patiki
Ivanovo
Ivanovo Rock Churches are located near the village of Ivanovo, 16 km from the city of Ruse, Bulgaria in the Ruse Province. The site is comprised of churches, chapels and monasteries that are carved into rock. The Churches can be located looming along the tall rocky shores of the Rusenski Lom River, in excess of 30 metres above the level of the water. UNESCO has declared this site a world heritage site. The site dates from about the year 1320, in which a Bulgarian patriarch founded the first monastic community and thereafter the monks built their cells, churches and chapels in the rocks, added a total of 40 churches and about 300 buildings, many of which, unfortunately, have long since disappeared.
The fame of this complex can be largely attributed to the many ancient inscriptions and frescoes of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that have been preserved in five of these churches. They are considered outstanding examples of medieval Bulgarian art and can be seen in the Chapel Archangel Michael's Chapel Baptistry Gospodev Dol, the church of San Teodoro and the Holy Mother of God. The ancient inscriptions that can be found in several of the structures are also of great value, the most famous of which is the monk Ivo Gramatik, which is believed to be from the 16th century.
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