Klisura Monastery

The Klisura monastery stands out in a picturesque place in the western part of the Balkan mountain, at the feet of the Todorini Kukli peak and close to the holiday town of Vurshets.

The Klisura monastery dates back to the time of the Second Bulgarian State. It was built in 1240, but during the Ottoman rule, it was destroyed numerous times. In 1862, on the very holiday of St St Cyril and Metodii, the cloister was burnt to ashes while all monks and pilgrims were slaughtered by a Turkish pasha, Yusuf Bey Pasha from the town of Berkovitsa, and his soldiers. The monastery was rebuilt in a design similar to its present-day Renaissance one in 1869 by its first donor, archimandrite Antim Damyanov while the church, St St Cyril and Metodii, was officially consecrated in 1891 by Vidin's metropolitan bishop.

Apart from the two churches, the complex includes also 3 spacious residential buildings, a big farmyard and a kitchen, which surround a inner yard. In 2000, a so-called ‘live water’, coming from the Todorini Kukli mountain peak, was found in the holy spring of the monastery. The spring water is believed to possess the ability to cure ill people.

The Klisura monastery offers perfect conditions for a peaceful holiday. It has 80 beds and two apartments, the prices range from 8 levas a bed in a room to 10 levas a bed in an apartment (in the spring of 2004). All rooms have their own bathrooms. The restaurant of the monastery offers traditional Bulgarian kitchen cooked with products of the monastery’s farm. In addition to food and accommodation, the monastery’s staff also offer mountain hiking, horse riding, and folklore performances (including the baking of ritual bread).

If one departs from Sofia, the Klisura monastery is easiest to reach down the road to the town of Montana, which crosses the Petrohan pass in the Balkan mountain. About 3km after one passes through the town of Burziya, one needs to take the road to the town of Vurshets. Some 5km down this road one reaches to the offroad leading to the gates of the monastery. The entire way is asphalt and signed.