Bachkovo · Rodopi Mountains · Bulgaria

Bachkovo Monastery “Dormition of the Theotokos”

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easy

10/10

best: morning, spring, autumn

serene, historic, mountain

A local would say...

Founded by Georgian brothers serving the Byzantine Empire — and a 17th-century Bulgarian painter depicted nervous Turks being condemned to hell on its walls.

Bulgaria's second-largest monastery, founded in 1083 by Georgian brothers in Byzantine military service amid dramatic Rodopi Mountain scenery about 30km south of Plovdiv. The monastery flourished under the Second Bulgarian Empire before being ransacked by Turks in the 15th and 16th centuries, with major reconstructions from the mid-17th century. The walls are filled with stunning frescoes including a superb Last Judgment by master painter Zahari Zograf.