St Virgin Mary Spileotisa Monastery


The monastery, located on the hill "St. Nicholas" is one of the earliest examples of urban monastery construction in the Bulgarian lands. It was destroyed and reconstructed three times, lasted until the beginning of XX century. This is the only monastery in Bulgaria, which in 1220 received the status of "royal and despot’s" with a special award by Despot Alexius Slav and becomes second of importance after Tarnovo monastery. Well preserved is the Western Wall, where excavations have found remains of two churches: "St Virgin Mary Spileotisa" and "St. Spiridon".