Lopushanski Monastery Bulgaria - Travel Guide, Tours, Hotels and Photos - Pictures of Bulgaria

Location:
The Lopushanski monastery is situated at 300m above sea level in the Chiprovtsi part of the Balkan mountain. It is impressive for its architecture, proportions and stone plastics, while the visit is long remembered for the wonderful mountainous nature in the neighbourhood.

About the monastery:
Once upon a time, the place of the present-day monastery was occupied by another cloister, built during the second Bulgarian state and ruined completely at the time of the Ottoman invasion in the second half of the 14th century. According to a legend, the monastery’s watermill run with waters of the Ogosta river often hosted ‘hajduti’ (i.e. Bulgarian rebels during the Ottoman rule). Once, a father and a daughter set off from the nearby village on their way to the monastery. Yet a Turk started chasing them in the middle of the road and the two hid into the monastery, where the Ognyan ‘voevoda’ (leader of haiduti) was also taking a rest there at that time. The legend further tell that the Turk also got to the watermill and assalted the girl. At that moment, Ognyan jumped out of his hiding place and slayed the Turk with an axe. The voevoda and the family hid the dead body of the Turk into a pile of manure behind the building but unfortunately, the hound of the Turk witnessed numbly the entire scene. The dog ran back to the town of Berkovitsa and started howling in front of the house of its owner. Concerned that something might have happened to their family member, the Turk’s relatives set off after the hound and were led to the watermill, where they eventually found the body. Enfuriated, the local Turkish authorities set the monastery on fire and slaughtered all the monks save for one who succeeded to flee away into present-day Serbia.