Dryanovo Monastery

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It is located in North Bulgaria 5 km southwest of the town of Dryanovo and 15 km from the town of Gabrovo. Next to it leads an asphalt road. It is served by the Bacho Kiro railway station, which until October 20, 1949, is called St. Archangel, on the Rousse-Momchilgrad railway line.



History of Dryanovo Monastery

The monastery gorge has an ancient history. The first people settled it in early prehistoric times. They inhabit the caves of the Boruna massif and the cavities in the stone wreath Polichkata. The oldest is the settlement of the primitive man in the Bacho Kiro cave, dating from the middle and late period of the Stone Age (100 000 – 10 000 BC). Archaeologists explore a 5-meter cultural layer and reveal over 6,000 finds. The cave is well-developed and adapted for visits by tourists.

Urban and cultural traditions continue to develop in the copper and bronze epochs when people settle their homes in the stone apertures and the cavities of the Polichkata. From the beginning of the Old Iron Age to the Antiquity, the local inhabitants are Thracians who remain on the outskirts of the famous Thracian state unions and have a much poorer culture than their compatriots.



n the early Byzantine era, the strategic importance of the Balkan Mountains is increasing, the economic and cultural upturn is accelerating. In the canyons of the rivers, the Romans build fortresses in Boruna and Grada, because they appreciate the good opportunity to control the passages and roads in Central Stara Planina. The Byzantines abandoned fortresses in the 5th century, when the Fore Balkan entered the territory of Slavic tribes. The same began to be used in the 10th century and entered the domains of the most popular feudal masters in Northern Bulgaria – the future rulers of Assen.

The fortresses “Boruna” and “The City” are key units and a final defense barrage for the Bulgarian capital Tarnovgrad.

The medieval cloister “St. Arahangel Michael “was founded during the reign of Tsar Kaloyan, after the transfer of the relics of St. Michael the Vault from Popuka to Turnovgrad (1197 – 1207). The procession stayed near the Dryanovska River below the City, and a monastery was erected on the Christian canons in the sacred place. Over the centuries the Dryanovo Monastery is the center of Bulgarian education and culture.


 


In today’s place he was restored in 1845. Like other monasteries, he was the guardian of the Bulgarian spirit during the five centuries of Ottoman domination. In it were found refuge Vasil Ivanov Kunchev – Levski, Father Matthew Preobrazhenski – Mitkaloto and other revolutionaries. A revolutionary committee was set up in the monastery.

The monastery plays a major role in the preparation of the April Uprising in the First Turnovo District, there are piled up stocks of food and weapons. On April 29, 1876, in the Dryanovo Monastery entered the detachment of Pop Hariton – the first rebel squad in Tarnovo County and Bulgaria. Encircled by the Turks lead a 9-day battle and most die for the freedom of Bulgaria. The destroyed and burnt monastery was restored partially and on April 3, 1877, its main temple was solemnly lit. Abbot Pahomi Stoyanov served the first pansy for the queens who died. The temple is without frescoes, with a Turkish bullet pierced by a bullet and holes from the Turkish shrapnel in the walls, consciously left by the builders, so as not to forget the past and the Bulgarian suffering. The grateful descendants erected a monument ossuary in 1897 of the perished rebels. The ossuary was built on the project of the Italian Giovanni Mosuti. The project was ready in 1890, as the statue was made in Rome by Luke Arditi. In 1946, the Gabrovo industrialist, public figure, donor and German vice consul Kolyo Karagyozov brought a donation of 50000 leva to the monastery’s cashier to make a new iconostasis in the church.

The modern monastery is among the 10 most revered shrines of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, a national historical monument and a preferred tourist destination.

April 14, 2010

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