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The artists expressed the national detachment and hunger for freedom of the Bulgarian people representing the Bulgarian saints, heroes and fighters for national independence in the icons and frescoes. Along with the images of Cyril and Methodius, king Boris and patriarch Evtimi, the visitor can see the faces of Theodosius of Tarnovo, Ivan Rilski as well as the Russian saints Boris and Gleb. In the window niche of the church along with his own image, Zahari Zograf left us the images of the monastery`s founders painted with artistic perfection and ethnographic precision. We can realize the the exceptional role of the monastery during the Renaissance by adding to all this mentioned above the wood- carving of the church`s iconostasis, the printing establishment for prints and the monastery school( 1869) which amazed the Austrian traveller and artist Felix Kanitz.
Troyan Monastery village of Oreshak e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
Troyan Monastery
At about 10 km south-east of the picturesque Renaissance town of Troyan is tucked away one of the “hearts” of the Bulgarian national spirit- the Troyan monastery. An unknown Bulgarian monk from the Mount Athos monastery founded in 1600 a small wooden church along with several narrow homes for the hermits. The Bulgarian Renaissance was gaining strength despite the impenetrable darkness of slavery. At the beginning of 19th century the monastery had a better position and the reconstruction and new building were already a fact. Master Konstantin from Peshtera replaced the old buildings with an architectural ensemble in the spirit of the Renaissance. On the north perch of the church the builder left us his own stone portrait- a mask. The frescoes and the icons like they are nowadays were made by the fabulous Renaissance painter Zahari Hristov Zograf, by his younger brother Dimitar Zograf and by some masters from the town of Tryavna. 
In the years of national struggle for liberation this was the place where the Apostle of freedom- Vassil Levski was often given a shelter for the night. Here he founded a revolutionary committee led by the abbot Hadji Macarius. Today thousands of visitors bow their heads before the Bulgarian national spirit which can be felt in a special way and with a strange power exactly in this place, they feel reverence for the beauty that is born from the hands of our Renaissance masters, they live in the harmony and originality of the architectural ensembles and feel confident for the future of a nation- free and fearless.