Kazanlak monastery Blessed Virgin

According to legends the start of the Kazanlak monastery is set in 1828 by local Susana Gencheva, who was a nun in Kalofer convent Blessed Virgin. She had a dream that Virgin Mary advised her to return to her hometown and to establish a monastery there. She gathered eight girls from Kazanlak for novices and began to train them to worship and handiwork. Originally created convent is housed in the house of the famous merchant of rose oil Ivancho Klatnata. One of the girls - Sister Zenobia Stancheva is considered the founder of the monastery. She along with several nuns managed to collect funds from Bulgarian entrepreneurs in Romania, Russia, Serbia, Austria and Istanbul, to build a church and monastic cells. With the support of the St. Petersburg Metropolitan Isidor in 1866 the construction of the monastery church "Blessed Virgin," which is illuminated by the Turnovo Greek bishop Athanasius is completed. The temple was built by Debar masters and is unique of its kind in Bulgaria, representing a cross building without a single column. During the Liberation War (1877-1878), Kazanlak monastery was used by the Turks as a store of food. After the liberation the monastery reopened and expanded through the construction of new buildings. (photo: www.pravoslavieto.com)