Kokalyane Monastery St. Archangel Michael

Kokalyane monastery, also known as Urvich monastery, is situated in the picturesque Plana Mountain near Sofia. According to the legend it existed as early as the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, as the story tells it was constructed during the reign of Tsar Samuil. Like most Bulgarian cloisters, the Kokalyane monastery was burned down and ruined after the Ottomans conquered Bulgaria. In 16th century the local people restored the monastery and it became spiritual center of the region. Later the monastery was destroyed again and rebuilt after the Liberation (1878). Today the church is situated in the center of the courtyard, and is a big single-nave construction. Beside the church, the complex includes two more buildings. A famous relic, the so-called Urvich Collection, consisting of laudatory words for Archangels Michael and Gabriel written by the famous man of letters Saint Clement of Ohrid was found in the Kokalyane monastery. In 1969, the monastery was declared a monument of culture.

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