Description of the attraction
The Bulgarian city of Samokov is famous for its architectural monuments, especially churches. One of them is the Monastery of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, located in the south of the city. The monastery operates to this day, the temple holiday is celebrated on October 1. It is one of the hundred main Bulgarian tourist sites, being an architectural monument of the Bulgarian Revival period.
The Samokov Convent was founded in 1772 by Fota's grandmother, a famous Bulgarian educator, teacher and diplomat. Returning to Samokov from Plovdiv, she donated her house to the Rila Monastery as a gift, in this house a monastic women's compound - metoch - was opened. Having become abbess, she received the name Theoktista and remained in this dignity until her death in 1844.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the courtyard began to grow due to the buildings that the townspeople donated to the monastery. The nuns were even able to obtain the publication of a special decree from the Ottoman authorities, which legalized the holy monastery. Before submitting to the Khilandar Monastery, the Samokov Monastery received its own charter in 1871. During the 19th century, many outbuildings and residential buildings were erected on the territory of the courtyard in addition to the main building, as well as a large stone church, which turned the monastery into a whole complex.
Presumably, the temple was built by Dimitar Sergev, a famous Travenian craftsman. Here are preserved murals belonging to the brush of the famous Zakhary Zograf, as well as icons by his brother, Dimitar Zograf. The icons for the iconostasis, according to experts, were created by Hristo Dimitrov, the founder of the Samokov painting school and the father of the Zograf brothers.
The Samokov Monastery is considered one of the largest centers of education. A school for girls was opened here. In 1871, the "apostle of freedom", the famous revolutionary figure, Vasil Levsky, was hiding in the monastery, whose memory is still tremulously preserved, and the cell where the national hero lived can be visited today. The monastery was especially famous for its weaving skills, often carried out large state orders, the tradition of making cloth has been preserved here to this day.
The Samokov women's monastery, which has more than two hundred years of history, has been preserved almost in its original form. Now five novices and five nuns live there, under the leadership of Abbess Gabriela.
