Description of the attraction
The Merdansky Monastery of the Holy Forty Martyrs is located in the Balkan Mountains, on the outskirts of the village of Merdanya, about 14 kilometers southeast of the city of Veliko Tarnovo.
The holy monastery was built in the XIII century, during the existence of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. For a long time, the monastery was in desolation and was restored only in the 19th century. Currently, it is a functioning Orthodox nunnery.
At a distance of about 1.5 km from the Merdan monastery, scientists discovered the ruins of a medieval monastic complex, which, presumably, existed during the reign of Ivan Asen II. When Bulgaria was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, it was plundered by the Turks and burned. The fire killed the monks who were at that time in the monastery.
In the middle of the 19th century, the wealthy Bulgarian Khadzhi Kesariy Khorozov bought the former monastic possessions. In 1853 he restored the monastery at his own expense and became its first abbot.
Part of the Merdansky monastery complex is the church, which is a one-nave temple with a large vestibule and a high dome on the roof. During the restoration work, which took place from 1982 to 1984, the church was first decorated with frescoes. Several icons of the 19th century have survived to this day, painted mainly by the representative of the Tarnovo art school - Zograf Simeonov. The fountain and high fence, which still stand to this day, were built by Khadzhi Khorozov himself.
After the death of the founder of the monastery in 1893, the monastery gradually fell into desolation.
