Troyan Monastery

The Bulgarian Troian monastery, named “Assumption of Virgin Mary”, lies 10 km to the southeast of the old Balkan town of Troyan. Built at about 400 meters above sea level, the biggest monastery in the Balkan mountains is surrounded by wonderful forests and the Cherni Osam river, which makes the place even more compelling. The monastery’s complex is quite developed as a tourist site with plenty of shopping outlets, restaurants and entertainment facilities in the neighbourhood.

The first traces of religious life in the area date back to the end of the 16th century, or according to some – to an even earlier time around the end of the second Bulgarian state (turn of the 14th century), when the very town of Troyan was founded. According to the monastery’s chronicles, kept by an unknown monk, the monastery was started by a hermit who came to the place and built himself a simple cottage some years after the fall of the second Bulgarian state. The monk quickly won the respect of the local people who started visiting him for prayer and advice. Later on, he built a church consecrated to the Holy Virgin.

In the Troian monastery were tought and had been hidding (during the Ottoman yoke) many great Bulgarian writers, teachers and translators, including historians such as the monk Spirodon, author of the second book on the Bulgarian history (1792). It was also linked to the Bulgarians’ struggle against the Ottoman rule. Similarly to other monasteries, the Troyan one also hosted frequently the famous Bulgarian Apostle of Freedom, Vassil Levski. He formed revolutionary committees not only in the town of Troyan, but also at the monastery itself. The monastery’s secret committee numbered about 80 monks and was lead by archimandrite Makari. During the Liberation Russian-Turkish war, Makari transformed the monastery into a field hospital for Russian soldiers and provided the Russians with all possible medical assistance.