The Monastery of the

Dormition The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the ''Theotokos'' ("Mother of ...

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 are " ...

( 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 Macedon ...

. 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 betw ...

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 ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, 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 ...

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

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 Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery "Sveti Ivan Rilski" ( bg, Рилски манастир „Свети Иван Рилски“), is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situat ...

, the largest monastery in Bulgaria. Many of the "moral and

social experiment A social experiment is a type of Psychology, psychological or Sociology, sociological research for testing people's reactions to certain situations or events. The experiment depends on a particular social approach where the main source of inform ...

s" 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 (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...

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 Monastery

Travel Bulgaria: Troyan Monastery

Troyan 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