Glozhene Monastery, Orthodox monastery in Stara Planina, Bulgaria

The Glozhene Monastery is an Orthodox monastery in the western Balkan Mountains at 870 meters altitude, perched directly on the edge of a cliff above the Cherni Vit river. The complex includes the main church, residential buildings for the monks, and guest rooms built into the slope and connected by narrow paths.

According to tradition, Prince Georgi Glozh founded the monastery in 1224 after receiving land from Ivan Asen II, bringing an icon of Saint George from Kievan Rus. The icon repeatedly disappeared and reappeared on a nearby hill, so the monastery was moved there near the end of the 14th century. The church, built after the monastery's creation, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1913; the present church was built in 1951 on the old foundations.

The name comes from Prince Georgi Glozh, who founded the monastery in the 13th century. Monks live here following Orthodox rules and welcome pilgrims who pray before the icons and light candles.

Access is via a narrow road from the village of Glozhene that winds uphill in hairpin turns. Overnight stays are available for a donation, and the site is open year-round, though the road can become slippery in winter.

The monastery's two sites, the old one and the later one on the rock, existed in parallel for a short time and were linked by a tunnel. Vasil Levski used this tunnel during his secret missions; it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1928. Two old seals from the 18th–19th century call the monastery the "Kiev monastery".