Kokalyane Monastery of St Archangel Michael

Phones

+359 886919488

Address

Between the villages of Kokalyane and Zhelesnitsa

Location

42.55082,23.426582

Historical Information

The Kokalyane Monastery dates back to the Second Bulgarian State. As legend has it and as historical sources claim, it was built at the beginning of the 11th century, during the rule of Tsar Samuil. During the Ottoman rule, the cloister was set on fire twice. It was completely restored only after the Liberation with a new church (1896) taking the place of the previous one ruined in 1858. The church stands in the middle of the inner yard, and represents a relatively large one-nave building without a dome. Besides it, the complex also includes two residential buildings, two chapels, farmyards and a beautiful bell-tower, constructed in 2000. The entire comound is surrounded by a thick, two-metre high wall. A famous relic, the so-called Urvich Collection, consisting of laudatory words for Archangels Michael and Gavriyl (including the one written by the famous man of letters, Kliment of Ohrid) was found in the Kokalyane Monastery. In 1969, the monastery was declared a monument of culture.