Description of the attraction
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity is located in the gorge of the Nishava River in the rocks near the town of Godech in the immediate vicinity of the village of Razboische. It is rather difficult to get to the monastery, there is no road. From the village you can reach the place on foot.
The first evidence of the monastery's existence dates back to the 4th century. Then the place where the rock church is now was used as a shelter from the Byzantine army by an unknown Christian king and his retinue. In addition, it is believed that the caves were the refuge of Saint Sava. Legend has it that on the way to Jerusalem, he spent 40 days here. As a result of his stay, the place acquired holiness and healing.
During the Ottoman rule, Vasil Levski, a national hero and fighter for the freedom of Bulgaria, and his friend, Father Matthew Preobrazhensky, also stayed in the monastery. During excavations in the courtyard of the monastery in the middle of the 20th century, a written document was found quoting Father Matthew, and the grave of a rebel who took part in one of the battles in the vicinity of the monastery. This area was the site of numerous battles during the Serbo-Bulgarian War.
The monastery near the village of Razboische was burned down several times. As a result of the fires, almost all documents, scriptures, scrolls were destroyed, as a result of which information about the history of the monastery was almost completely destroyed and was preserved only in oral traditions and legends.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the monastery courtyard and the rock church were uninhabited, and in 1947 three nuns arrived here, one of whom is still alive. They found that the outbuildings were almost destroyed, and the priceless frescoes in the rock church were damaged so much that they could not be restored. For many years, the inhabitants of the monastery, with the help of residents of nearby villages, restored the monastery, erected new buildings, and also restored and expanded the rock church.
Today, the monastery has an opportunity to accommodate tourists, but it is worth remembering that the living conditions in the monastery have practically not changed for a hundred years, there is no electricity and running water.
