Rocky monasteries on the Shumen plateau

Lots of rocky monasteries, churches and monk hermitages are spread on the slopes of the Shumen plateau. They are connected to the religious life by the time of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. They were inhabited by monk-hermits. The presumable date of the most of the monasteries is XII – XIV centuries A.D. The monasteries are also connected to the development of the hesychasm – a religious doctrine preaching ‘pure Christianity’, need of union between the man and God and the reclusion. The rocky monasteries (complexes) on the Shumen plateau most often include churches, different number of hermitages and tombs. All rocky churches are East-West orientated.

There is no written evidence of when the monasteries have been abandoned but probably most of them were voluntarily left by the monks when Bulgaria was conquered by the Turks. The first information about these monasteries is received from the Czech archeologist Karel Škorpil.

The rocky monasteries are located mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the plateau. They are made in niches and natural caves in high, hard accessible slopes and rocky wreaths. Some of them are dug in separate boulders. They were accessed with the help of steps hewn into the rock, by wood or rope ladders. Others are situated at the foot of the rocks. With their simplicity and modesty, they harmonically fit into the nature surrounding them.

Relatively preserved nowadays are the rocky monasteries in the Osman defile, in the Trioshki defile, above the village of Khan Krum etc. They could be reached by following the marked walking routes on the Shumen plateau.