The Rozhen monastery is situated in the lower part of the Pirin Mountains about 5km from the small town of
Melnik and the famous pyramid hills.
Rozhen Monastery Bulgaria |
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Founded on ix c. it is one of the few Bulgarian monasteries of the Middle Ages which has survived relatively intact.
The present day appearance dates back to the xvi c. The monastery has an irregular form, with residential buildings surrounding a beautiful
courtyard with the church lying in the centre. The monks
dining room is the oldest of all the monastery buildings. The church of Virgin Mary
Birth, entirely renovated in xviii c, has given the name to the nearby village of Rozhen (Rozhen coming from the root of the Bulgarian word for birth, ‘Rozhdenie’). Above the church entrance gate there are beautiful paintings of Christ Pantocrator together with the twelve apostles (xvi c) and, in the external southern wall, paintings of the
doomsday and Jacob's Ladder (xvii c). Besides the well preserved wall paintings, the monastery is famous for its carved iconostases.
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Rozhen Monastery Bulgaria
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Like other monasteries, the Rozhen has also its miraculous icon of Virgin Mary, kept in one of the chapels of the complex. According to the legend, it is one of the few copies of a sacred icon, survived to the times of persecution of the icon worship by Byzantine’s emperor
Theophilus.
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