Description of the attraction
The Kuklensky Monastery of Saints Kosma and Damian (also known as "Sveti Vrach") is located 2.5 km south-west of the town of Kuklen and about 15 kilometers south of the town of Plovdiv.
The spiritual abode is located in a picturesque valley in the Western Rhodopes. It was founded in the XV-XVI centuries, during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. The place for the construction was not chosen by chance - there is a wonderful spring nearby. According to legend, the water from this spring is able to cure physical ailments and heal the mentally ill. This is probably related to the choice of the patrons of the monastery - Saints Cosmas and Damian - well-known healers in the Christian world.
According to numerous historical records, the monastery remained intact in the 17th century, when 33 monasteries and 218 churches between the towns of Kostenets and Stanimaka (the former name of Asenovgrad) were wiped off the face of the earth. The monastery was saved by the fact that members of the family of Turkish rulers received treatment here. However, the years of Ottoman rule still brought a lot of troubles to the monastery: it was destroyed twice and then rebuilt again.
In the late 17th - early 18th centuries, there was a publishing center here, where they taught grammar, calligraphy, and the skill of census and design of church books. Until now, the monastery complex contains valuable samples of ancient manuscripts and printed publications. During the Renaissance, an Orthodox school was opened at the monastery.
The cloister remained intact until the 1920s, when half of the northern and the entire southern wing of the building burned down as a result of a fire.
The Kuklensky Monastery is a complex of residential and utility buildings, two churches - the Cathedral of Saints Cosmas and Damian (15th century) and the new Church of the Holy Annunciation (50s of the 20th century). The church, named after the patrons of the monastery, is a one-nave, cross-shaped, domeless structure measuring 22 x 8 m. It was possible to establish that the temple was built in several stages from the 15th to the 19th century. The building contains examples of ancient wall paintings: the image of the Archangel Michael of the 16th century, scenes from the Bible “Doomsday”, etc. Here you can see a monument of Bulgarian art - the icon “Forty Martyrs”.
The amazing properties of the healing spring located on the territory of the monastery are known far beyond its borders. Many tourists and pilgrims from all over the world come to him every year.
