Description of the attraction
Belashchinsky Monastery is an active nunnery located 12 kilometers from Plovdiv. It was built at the beginning of the 11th century and consecrated in honor of George the Victorious.
The monastery was founded by Nififor Scythi, a Byzantine military leader, in an area located a kilometer away from his own palace. At the age of thirty, he contributed to the victory of Basil II, appearing in the rear of Tsar Samuel, when the Battle of Belasitskaya Mountain in the Macedonian region took place in 1014. After this victory, Nikifor was appointed ruler of the Filipopol district - the vicinity of modern Plovdiv.
In 1364 the monastery was destroyed by the Turks. The monastery was again inhabited only after four hundred years.
The reconstruction and completion of the monastery was carried out in the 19th and 20th centuries at the initiative of the Bulgarians and Greeks. With their help, all buildings were restored, as well as the courtyard of the monastery. Today the monastery courtyard includes a katholikon, a chapel, residential buildings and a farm. The monastery is not large in size and looks very cozy. This is also facilitated by its location in a fabulously beautiful forest, right above the village.
The monastery complex is a national monument in Bulgaria. Every year, on May 6, on the day of St. George the Victorious, the patron saint of the monastery, crowds of believers and pilgrims gather in front of the gate, people stay here to spend the night in tents.
Today the monastery is home to several nuns and a couple of novices.
