Lopushna Monastery

The Lopushna Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery in northwestern Bulgaria. The original monastery was probably established during the Second Bulgarian Empire (12th–14th centuries). The monastery had to endure torching and plundering raids in the 14th–18th centuries, the period of the early Ottoman rule of Bulgaria.

The present facilities of the monastery, a monument of culture of national importance, were mostly constructed in 1850-1853 by Lilo Lazarov, a Bulgarian architect from Slavine. The current yard gate, stone fence and north and south residential wing were all built in 1850-1853. Some finishing touches were being applied to the church up until 1856, when the pavilion drinking fountain was built as well, and the ossuary was added in 1860.

In terms of design, the church features three semi-domes and an elongated cella. Single-nave domed chapels (each dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and Saint John the Baptist) are attached to each side of the church, with three additional domes topping the cella's middle nave. At the entrance, the three parts of the church form a U-shaped external narthex. In total, there are five octahedral domes and six doors. Two enter the narthex, two serve the side chapels and a single door is intended for the priest to step into the diaconicon. The church's stone columns were the work of stonemasons from Elovitsa.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Montana, Bulgaria

Details

Founded: 1850-1853
Category: Religious sites in Bulgaria