Popular Name

Glozhene Monastery

Orthodox Name

St. George the Victorious

Region

Lovech

Location

Location - Glozhene Monastery

The Glozhene monastery is located amid the natural beaties of the Northern Balkan mountains. Despite its name, it is in fact closer to the village of Malak Izvor, than to the neoghbouring village of Glozhene. It is built right on top of a mount and resembles a castle when viewed from a distance.

History

According to the monastery’s annals, the cloister was built in the 13th century by the Ukrainian prince Glozh, who settled in the area with the agreement and help of the Bulgarian king Ivan Assen II. Close to the village of Glozhene (named after him) and the river of Cherni Vit, Prince Glozh established a cloister, dedicated to St George the Victorious, an icon of whom he carried with him on all the way from the Ukrainian lands. According to the legend, shortly after the establishment of the monastery, the icon repeatedly disappeared from the cloister, only to be found later on a hill not far away from the village where currently lies the present-day monastery. Those inexplicable disappearances of the icon were interpreted by the monks as a god’s sign that the monastery had to be moved to the hills, which they eventually did in the end of the 14th century. For a short period of time, the two monasteries existed and functioned in parallel, connected by an underground tunnel. This underground shortcut was used more than once by the Apostle of Freedom, Vassil Levski as an escape route while fleeing from his Ottoman persecutors. Unfortunately, the tunnel was filled up and became unusable after an earthquake in 1928. Besides Vassil Levski, the monastery also hosted the famous Bulgarian man of letters, Vassil Drumev, King Ferdinand, who is a baptised catholic, ordered that the passionate orthodox Drumev was kept into custody in the monastery after a religion-based clash between the two. Drumev was kept prisoner in the monastery over 15 months, during which his diet consisted of salted fish and fresh water, complemented by other food given him secretly by the pitiful monks through an unnoticeable hole in the ceiling. Vassil Drumen was set free after the fall of the Stambolov government. The monastery church was beautifully decorated with wall paintings, which unfortunately existed only until 1913 when an earthquake ruined completely the church. The present-day church was built in 1951 in the place of the preceding one and represents a relatively narrow but a high building.

Accommodation

The complex of the Glozhene monastery offers accommodation, with the price at the time of our visit (spring of 2004) being 7 levs per person in a double room. Food is not offered though, and there is neither any restaurant or pub in the neighbourhood.

Transport

The offroad to the Glozhene monastery is close to the Yablanitsa town, off the Sofia-Varna main road. Shortly after one takes the offroad, one needs to take the way to the village of Malak Izvor and ride about 5km down a picturesque dirty but good road, with steep rocks one the one side, and a deep abyss on the other.

Photo Gallery

glozhene_monastary_front.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - front view
glozhene_monastary3.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - view from the yard
glozhene_monastary_church_inside.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - inside the church
glozhene_monastary_church_inside_2.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - inside the church
glozhene_monastary_church_outside.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - the church outside
glozhene_monastary_drumev_prizon.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - V. Drumev's prison
glozhene_monastary_levski_skrivalishte.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - V. Levski's hiding-place
glozhene_monastary_view.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - far view
glozhene_monastary_yard.jpg
Glozhene Monastery - the yard

Ratings

History: 8.01

Architecture: 9.73

Location: 9.92

Overall Rating: 9.21

Our Presentation: 8.69

Total Votes: 83

Rate this Monastery

History:
Architecture:
Location:
Overall Rating:
Our Presentation:

Comments

Accomodation and food

Posted by Álvaro on 2015-03-16 16:24:55

Hi, Could you provided the updated Price for one night there? And the restaurant info also :) Thank you!


Monastery information

Posted by M.Efstratiou on 2015-01-29 15:40:51

It is a pitty that hte information you provide is not updated. Accommodtion is not offered at that price, and there is a restaurant.


All Monasteries