Eleshnitsa Monastery, Orthodox monastery in Eleshnitsa, Bulgaria.
Eleshnitsa Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is a low, single-aisle church measuring 6.8 by 14.5 metres, with a wide narthex added later and a western entrance. The complex has two separate courtyards and two two-storey residential wings: stables and livestock rooms on the ground floor, monks' cells above.
The founding date is uncertain: hermit monks may have occupied the site from the 9th century, but the monastery was established in the late 14th or early 15th century, during the reign of Ivan Alexander. A marble slab of 1499 set in the church floor is the earliest proof. Abbot Daniel renewed it in 1820, and in 1876 survivors of Botev's band found shelter here.
The monastery was a literary centre in the Ottoman period, with a cell school attached; a Gospel and a Psalter from here are kept in the National Church Historical and Archaeological Museum in Sofia. The church's frescoes, painted by Samokov masters in 1864, include a Last Supper and one of four depictions of an Ecumenical Council in Bulgarian lands.
The monastery sits about 4 kilometers north of Eleshnitsa village and functions as an active religious center even though it currently has no resident monks. It is wise to check ahead locally before visiting to understand access conditions and any visiting times that may apply.
The monastery church holds one of only four depictions of an Ecumenical Council found in Bulgarian lands, painted in the late 16th or early 17th century. Its narthex also preserves a Last Supper fresco of 1864, the work of painters from Samokov.
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