Transfiguration Monastery, Bulgaria

The Transfiguration Monastery or the Monastery of the Holy <a href="/facts/Transfiguration_of_Jesus/txyBrEha">Transfiguration of God</a> (манастир "Свето Преображение Господне", manastir "Sveto Preobrazhenie Gospodne") is an <a href="/facts/Eastern_Orthodox_Church/5n20Akh5">Eastern Orthodox</a> monastery located in the Dervent gorge of the <a href="/facts/Yantra_River/GRn0a5MP">Yantra River</a>. It lies near the village of Samovodene, seven kilometres north of <a href="/facts/Veliko_Tarnovo/N0vC3oAD">Veliko Tarnovo</a>, in central northern <a href="/facts/Bulgaria/Er5pY3YS">Bulgaria</a>. It is one of the five <a href="/facts/Stauropegic/SWgr4aVB">stauropegic</a> monasteries of the <a href="/facts/Bulgarian_Orthodox_Church/cLb1HNal">Bulgarian Orthodox Church</a>.
It is thought that the monastery was founded in the 11th century AD as a cloister of the <a href="/facts/Vatopedi_monastery/KxHoG05E">Vatopedi monastery</a> on <a href="/facts/Mount_Athos/hjQ764Lf">Mount Athos</a>. In 1360, when Tarnovo was the capital of the <a href="/facts/Second_Bulgarian_Empire/zAWspoUj">Second Bulgarian Empire</a> and the traditions of <a href="/facts/Hesychasm/8P9lPSLb">hesychasm</a> were popular in Bulgaria, it became an autonomous monastery on the order of Tsar <a href="/facts/Ivan_Alexander_of_Bulgaria/FD2EsCPr">Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria</a>. This is legendarily tied to the charity of Ivan Alexander's second wife <a href="/facts/Sarah_(Theodora)/Cof3pvx2">Sarah-Theodora</a> and their son <a href="/facts/Ivan_Shishman_of_Bulgaria/6gXBb7Vj">Ivan Shishman</a>, a reason to also call the monastery Sarah's or Shishman's monastery.
After the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman</a> conquest of Bulgaria, the monastery was plundered and burned several times by the Turks and eventually entirely destroyed. It was only reestablished in 1825 by father Zoticus of the <a href="/facts/Rila_Monastery/I5kcWp2H">Rila Monastery</a> by means of donations. In 1832, a <a href="/facts/Firman/1J3FaXjY">firman</a> of the Ottoman sultan allowed the construction of a new monastery church; the church was designed by the noted <a href="/facts/Bulgarian_National_Revival/E0JbRz5Q">Bulgarian National Revival</a> architect <a href="/facts/Kolyu_Ficheto/G9uYytHD">Kolyu Ficheto</a> and completed in 1834. The cross-shaped church features three <a href="/facts/Apse/lhgWFUz6">apses</a>, a single <a href="/facts/Dome/vcv5uuXj">dome</a> and a covered <a href="/facts/Narthex/Ajm7EeUm">narthex</a>. The icons and frescoes of the main church were painted by another artist, <a href="/facts/Zahari_Zograf/HI2KqRfI">Zahari Zograf</a>, who worked in the monastery between 1849 and 1851, after he finished his decoration of the <a href="/facts/Troyan_Monastery/ewtSjLHl">Troyan Monastery</a>. Among the more notable murals are those of the <a href="/facts/Last_Judgment/x5dW2R4x">Last Judgment</a>, the Wheel of Life, the Birth of the <a href="/facts/Mother_of_God/ko5r1fxc">Mother of God</a>, the <a href="/facts/Last_Supper/94qJrkNp">Last Supper</a>. Zograf also painted Saints <a href="/facts/Cyril_and_Methodius/Tfd87bhx">Cyril and Methodius</a>, as well as a self-portrait. In addition, the main church was richly decorated on the outside and a wood-carved and gold-plated <a href="/facts/Iconostasis/Aj5PRrYw">iconostasis</a> was installed.
Between 1858 and 1863 Kolyu Ficheto constructed the seven-bell <a href="/facts/Bell_tower/fuX9lXGo">belfry</a>, the residential buildings and the main entrance, as well as the underground <a href="/facts/Chapel/SreoramU">chapel</a> of <a href="/facts/Saint_Andrew/FpPgt7fu">Saint Andrew</a> the First-called and the small Church of the <a href="/facts/Annunciation/Gyq2LXyj">Annunciation</a> on top of it, with icons by Zahari Zograf's nephew <a href="/facts/Stanislav_Dospevski/DSW444o4">Stanislav Dospevski</a>.

Transfiguration Monastery, Bulgaria open-in-new

Transfiguration Monastery, Bulgaria