape, 9 metres long, 8 metres wide, 11.20 metres high. The material used was

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

. The altar is a stone monolith and the floor is made of colourful tiles. The church is richly painted inside, with two layers of frescoes, the scarcely preserved early one dating to the 11th century. The better preserved Biblical scenes date from the mid-14th century and include several portraits of donors: the first one depicting an unnamed man, his wife Doya and their two children, the second featuring a young man, Vitomir, and a boy, Stoyu. These portraits rank among the oldest and artistically most valuable in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

after the frescoes of the Boyana Church.

Gallery

File:Zemen Monastery TB (8).jpg, Front view of the church File:Zemen Monastery TB (6).jpg, Apse view of the church File:Zemen Monastery TB (3).JPG, Courtyard and 19th-century residential buildings File:ZemenMonastery-church-frescoes.JPG, Medieval frescoes in the Zemen moneastery File:Zemen Monastery TB (2).JPG, Interior view of the church with its medieval frescoes File:Zemen-monastery-st-anne-joachim.jpg, 14th-century fresco of

Joachim Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryph ...

and Anne

References

External links

Zemen Monastery at BulgarianMonastery.com
Christian monasteries established in the 11th century Christian monasteries in Bulgaria Bulgarian Orthodox monasteries Buildings and structures in Pernik Province Medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church buildings Mraka {{Christian-monastery-stub