Kalofer Monastery "Nativity of the Theotokos", Orthodox monastery and church in Kalofer, Bulgaria.
Kalofer Monastery "Nativity of the Theotokos" is a male monastery of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, about 7 km north of Kalofer, in a valley on the bank of the Byala Reka. Its church, monastic buildings and quarters stand below the slopes of the Stara Planina, with the Central Balkan National Park beginning some 200 m above.
Founded in 1640, the monastery was destroyed at an unrecorded date and renewed in 1819. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, as Russian troops withdrew, the Turks destroyed it again; it was rebuilt in 1881. For the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state it was rebuilt from the foundations in 1981 and given a water supply, with restoration completed in 1984.
The monastery's patronal feast is celebrated on 8 September, the Nativity of the Theotokos. The church interior was painted in 2003 by iconographers Mihail Minkov of Plovdiv and Nanko Nankov of Shumen. The monastery also has a skete dedicated to the Protection of the Theotokos.
The monastery lies about 7 km north of Kalofer, on the bank of the Byala Reka; the Byala Reka eco-trail and the Central Balkan National Park boundary start roughly 200 m above it. The church is painted with frescoes by Mihail Minkov of Plovdiv and Nanko Nankov of Shumen, completed in 2003. The temple feast falls on 8 September, when the monastery is busiest.
The monastery keeps a skete dedicated to the Protection of the Theotokos (Pokrov Bogorodichen), a dependent house mentioned alongside the main complex. The church interior was painted in 2003 by Mikhail Minkov of Plovdiv and Nanko Nankov of Shumen, so the frescoes are recent work rather than older layers.
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