Orthodox monasteries
Walking through the Bulgarian Orthodox monasteries is a journey back in time, it's like being able to approach history and touch it. But… What is the origin of the fascinating orthodox monasteries of Bulgaria?, this is a country with a strong Christian tradition. Almost every town has a Christian church. Christians have existed in Bulgarian lands since before the founding of the Bulgarian state in the 7th century, however most of the subjects of the First Kingdom of Bulgaria worshiped the pagan gods of the Slavs, the Bulgarians and the Thracians. In the middle of the 9th century, Prince Boris I realized the need to adopt the Christian faith and impose it as the main and only religion in the country.. The reasons were several, but the most important were that due to the differences between the different religious communities of the country that made Bulgaria perceive as a barbarian country, which isolated her from the rest of the world and was the reason for hostility towards her by other medieval states.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the oldest of the Slavic Orthodox churches and has greatly influenced the rest of the Slavic Orthodox world through its rich literary and cultural activity in the Middle Ages. , as well as the invention of the Cyrillic script in Bulgaria in the 9th century . The country has more than 5000 churches and 160 monasteries. Some Orthodox monasteries are not active, but others, almost without interruption, have operated for more than 1.000 years.
Large number of Bulgarian monasteries are located next to inaccessible peaks or enclosed by mountains and surrounded by incredible nature. Bulgarian monasteries are unique, due to its rich architecture , priceless icons and wall paintings, which are authentic masterpieces of medieval art.
Bulgarian monasteries were of great importance as centers where Bulgarian literature , culture and national values were preserved for centuries. Some of them played a key role in keeping the Bulgarian spirit and national identity alive despite five centuries of Ottoman yoke..
