Rozhen Monastery

The Rozhen Monastery is the biggest monastery in the Pirin Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria. It is one of the few medieval Bulgarian monasteries well preserved until today. According to sources kept in Mount Athos (Greece), it was founded in 890 A.D. The church of the monastery – the Nativity of Mary (Sveto Rozhdestvo Bogorodichno) – later gave its name to the nearby village of Rozhen.

In the 17th century, it was burnt down but then rebuilt in the early 18th century. The church was fully completed in 1732. The monastery reached its apogee in the 19th century when it served as a regional spiritual centre and possessed a lot of land in the surrounding area. The famous local revolutionary Yane Sandanski put an end to the heyday of the monastery when, together with his entourage, he seized its land. The grave of Yane Sandanski is near the monastery.

The monastery has an irregular hexagonal shape. All buildings are constructed in different periods. The monastic dining room, the ossuary, and some of the farm buildings are the oldest,before the 17th century. Besides the well-preserved frescoes, the monastery is famous for its stained-glass windows and unique carvings. Like other monasteries, the Rozhen Monastery has its miraculous icon-protector (Virgin Mary). The icon is kept in a snatcher at the chapel "St. St. Kozma and Damian". According to the legend, the icon is one of the few copies of holy iron owned by a widow from Nicaea (Greece).

Availability for visits: Free, all year round

Transport accessibility: Road, Public Transport to Rozhen village

Tourist infrastructure: hotels, restaurants in Rozhen village, Tourist Information Centre - Sandanski, Tourist Information Centre - Melnik.