Sokolski Monastery
Encyclopedia
Gabrovo
Gabrovo is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire , as well as noted for its Bulgarian National...
on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains
Balkan Mountains
The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea...
in the Bulgarka Nature Park
Bulgarka Nature Park
The Bulgarka Natural Park is a Bulgarian nature park located on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains , occupying 22,000 hectares of territory in the central and Eastern part of the mountains between the cities of Gabrovo and Kazanluk.Located between the steep topography of the Central...
and is close to the Sokolovo cave.
Originally, a small wooden church was built in 1833 and the frescoes were finished a year later. Hristo Tsokev, a Gabrovo-born artist, donated the church icon, which represents the Virgin Mary and Christ and is considered to be miraculous. In 1862, Father Paul Zograf and his son Nikola from the village of Shipka
Shipka (village)
Shipka is a town in central Bulgaria, part of Kazanlak municipality, Stara Zagora Province. It lies in the Central Balkan Mountains, at , 650 metres above sea level. As of 2005, Shipka has a population of 1,398 and the mayor is Stoyan Ivanov....
decorated the church with frescoes.
The monastery has a big yard surrounded by residential and utility buildings. In the centre of the yard, in 1865 the master Kolyu Ficheto
Kolyu Ficheto
Nikola Fichev , commonly known as Kolyu Ficheto , was a Bulgarian National Revival architect, builder and sculptor born in Dryanovo in 1800....
constructed a big stone fountain with eight taps. The whole monastery was built during the Bulgarian National Revival
Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
with the strong support of the people of Gabrovo
Gabrovo
Gabrovo is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire , as well as noted for its Bulgarian National...
and the local villages.
The monastery played an important role during the April Uprising
April Uprising
The April Uprising was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876, which indirectly resulted in the re-establishment of Bulgaria as an autonomous nation in 1878...
. In this monastery, the leader Tsanko Dyustabanov
Tsanko Dyustabanov
Tsanko Hristov Dyustabanov was a Bulgarian revolutionary and participant in the April uprising of 1876.Dyustabanov was born in Gabrovo in today's Bulgaria, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire...
formed a group of volunteers for the resistance. In a short period of time during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 the monastery was a hospital.
The Sokolski Monastery was declared a historical site in 1973.
See also
- Battles of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
- Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchBulgarian Orthodox ChurchThe Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
- Bulgarka Nature ParkBulgarka Nature ParkThe Bulgarka Natural Park is a Bulgarian nature park located on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains , occupying 22,000 hectares of territory in the central and Eastern part of the mountains between the cities of Gabrovo and Kazanluk.Located between the steep topography of the Central...
- Epic of the ForgottenEpic of the ForgottenEpic of the Forgotten is a Bulgarian poetic saga written by Ivan Vazov to commemorate the Bulgarian fight for freedom against the Ottoman Empire and to criticize the moral decline of the Bulgarian nation after the Liberation, in comparison to the heroic figures and events of the then recent past...
by Ivan Vazov - Etar Architectural-Ethnographic ComplexEtar Architectural-Ethnographic ComplexThe Etar Architectural-Ethnographic Complex is an open-air museum and a neighbourhood of Gabrovo in northern Bulgaria. It is located on the northern edge of the Bulgarka Nature Park, between the park and the city of Gabrovo....
- Heroes of Shipka
- History of BulgariaHistory of BulgariaThe history of Bulgaria spans from the first settlements on the lands of modern Bulgaria to its formation as a nation-state and includes the history of the Bulgarian people and their origin. The first traces of human presence on what is today Bulgaria date from 44,000 BC...
- GabrovoGabrovoGabrovo is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire , as well as noted for its Bulgarian National...
City - Shipka Memorial
- Shipka PassShipka PassShipka Pass is a scenic mountain pass through the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. It marks the border between Stara Zagora province and Gabrovo province. The pass connects Gabrovo and Kazanlak. The pass is part of the Bulgarka Nature Park.The pass is 13 km by road north of the small town of...