Bachkovo Monastery

The Bachkovo Monastery ( _bg. Бачковски манастир, "Bachkovski manastir", _ka. პეტრიწონის მონასტერი, "Petritsonis Monasteri") or Petritsoni Monastery in Bulgaria is an important monument of Christian architecture and one of the largestFact|date=August 2007 and oldestFact|date=August 2007 Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Europe. It is located on the right bank of the Chepelare River, 189 km from Sofia and 10 km south of Asenovgrad, and is directly subordinate to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The monastery is known and appreciated for the unique combination of Byzantine, Georgian and Bulgarian culture, united by the common faith.

History

The monastery was founded by Prince Gregorios Pakourianos or Grigol Bakurianis-dze, prominent Georgian statesman, military commander in Byzantine service, in 1083. Since the 13th century, Georgians lost their domination over the monastery, but nevertheless, Georgian traditions were preserved until the beginning of 14th century. However, there's also another version about Pakourianos's origin. Anna Comnena, an 11 c. A.D. historian, knew Pakourianos personally and stated in "Alexiada" that he was Armenian by descent but Orthodox by faith.

During the time of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Bachkovo Monastery was patronized by Tsar Ivan Alexander, which is evidenced by an image of him on the archs of the ossuary's narthex. Since the 11th century, a school was housed in the monastery.

It is believed that the founder of Tarnovo Literary School and last patriarch of the mediaeval Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Euthymius, was exiled by the Turks and died in the monastery in the early 15th century.

Although the monastery survived the first waves of Turkish invasion in Bulgarian lands, it was later looted and destroyed, but restored near the end of the 15th century. The refectory, whose mural paintings by an anonymous author bear a significant artistic value, was reconstructed in 1601 and the Church of Virgin Mary, still preserved today, was finished in 1604.

Bachkovo Monastery is the final resting place of both Patriarch Euthymius (1375–1393) and Patriarch Cyril (1953–1971).

Complex

The only part that has survived from the monastery's original structure is the ossuary, which has a specific architectural design and ancient frescoes, and is situated 300 m away from the contemporary monastery complex.

The Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary (dating from 1604) is the place where a valuable icon of the Virgin Mary Eleusa from 1310 is kept (brought from Georgia). According to the legend, the icon is wonder-working, attracting many pilgrims.

Another medieval church of the monastery is the Saint Archangels Church dating back to the 12th century, the ground floor of which was painted by Zahari Zograf and his students in 1841.

The museum of the monastery has a rich exhibition of church plate, icons, books, the sword of Friedrich Barbarossa, a sultan's firman from 1452, a wood-carved cross with miniatures. A fresco of the Doomsday, painted by Zahari Zograf in 1850, is retained in the Saint Nicholas Church and is thought of as one of the most interesting works of art of the Bulgarian National Revival.

The broad branches of a Diasperus Lotus tree, brought from Georgia more than two centuries ago, stretch over the courtyard.

Trivia

* Bachkovo Monastery is one of the locations in the 2005 bestseller novel "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova.

External links

* [http://www.pbase.com/ngruev/batchkovski Nikola Gruev's photo gallery of the Bachkovo Monastery]
* [http://www.bulgaria.com/resorts/monasteries/bachkovo/ Bulgaria.com page about the monastery]
* [http://www.bulgarianmonastery.com/bachkovo_monastery.html Bachkovo Monastery at BulgarianMonastery.com]
* [http://www.doaks.org/typikaPDF/typ032.pdf Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents]
* [http://stmaryofegypt.org/typika/typ032.html About Typicon]
* Anna Comnena. “The Alexiad”, Translated by E.R.A. Sewter, Pengium Books Ltd., London, 1969, (reprinted in 2003), Pp. 560. Оnline [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/AnnaComnena-Alexiad02.html]
* [http://www.universalis.fr/corpussearch.php Encyclopédie Universalis. Petritzos]