Troyan Monastery

Some 10 km east from Troyan, in immediate proximity to the beautiful region of Oreshak, is situated the Troyan Monastery “Uspenie Bogorodichno”. There are little facts known about its early history. Most research-workers think it was founded in the beginning of the 17th century. According to one lost story, its founder was a nameless monk-anchoret. The history of the Troyan Monastery is mostly related to the Bulgarian National Revival period. Eminent men of letters worked here during the mid-18th century, and a School was also founded. In 1872, Vassil Levski set up here a secret revolutionary committee, which was joined by all the monks headed by the Father Superior Macarius. Four years later, the monastery became a citadel of the 1876 April Uprising. But above all, the Troyan Monastery is known for the creative work of Zahari Zograph who painted both the exterior and the interior (a rare practice for the time) of the main church. It is a fine example of the impact of the popular conception of the world and the influence of housing architecture on religious construction. Here, Zahari Zograph repeated the social and moral "experiments" in religious painting (the compositions Doomsday and the Wheel of Life), left his second self-portrait signed with amazing self confidence in spite of the Ottoman bondage, and painted the figures of Bulgarian and Russian saints. Besides, he painted a completely secular group portrait of the monastic brotherhood in the refectory - something highly unusual for the time. The Troyan monastery’s museum collection contains various works of applied arts as well. The iconostasis of the main church is a masterpiece of woodcarving. Amazing in its originality, is the much earlier carving of the holy altar gates in the St. Nikola Chapel. The monastery's "printery" in which fine graphic works, including many landscapes, were made, was widely known.

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