Tatyana Solomatina

Rock Monasteries of Southeast Europe

Hello dear readers! Have you ever seen a monastery in a rock? Believe me, you will definitely enjoy a trip to such places. The feeling of unreality and spiritual uplift accompany all tourists already on the way to the Shrines.

Read about the most ancient rock monasteries in Southeast Europe. Perhaps someone would like to see them with their own eyes.

The rock monasteries of Europe use natural mountain formations in an unusual way. Their design uses caves and cavities in the rocky slopes of the mountains, created by erosion or made by human hands. The austere interior was ideally suited and served as stone cells for the reclusive life of the monks. Southeast Europe is extremely rich in such monasteries.

In some monastic complexes, the grottoes were converted into chapels, while in others, luxurious temples were built near the caves inhabited by monks. The inner walls of the monasteries in the rock are covered with colorful frescoes, originally from the Middle Ages. They represent the most common scenes from the life of Christ, Saints or portraits of the founders of monasteries. This type of work can be seen, among others, in the complex of temples in Ivanovo (Bulgaria).

There are monasteries and churches of varying degrees of preservation in Moldova, Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Georgia. Each of them is an interesting object of religious architecture that attracts many tourists. Which of them ended up on the list of the most beautiful and most important rock monasteries in Europe? Perhaps they will become interesting idea for the next vacation.

Montenegro: Ostrog Monastery

The monastery "Ostrog" in the rock is the most visited, as well as one of the largest attractions in Montenegro. The monastery was built and founded in the 17th century by St. Vasily Ostrozhsky. It is located in the Zeta Valley and is divided into the Lower part, located about an hour away, and the Upper part, in which the church itself is located.

Pilgrims and tourists come here not only because of the magnificent interior of the monastery and breathtaking scenery, but also because of the relics of the founder, which are considered miraculous.

Official site: http://manastirostrog.com/

81400 Niksic
PO Box 16
+382 68330336

Türkiye: Panagia Sumela Monastery

Panagia Sumela is the Orthodox monastery of St. Virgin Mary. It is located in the Trabzon region and is located at an altitude of 1200 meters above sea level on the slope of Mount Mela. Sumela consists of a series of rooms and chapels located in a huge cave in the rock. They are protected from the outside world by a high-rise building built in the 18th century, which contains more modern monastic cells and guest rooms.

Official site: http://www.muze.gov.tr/en

AltIndere Mahallesi, AltIndere Vadisi

61750 Macka/Trabzon

Georgia: David Gareji Monastery Complex

The complex of Georgian monasteries Orthodox Church is located in the southeastern part of Georgia, 30 km from Tbilisi, on the border with Azerbaijan. It consists of 19 medieval monasteries with 5,000 cells for monks. The oldest monastery is the Lavra, founded by the Christian monk David Gareji. You can visit the cave in the rock where he lived, and the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, where the tomb of the founder is now located.

The David Gareji monastery complex is also famous for its frescoes of the 13th century. The oldest of them is located in the main chapel of the Udabno monastery.

David Gareji Monastery, Rustavi-Jandara 12th km.

Georgia: Vardzia Monastery Complex

Vardzia is not just a monastery in the rock, but a whole rock city. Its location on a hillside made it invisible to enemies. The city, built in the 12th century by Queen Tamara, is now the main attraction of the Javakheti region.

The monastery complex itself consists of over 250 rooms on 13 levels. Having visited the rock monastery, one should not lose sight of the Church of the Assumption, which is best preserved in it. Its walls are covered with 12th-century frescoes depicting scenes from the New Testament and portraits of Queen Tamara. From the church, a dark tunnel leads to a spring called Tamara's Tears. To explore the tunnels of the monastery, you need to take a flashlight with you.

Türkiye: Selime Monastery in Cappadocia

Selime Monastery is located in the Ihlara Valley in southern Cappadocia. Carved into the rock by monks in the 12th century, it houses a cathedral-sized church. Inside the church there are two rows of columns that divide the entire space into three parts. The monastery is open to the public: you can walk along its mysterious passages and corridors. From the holes in the rock, tourists observe an unusually beautiful panorama of the Ihlara valley. The surrounding landscapes are reminiscent of scenes from Star Wars.

Bulgaria: Cave churches in Ivanovo

The complex in Ivanovo is a group of churches, chapels and monasteries in the rock. He gained his fame thanks to the icons of the 13th century. The best preserved temple of the Mother of God with frescoes depicting the Passion of Christ. The first buildings in the monastery complex date back to the 12th century. In the Middle Ages, it included more than 40 monasteries and 200 utility rooms. They were inhabited by monks until the 17th century. Today the monastery complex in Ivanovo is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Official page: http://www.museumruse.com/expositions/ivanovo_bg.htm

7088 Ivanovo, Bulgaria
+359 82 825 002

Bulgaria: Aladzha Monastery Complex

Aladzha is a complex of rock buildings. It is located just 3 km from the popular resort of Golden Sands and includes two churches, chapels, crypts, and numerous outbuildings: kitchens, cells and a cattle shed. Two levels of rooms are carved into the 40-meter rock and connected by an external staircase. The entrance to the complex costs 5 lev, for this money you can visit the nearby catacombs and an exhibition dedicated to archaeological finds around the monastery.

Complex page: http://www.bulgariamonasteries.com/aladja_manastir.html

Golden Sands Reserve, Varna, Bulgaria
+359 52 355 460

Bulgaria: Basarbovsky Monastery

One of the few monasteries in Bulgaria that has been completely restored. The Basarbovsky Monastery is located in the valley of the Rusenki Lom River, 10 km from the city of Ruse. In the complex you can see a church with a beautiful icon of the patron saint of the monastery, numerous cells in the rock and utility rooms. Next to it is a complex of churches in Ivanovo.

Moldova: Old Orhei Monastery

Moldova is a small but still little known and mysterious country between Ukraine and Romania. The Reut River in the village of Old Orhei creates a picturesque canyon. On a hill overlooking the valley, there is a church with a blue dome. A tunnel is laid from it, which leads to an underground monastery in the rock. In addition to this unusually beautiful monastery in Old Orhei, it is worth visiting the beautiful waterfalls, the way to which only the locals know.

Ukraine: Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv

The Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Caves Monastery, is a huge complex of Orthodox monasteries located on the Dnieper. It consists of more than 80 buildings: secular and spiritual. The golden domes create a dreamlike atmosphere and make the river valley sparkle. Many of the buildings have an underground network of corridors and caves that were inhabited by monks as early as the 11th century, and some of them have been converted into chapels and temples.

Official site: https://lavra.ua/

Kyiv, Ukraine, 01015, Lavrska street, 15

380 44 255 1105

Crimea: Inkerman cave monastery

The Inkerman cave monastery is part of a group of Orthodox monasteries located near the city of Inkerman in the western Crimea. The first hermit caves here date back to the 10th century, there were about two hundred of them then. In the 19th century they were adapted to monastery. Now tourists can visit the rock chapel, the Church of the Holy Trinity, the monastery of St. Clement at the Monastery Rock.

Sevastopol, 3rd Bastionnaya st., 25,

Crimea: Assumption Monastery

It is also known as the Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was founded in the 8th century, pilgrims were attracted by the icon of the Mother of God located here. For a long time, the Assumption Monastery was the center of Orthodoxy in the Crimea. In the 19th century, a number of churches were built and new caves were created in the rock. Currently, tourists can only visit half of the monastery. In the second part there is a monastery, the cells of which are closed to the layman.

Crimea, Bakhchisarai, st. Mariampol, 1

Rock monasteries are two in one: the call Orthodox soul and the music of architecture, frozen in stone. Whether it is the creation of human hands, or natural forces, caves and grottoes have become an excellent "host" for monastic complexes. Although not all of them are active, and not all of them have been preserved in their original form, but they are worth seeing, if only because they are magnificent! In addition to architectural beauty, they give us religious relics of distant centuries: beautiful frescoes and icons.

Perhaps you managed to visit some monastery in the rock? Share your impressions in the section "Journeys of readers". How to do it, wrote. There is an article on the blog, if you are interested in rock monasteries, then the information will be useful to you.

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On this I say goodbye to you, until we meet again!
Tatyana Solomatina

It was founded in 613 by St. Gall, an Irish student of St. Columban. Karl Martell appointed Othmar as abbot, who founded an influential art school in the monastery. Manuscripts made and illustrated by St. Gallen monks (many of whom were originally from Britain and Ireland) were highly valued throughout Europe.
Under Abbot Waldo of Reichenau (740-814), a monastery library was founded, one of the richest in Europe; during the invasion of the Hungarians in 924-933. the books were taken to Reichenau. At the request of Charlemagne, Pope Adrian I sent the best singers to St. Gallen, who taught the monks the technique of Gregorian chant.

In 1006, the brethren registered the outbreak of supernova SN 1006.

Starting from the X century, the monastery "" St. Galla entered into political rivalry with the monastery in Reichenau. By the 13th century, the abbots of St. Gallen not only won this confrontation, but also achieved recognition as independent sovereigns within the Holy Roman Empire. In subsequent years, the cultural and political significance of the monastery steadily declined, until in 1712 the Swiss militia entered St. Gallen, who took with them a significant part of the monastery treasures. In 1755-1768. the medieval buildings of the abbey were demolished and grandiose temples in the Baroque style grew in their place.

Despite the losses, the monastery library of medieval manuscripts now has 160 thousand items and is still reputed to be one of the most complete in Europe. One of the most curious exhibits is the Plan of St. Gall, drawn up in the beginning. 9th century and representing an idealized picture of a medieval monastery (this is the only architectural plan that has survived from the early Middle Ages).

The central place in the medieval monastery was occupied by the church, around which there were household and residential buildings. There was a common refectory(dining room), bedroom of monks, library, storage of books and manuscripts. A hospital was usually located in the eastern part of the monastery, and rooms for guests and pilgrims were located in the north. Any traveler could apply here for shelter, the charter of the monastery obliged to accept him. In the western and southern parts of the monastery there were barns, stables, a barn and a poultry yard.

The monks were not supposed to leave the threshold of the monastery. Communication with the outside world was undesirable for them, because it distracted from thoughts about the salvation of the soul. Therefore, the monastery lived a closed life, far from habitable places. Everything necessary for the existence of the monastery was within its boundaries. Often the monasteries were surrounded by a fence to protect them from wild animals. To manage the monastery, the monks chose the most learned and respected person from their number, he became abbot(father) of the monastery. material from the site

medieval monastery

Monk - copyist of books

On this page, material on the topics:

The monasteries of the Ovčarsko-Kablarsky gorge in the Western Morava are called the “Serbian Athos” - this is how St. Nicholas of Serbia wrote about them. But they owe their name not only to the great theologian. In the XIV century, Athos monks founded a real monastic republic here.

On August 27, the church remembers one of the founders of the Kiev Caves Monastery - Saint Theodosius Pechersky. His life and chronicle sources give us the opportunity to follow the first steps of Russian monasticism and see how the monastic life was arranged.

My ancestors by paternal line there were priests in the Diocese of Kursk. The parish was passed on to the eldest son, and the rest of the boys in the family were officers in the army. My father and his three brothers graduated from the seminary. But in revolutionary times, they all decided not to become either priests or soldiers. The father became a doctor. And what is surprising is that after that, mostly girls began to be born in the family, and boys died in infancy! So I'm the last one in our family. And so the circle closed on me - I had the honor to defend the Motherland and serve the Church

Even before the middle of the 20th century, almost no one in Belgium heard about Orthodoxy, and if they did, they considered it a sect. Today the only male Orthodox monastery countries in the name of the icon Mother of God"Joy of All Who Sorrow" (Moscow Patriarchate) - one of the main pilgrimage centers for all Belgian Christians

For centuries, they were exiled to the harsh Solovetsky Islands, in the 20th century the whole land was saturated with the blood and tears of prisoners. So why do people come here today to feel special freedom and peace? Why do they return from year to year and talk about a special "Solovki syndrome"? Answers in the report "NS" about today's Solovki. PHOTO GALLERY

On January 23 and June 29, the transfer of the relics of St. Theophan the Recluse is celebrated. More than ten years have passed since the day when his relics were returned to the Kazan temple of the Vyshensky monastery, in which he lived the last 23 years of his life without leaving his cell

Our correspondent visited the monastery where St. Theophan the Recluse spent the last 23 years of his life and wrote his most significant works. What does this place look like? In addition to the previous article, we publish a photo report from Vysha and the famous Assumption Monastery near Ryazan

Probably, there is no such Russian person who has not heard anything about Reverend Sergius Radonezh. The disciples of the monk and the inhabitants of the monastery he founded, which later became the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, founded hundreds of monasteries throughout Russia, so the Lavra can be considered a missionary monastery

Pskov-Caves Monastery- the only one in Russia that has never closed. Few people know that during the last threat of its closure in the Khrushchev era, the front-line monks were ready to defend the monastery from the atheists, like Stalingrad from the Nazis. Their determination was not put to shame. A miracle happened.

On the evening of Sunday, August 5, two Valaam monks, George and Ephraim, were riding a motor scooter to Monastyrskaya Bay to meet another pilgrimage group from Moscow. Only 200 meters separated them from the pier, when a Gazelle jumped out from behind the turn. Georgy, who was driving, had a fraction of a second to think: on the right - a mountain, on the left - a cliff. Waving the steering wheel left and right, he threw off his friend, but he himself did not manage to evade the blow. George died in the hospital without regaining consciousness.

Western monasticism began in the 4th century. where the sweet life flows today - in Marseille and Cannes. Watch a report from the Abbey of Saint-Victor, founded by St. John Cassian the Roman, the same age as the laurels of Palestine. PHOTO GALLERY

"Here the fire of monastic service has never been extinguished" - said about the Pukhtitsky monastery His Holiness Patriarch Kirill during a visit to Estonia. In Soviet times, it was one of the few convents which has never closed. See our photo essay on modern life Pyukhtits

In Kolomna, near Moscow, there is a museum, the exhibits of which you need to taste - this is the Museum of Kolomna marshmallow. It consists of just one room in the wing of the merchant's house, where guests are seated at tables served for tea, they tell stories about the provincial life of Kolomna Posad in the middle of the 19th century and are treated to marshmallow, of their own production.

October 20 marks 200 years since Napoleon's army left Moscow. We present a gallery of icons from the exhibition "In memory of deliverance from the invasion of the Gauls ...". Russian Icon on the Eve of the Patriotic War of 1812”, held at the Andrei Rublev Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art.

On the occasion of the anniversary of victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, Franz Roubaud’s painting “The Battle of Borodino” was restored in Moscow, the “Honor of Borodino Day” exposition and interactive programs were prepared, and the atmosphere and atmosphere of the council in Fili were recreated

Participants of the international museum project "Disappearing Masterpieces" made recommendations on the preservation of monuments of wooden architecture in order to submit them to the Commission for Culture and Preservation of the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. Scientists believe that this is the last opportunity to draw the attention of the state to the problem

This year we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812, the strange war between Russia and Napoleon, in which the invincible commander, accompanied by 200,000 people, traveled in vain from the banks of the Neman to the Moskva River, failing to truly realize his military talents. We are starting the publication of a series of essays on the Patriotic War of 1812. The first of them, of course, is dedicated to the beginning of the war.
April 7 (20) - the day of the death of the Monk Abbot Daniel, the founder of the Trinity Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky. Hegumen Daniel chose for himself an unusual obedience, which he carried secretly from everyone - the repose of the unburied dead, found by him in the vicinity of the city

On October 19, 1745, very strange things happened in Dublin - thousands of people buried the dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, who did not serve for a long time while in London, had a very confusing personal life, offered mothers to fatten babies for sale and was passionately involved in politics. Every person in Russia knows this unusual priest today. His name was Jonathan Swift.

Address: Switzerland, St. Gallen
Foundation date: according to legend, 613
Main attractions: monastery library
Coordinates: 47°25"24.9"N 9°22"38.8"E

One of the most interesting sights of the eastern part of Switzerland can rightfully be called the monastery of St. Gall.

Monastery of Saint Gall from a bird's eye view

This majestic and, to be honest, a little gloomy building, which is sure to attract the attention of lovers of ancient monuments of history and culture, is located in the Swiss city of St. Gallen. This small town, by modern standards, is the capital of one of the many cantons of Switzerland and is proud of its coat of arms, with a formidable bear depicted on it, on the neck of which a collar of pure gold is worn.

By the way, a guide conducting excursions in Switzerland will definitely tell the group that the coat of arms of St. Gallen is closely related to its main attraction, the monastery of St. Gall, and to be extremely precise, then with Saint Gall himself. According to an ancient legend, during one of the travels of Saint Gall, a bear attacked his camp: the saint was not at a loss and simply called the bear, who, as if spellbound, approached the fire and threw dry branches into it. The fire flared up even stronger, warming the tired traveler, and the bear, as a reward for obedience, the saint gave most of his stocks of bread.

General plan of the monastery

Nowadays, you can always meet tourists near the monastery: the thing is that this monastery and its interesting story known far beyond the borders of the European country. The most priceless treasure on our planet is kept behind the walls of the monastery of St. Gall. No, these are not gold bars or tiaras adorned with countless precious stones: the monastery stores the knowledge accumulated by mankind over a long period of time. In the building that every resident of the capital of the canton is proud of, which, by the way, has the same name as the city - St. Gallen, there is a unique library of its kind.

According to the unanimous opinion of historians, this Swiss library is considered one of the oldest collections of books in the world. For this reason, the monastery of St. Gall, with its annexes and, of course, the library, was included in the legendary UNESCO World Heritage List. This library attracts travelers like a magnet, and there is nothing surprising in this: priceless copies of books that are more than 1000 years old are kept outside the walls of the monastery. It is interesting that out of more than 170,000 books and folios, only 50,000 are available for inspection. This is due to the fact that many books, due to their age, need a constant microclimate. In the hall, where 50,000 books are displayed on the shelves, you can also admire ... the real mummies brought by archaeologists from Egypt. People whose bodies were embalmed and eventually ended up in the library of the monastery of St. Gall died almost 3,000 (!) years ago.

monastery cathedral

Monastery of Saint Gall history

Surprisingly, the monastery of St. Gall at one time was considered the largest and most famous among similar Benedictine monasteries in the whole Old World! Naturally, like many architectural monuments Throughout its history, the monastery has been rebuilt many times. No wonder, because even the city, in the center of which the building rises, was founded in the 7th century. Tradition says that the founder of the monastery is Saint Gall himself, who performed many miracles. It was this saint who built a cell in the town in the year 613, where he could live modestly and pray to God. Based on official documents, which, despite the inexorable course of time, miraculously survived in the library, experts argue that the founder of the monastery of St. Gall is not the saint himself, but a certain Otmar, who is mentioned in ancient manuscripts as the rector of the sacred structure.

The monastery of St. Gall has gained popularity not only in its own town, but also far beyond its borders. Thousands of pilgrims went to him, many of whom were wealthy people and could afford large donations. Thanks to these donations, the monastery of St. Gall in record time becomes a kind of religious center that influences not only St. Gallen, but also the surrounding area.

Wealth, calculated not only in spiritual texts and legends, but also in gold, allows the monastery in the 9th century to rewrite various religious texts and publish interpretations of the Bible. It was at that time, or rather in the year 820, and the legendary library of the monastery of St. Gall was founded. All this became possible because the monastery of the city of St. Gallen in 818 began to report directly to the emperor. Numerous uprisings threatened the monastery more than once. total destruction: even the indigenous inhabitants of the city in which, in fact, he was, tried to destroy an architectural structure that has unlimited power. In the middle of the 15th century, considered a turning point for all of Switzerland, the city of St. Gallen and the monastery of St. Gall were assigned to the Swiss Union. It is interesting that they were assigned separately, as if they were talking about different territorial units.

The abbot of the monastery of St. Gall was also a politician: he refused to obey the Swiss Union and, despite the fact that the building was officially part of it, maintained close ties and fulfilled all the requirements of the Roman Empire. However, this state of affairs did not last long: the Reformation passed a law in 1525 providing for the dissolution of the monastery. A little more than thirty years, the monastery of St. Gall experienced difficult times, but already at the end of the 16th century, the building, once built on the site of a monastic cell, becomes ... the center of the principality!

From the 16th to the 18th century, the monastery of St. Gall, using its influence, is constantly enriched. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the abbot decides to rebuild the monastery. It was supposed to have a facade and interior decoration that fully met the fashion of that era. Designing the monastery in the popular baroque style was entrusted to two architects: Johann Beer and Peter Toumba. These were last years the heyday of the monastery of St. Gall: in France in 1789, a revolution took place that stirred up all of Europe. All the lands belonging to it are taken away from the monastery and completely deprived of power. After the emergence of the Swiss canton of St. Gallen with the capital of the same name, the monastery is dissolved, its former splendor, grandeur and influence remain in the past.

Monastery of St. Gall in our time

Nowadays, a tourist who has arrived in the small but cozy town of St. Gallen can see a neat building with a strict facade. As mentioned above, despite the fact that the monastery was rebuilt in the 18th century in the Baroque style, it still looks a little gloomy.

Now it's cathedral church divided into two parts by a rotunda. The traveler will be interested to know that the eastern crypt is the only element that remains from a building dating back as far as the 9th century! Everything else in the monastery of St. Gall is an 18th century "remake". By the way, according to legend, Saint Gall himself was buried in this crypt, but his grave has not yet been found, which means that this information cannot be called reliable. But the grave of the first abbot of the monastery Otmar remained untouched, the remains of his successors lie near it.

In the church, which will surely interest travelers with its interior decoration in the Rococo style, services continue to this day. Parishioners can offer their prayers to God near the lattice, which is trimmed with gold, and some parts of it are painted turquoise. By the way, this lattice at one time performed a certain function: it separated ordinary mortals from the premises where the monks lived and prayed (by the way, rather non-poor monks).

Sports ground on the territory of the monastery

There is nothing surprising in the fact that the most popular place among tourists is the western wing. The outbuilding, which houses the world-famous library. One has only to imagine that among its collection there are almost 500 books written even before the Savior came to our world. The library is also proud of its dictionary, thanks to which many words and sayings can be translated from Latin into German. This dictionary was created by masters (and earlier books were published exclusively by masters), back in 790. This fact suggests that the oldest German book is stored in a small Swiss town. Still not recovering from what he saw in the library, the tourist immediately finds himself in the lapidarium, which is also located in the western wing. In it, on shelves made of strong wood, there are priceless finds discovered during archaeological expeditions. No less interesting will be the huge collection of paintings that do not hang on the walls, but also stand on special shelves. In the same wing there is also the residence of the bishop, in which you can still see the remains of the former grandeur and wealth of the monastery of St. Gall.