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Kremikovtsi Monastery Bulgaria
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Kremikovtsi Monastery
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Kremikovtsi Monastery

The Kremikovtsi Monastery of Saint George

The Kremikovtsi Monastery of Saint George is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery near Kremikovtsi to the northeast of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. Founded during the Second Bulgarian Empire and re-established in 1493 by a local Bulgarian noble, the monastery includes two churches.

Address: St George Str, 1849 Sofia, Bulgaria
Opens 8am Mon
Phone: +359 87 870 1717

Kremikovtsi Monastery is a superb destination for a one day trip out of Sofia. It is located only 20 km northeast from the capital on the southern slopes of the Stara Planina mountain, about half an hour drive if the traffic is light.

The monastery does not offer accommodation but there are tables and benches in the courtyard where visitors can sit and eat the food they brought along with them. The view of the city and mountains from the monastery courtyard is beautiful and the total ambiance is that of peace and quiet. Many hiking and biking trails pass nearby and there are many more beautiful spots in the fields and mountains around.

The monastery itself is a historical and a cultural attraction and dates back to the Middle Ages. It consists of 2 buildings, 2 churches, a gorgeous especially in the summer courtyard, smaller household and farm constructions. There are interesting wood carvings, murals and few unique icons which can be seen when the churches are open. Look for the icons of St Ekaterina, the Holy Mother of God and of course the icon of the patron St George (Sveti Georgi Pobedonosets) on a horseback killing the dragon.

Kremikovtsi Monastery is an acting convent and although it is attended by a very limited staff, visitors are expected to observe the behavior and dress codes appropriate for holy places.

The Kremikovtsi Monastery is located in the southern part of the Balkan Mountain Range, 3km away from the Sofia’s quarter “Kremikovtsi” in the so-called area Gradishteto. It is built on a rocky terrace from which stunning beautiful scenery to the vast Sofia’s plain and the Sofia capital city is revealed.

Phones+3592 328 726 82
AddressSofia, 4 km from the district Kremikovtzi
Location 42.798046,23.507457

Historical InformationIt is believed that the Kremikovtsi Monastery was built during the reign of the king Ivan Alexander (1333-1371), but there is certain evidence for its existence from the 15th century.

Kremikovtsi Monastery of St George is located 2 km north of the suburb of Kremikovtsi (via an asphalt road) amidst a pine forest at the foot of the Balkan Mountains. The claim that it was established at the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire (14th c) has not been confirmed.

We know from the donor’s inscription that the monastery’s church was built and painted in 1493 with funds by the local boyar Radivoy. The Kremikovtsi Gospel (1497) and a local icon of Christ Pantocrator, kept at present at the Crypt of St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, have survived from the same period.

The relics of St George the New of Sofia were kept here. There was also a rich library with valuable manuscripts. >
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In the late 19th century, nuns from Macedonia settled here and in the early 20th century a larger new domed temple dedicated to the Protecting Veil of the Theotokos was erected. The old church has been well restored, and the residential buildings are being renovated. >
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The monastery is most remarkable for the frescoes from 1493 in the old church – a representative example of post-Byzantine art. They show that one century after the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule Sofia had managed to preserve not only its Bulgarian aristocracy, but also a high standard of spiritual and iconographic knowledge. >
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The frescoes of Kremikovtsi Monastery are a real paragon of Orthodox iconography. The monasteries are in different states of preservation – from completely destroyed to fully functioning. The common thing among them is their initial monastic vocation and the fact that they are in the gravitational field of the Bulgarian capital. >
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They number approximately 40, but a definite figure is impossible to set down, as archaeological remains of ancient monasteries continue to be found nowadays too new ones are being erected as well.