Lopushanski Monastery

The Lopushanski monastery is located 300 m above see level, in the Chiprovtzi part of the Stara Planina 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. 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.

Around 1850, a villager from the nearby village of Lopushna, Atanas, and a priest named Petko from the village of Glavanovtsi decided to rebuild the monastery. The cleaned up the place, built a cottage and hanged an old icon into it. Other people also started to come to the place and put their efforts into the reconstruction. Thus, the Lopushanski monastery obtained a similar look to its present-day one in 1853. It became a favourite place of the renowned Bulgarian poet and writer, Ivan Vazov, who created a part of his world famous novel, Under the Yoke, while staying at the monastery.