Description of the attraction
Kokalyane Monastery is located near the village of Kokalyane, in the east of the Plana Mountain. Included in the list of cultural monuments in Bulgaria.
The patron saint of the monastery is the holy Archangel Michael. The monastery was once connected by road with the Bystrishsky, Boyana and Dragalevsky monasteries. Also, near the Kokalyansky monastery, the Urvich fortress was built - one of the few fortresses in Bulgaria that withstood the fight against the Ottoman invaders.
The monastery was founded in the era of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, but with the arrival of the Turks, the monastery was destroyed. The restoration began only in the XIV century. From that moment until the 19th century, the holy monastery was repeatedly destroyed.
In 1898, a new church appeared in the ensemble of the monastery complex. Since then, only a stone slab with an engraved inscription has survived. Today the monastery complex consists of a renovated church, utility and residential buildings, a bell tower (built in 2000) and two chapels - St. Ivan of Rilski and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.
The Kokalyansky monastery houses the legendary Kokalyansky collection of the 16th century, a relic associated with the reign of the last Bulgarian king of the Middle Ages - Ivan Shishman.
There are two temple holidays at the monastery at once: on August 15, the celebration of the day of the Most Holy Mother of God takes place, and on November 8 - the day of St. Archangel Michael.
