Bachkovo Monastery, Orthodox monastery in Plovdiv Province, Bulgaria
Bachkovo Monastery is a stavropegic monastery in the Chepelare River valley, 10 km south of Asenovgrad. Its stone complex has two rectangular courtyards: the north original one and the south added in the 1830s. The main Church of the Dormition, rebuilt in 1604, has a three-aisled cruciform domed plan with three pentagonal apses.
Founded in 1083 by Gregory Pakourianos, a Georgian commander in Byzantine service, the monastery was a Georgian monastic centre where Ioane Petritsi worked; his typikon barred Greeks from the community. Tsar Ivan Alexander patronised it in the 14th century, and Patriarch Euthymius was exiled here after 1393. The ossuary alone survives from the original complex; the Church of the Dormition was rebuilt in 1604 and the refectory in 1601.
The name comes from the nearby village of Bachkovo, where the monastery has stood since its foundation. Visitors today can view 17th-century frescoes in the refectory and both churches, depicting everyday scenes and biblical themes in bright colors.
Visitors can enter the courtyard and main churches on most days, but should wear modest clothing. Holidays and services in the morning and early evening often draw many worshippers inside.
The ossuary stands 300 m from the main complex and is the only surviving part of the original 1083 foundation. Its two identical floors each hold a narthex, a single nave and an apse; the ground floor crypt has 14 burial niches. The upper church, Holy Trinity, is semicircular inside and pentagonal outside, with brick-and-stone banding and eight blind niches.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,590 contributors worldwide.
