The Bachkovo Monastery

At an about 45-minute drive south of Plovdiv, in the pretty Rhodope Mountains, lies the Monastery of Bachkovo. With origins in the 11th century, it is one of the oldest still active monasteries of the Balkan. It is a popular one as well: the site is already well signposted from the main road and there is a large paid car park. The last part of the road to the monastery, which lies - as it should be – on a hill, is flanked on either side by rows of souvenir and food stalls.

The monastery comprises a large complex, most of the places of interest lie within a walled compound. It is best known for its murals. The entrance is free, but I did buy an audio guide in English for 6 Lev (3 EUR) to learn more about its history and features. You can play the guide from your own phone. I had to do some mime to depict “audioguide” to the Bulgarian-only ladies in the monastery shop, who were much more confident in selling candles and postcards.

I started my sightseeing at the cathedral in the center of the main courtyard. Its walls are almost completely covered with paintings from the 17th to 19th century. There is also an impressive iconostasis. The monastery was of Byzantine and Georgian origin, and is now part of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The Georgians lost control of it in the 13th century, but still a jujube tree brought from Georgia …

Bachkovo is a mix of other monasteries I visited in the region, namely Studenica, Horezu and Rila. It is rather small and entrance is free to the monastery, with a small fee if you want to see the even smaller museum. I could not spot anything that I never saw before or that was of more beauty than I saw in similar places. The only thing special to me was the fact that I was not able to walk around the monastery from the outside and thus could only see the main façade.

However, the place seems to be very popular for the locals. The road up to the entrance is surrounded by vending stalls and there are several restaurants nearby. There were also, unlike other TWHS or even WHS in Bulgaria, many visitors on site.

The monastery is only around 40mins by car from Plovdiv, a pleasant town with 2 TWHS itself.