Iskretskiy Monastery of the Assumption of the Mother of God description and photos - Bulgaria: Sofia (Topic)

Iskretsky Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin description and photos - Bulgaria: Sofia. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

The Iskretsky Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin is located in the western part of the Balkan Mountains, about 2 km east of the village of Iskrets. The monastery was founded in the XIII century, but a century later, during the years of Ottoman slavery, it was destroyed by the Turks. Around the 17th century, the building was restored and used first as a chapel, and only later - from 1834 - again as a monastery cloister. Currently, it is not a functioning monastery.

Of the buildings that were part of the monastery complex, the building of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin has survived to this day. It is a one-nave, domeless basilica with a semi-cylindrical apse. The walls of the building are reinforced with buttresses made of large stones. The main part of the temple, which has a length and width of 8.7 and 5 meters, respectively, was built at the beginning of the 17th century (1602). In 1846, a vestibule measuring 10 x 7.4 meters was added to it. The church is devoid of any external decorations, but inside you can see old frescoes dating from the 17th and 19th centuries: three different images of Christ. The altar apse contains the image of the Mother of God and the scene "The Day of the Holy Trinity". In the narthex there are paintings "Apocalypse", "The Revelation of John the Theologian". A number of frescoes ("The Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee" and others) adorn the walls of the vestibule.

Next to the church there is a small heptagonal stone building - a confessional. It was built in 1856 and is one of a kind. Inside, the walls of the confessional are painted.

Another surviving building is a two-storey building intended for living, with a massive stone basement and a small attic.

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Topic: Iskretskiy Monastery of the Assumption of the Mother of God description and photos - Bulgaria: Sofia.