Dryanovo Monastery, the Gorge Shrine of the April Uprising
Dryanovo Monastery is a working Bulgarian Orthodox monastery dedicated to Archangel Michael, set in a river gorge about 5 km from the town of Dryanovo and 15 km from Gabrovo. It sheltered the revolutionary Vasil Levski and was the scene of a nine-day battle in the April Uprising of 1876. Add a nearby prehistoric cave and forest paths, and it is a rewarding detour in the central Balkan Mountains.
The chalice in the church was pierced by an Ottoman bullet, and the builders left the shrapnel holes in the walls on purpose, so that nobody would forget what happened here.
The history of Dryanovo Monastery
The gorge in which the monastery stands has been inhabited since prehistory. The oldest traces belong to Bacho Kiro cave, used by Palaeolithic people between roughly 100,000 and 10,000 BCE; archaeologists studied a five-metre cultural layer there and recovered more than 6,000 finds. Later, in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age, people made their homes in the hollows of the Polichkite rock wall, and from the Early Iron Age the local inhabitants were Thracians.
In early Byzantine times the foothills of the Balkan Mountains grew in strategic importance, and fortresses were raised at the places called Boruna and Gradat to watch the passes and roads of the central Balkan range. They were abandoned in the fifth century, when Slavic tribes settled the area, and came into use again in the tenth century. Later they formed the last line of defence of the Bulgarian capital Tarnovgrad.
Tradition says the medieval monastery of Archangel Michael was founded in the reign of Tsar Kaloyan, after the relics of St Michael the Warrior were carried to Tarnovgrad around 1206. The procession spent the night by the Dryanovska river below Gradat, and, following Christian custom, a monastery was raised on the holy spot. English and German Wikipedia simply place the foundation in the twelfth century, under the Second Bulgarian Empire. Whatever its exact date, the monastery became a centre of learning and culture. Under Ottoman rule it was destroyed more than once, and in 1845 it was rebuilt at its present site.
In the nineteenth century it guarded the Bulgarian spirit in a very practical way. Vasil Levski and Father Matey Preobrazhenski, known as Mitkaloto, found refuge here, and a revolutionary committee was formed within its walls. Food and weapons were stored here for the April Uprising in the First Tarnovo district. On 29 April 1876 the detachment of Pop Hariton, the first rebel unit in the Tarnovo district, entered the monastery. Surrounded by Ottoman troops, the rebels fought for nine days, and most of them died.
The ruined and burnt monastery was partly restored, and its main church was solemnly consecrated on 3 April 1877; Abbot Pahomiy Stoyanov, who led the community from 1859 to 1892, held the first memorial service for the fallen. The church has no wall paintings, and the builders deliberately left the holes from Ottoman shrapnel in its walls. In 1897 grateful descendants raised an ossuary monument to the fallen rebels, designed by the Italian Giovanni Mosuti, with a statue made in Rome by Luka Arditi. Today the monastery is counted among the ten most venerated shrines of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and is a national historical monument.
Curious facts about Dryanovo Monastery
- The chalice kept in the main church is pierced by an Ottoman bullet, a relic of the fighting in 1876.
- The church has no frescoes, and the holes left by Ottoman shrapnel were intentionally preserved in the walls by the builders as a reminder of Bulgarian suffering.
- The statue on the 1897 ossuary monument was made in Rome by Luka Arditi, from a project by the Italian Giovanni Mosuti that was already complete in 1890.
- The nearby Bacho Kiro cave holds a five-metre cultural layer with more than 6,000 finds and has been adapted for visitors.
- The railway halt Bacho Kiro, about a kilometre from the monastery, was called St Archangel until 20 October 1949.
- The monastery appears on the list of the 100 national tourist sites of Bulgaria compiled by the Bulgarian Tourist Union.
Tours near Dryanovo Monastery
Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:
Visiting Dryanovo Monastery: what to expect
- An asphalt road leads to the monastery, about 5 km from Dryanovo and 15 km from Gabrovo.
- Walkers can reach it from the Bacho Kiro railway halt along a forest path of about a kilometre.
- Look for the church with its shrapnel-marked walls, the ossuary monument of 1897 and the setting inside Bulgarka Nature Park.
- The monastery receives pilgrims for overnight stays in several of its wings. It is a working monastery, so dress modestly and keep quiet; check the current opening hours and visiting conditions before you go.
- Bacho Kiro cave lies close by, and Sokolski Monastery and the old capital area around Veliko Tarnovo can be reached within roughly 20 km.
Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.
Map: where Dryanovo Monastery is
Photos of Dryanovo Monastery
Questions
What is Dryanovo Monastery?
Dryanovo Monastery is a working Bulgarian Orthodox monastery dedicated to Archangel Michael, in a gorge near the town of Dryanovo. It is a national historical monument.
Where is Dryanovo Monastery and how far is it from Gabrovo?
It lies about 5 km south-west of Dryanovo and about 15 km from Gabrovo in northern Bulgaria. An asphalt road leads to it.
What happened at Dryanovo Monastery in 1876?
On 29 April 1876 the detachment of Pop Hariton, the first rebel unit in the Tarnovo district, entered the monastery. Surrounded by Ottoman troops, the rebels fought for nine days and most died.
Did Vasil Levski visit Dryanovo Monastery?
Yes. Vasil Levski and Father Matey Preobrazhenski found refuge in the monastery, and a revolutionary committee was formed here.
Can you walk to the monastery from the railway?
A forest path of about a kilometre links the monastery with the Bacho Kiro railway halt, which is on the Ruse–Momchilgrad line.
What else is worth seeing near Dryanovo Monastery?
Bacho Kiro cave is nearby, and Sokolski Monastery is about 19 km away. The Trapezitsa hill at Veliko Tarnovo lies roughly 22 km from the monastery.
Also nearby
Sokolski Monastery
Gabrovo · Revival convent, eight-tap fountain, rebel history
19 km away
Trapezitsa
Veliko Tarnovo · church ruins on the capital's second citadel
22 km away
Baldwin's Tower
Veliko Tarnovo · tower tied to a captured crusader emperor
23 km away
Holy Forty Martyrs Church
Veliko Tarnovo · royal church of 1230 with tsars' tombs and columns
23 km away