Обратно St Virgin Mary Monastery

St Virgin Mary Monastery is situated in lovely woodlands at the foot of Mt Mourgash in the Balkan Mountains, some 4 km from the village of Eleshnitsa and is easily accessed via an asphalt- paved road.

The earliest surviving evidence of the monastery dates back to the 16th century. In the early 17th century, in the days of St Pimen Zograph, the monastery was part of the spiritual revival of Sofia Holy Mount. Local artists painted the church with frescoes, a large number of which have survived till date.

The iconostasis, with surviving icons from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, has been preserved, too.

The church has been skillfully restored recently, as well.

 

The monasteries are in different states of preservation – from completely destroyed to fully functioning. The common thing among them is their initial monastic vocation and the fact that they are in the gravitational field of the Bulgarian capital.
How many are the monasteries of Sofia Holy Mount?
They number approximately 40, but a definite figure is impossible to set down, as archaeological remains of ancient monasteries continue to be found nowadays too; new ones are being erected as well.
Here is the current list of the monasteries of Sofia Holy Mount:

Balsha Monastery of St Theodore Stratelates Bistritsa Monastery of St Petka Bistritsa Monastery of Sts Joachim and Anna Boyana Monastery of Sts Nikola and Panteleymon Buhovo Monastery of St Michael the Archangel
Buhovo Monastery of St Mary Magdalene Vladaya Monastery of St Petka German Monastery of St John of Rila Gorna Banya Monastery of Sts Kiryl and Methodius Gorni Bogrov Monastery of St George
Divotino Monastery of the Holy Trinity Dolni Bogrov Monastery of Sts Peter and Paul Dragalevtsi Monastery of Virgin Mary of Vitosha Darvenitsi Monastery of St Eliah Eleshnisa Monastery of St Virgin Mary of Vitosha
Ilientsi Monastery of St Elijah the Prophet Klisura Monastery of St Petka Kladnitsa Monastery of St Nicholas Knyazhevo Monastery of St Apostle Luke Kokalyane Monastery of St Michael the Archangel
Katina Monastery of the Holy Forty Martyrs Kurilo Monastery of St John of Rila Lozen Monastery of the Holy Trinity Lozen Monastery of St Saviour Lozen Monastery of St Dimitar
Lozen Monastery of Sts Peter and Paul Kazichene Monastery of the Nativity of Virgin Mary Kremikovtsi Monastery of St George Marchaevo Monastery of the Holy Trinity Obradovtsi Monastery of St Mina
Obradovtsi Monastery of the Three Saints Pancharevo Monastery of St Nicholas Letni Pasarel Monastery of Sts Peter and Paul Podgumer Monastery of St Dimitar Ravno Pole Monastery of the Holy Forty Martyrs
Seslavtsi Monastery of St Nicholas Suhodol Monastery of the Holy Trinity Chelopech Monastery of St Virgin Mary Chepintsi Monastery of the Three Saints Shiyakovtsi Monastery of St Michael the Archangel