Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Trinity
Encyclopedia
The Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Trinity is a Bulgarian Orthodox
monastery in the vicinity of Veliko Tarnovo
, north central Bulgaria
. Founded in the Middle Ages
, it was reconstructed in 1847 and again in the mid-20th century.
within its Dervent Gorge. It lies some 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire
from 1185 to 1393. On the opposite bank of the river is located another medieval cloister, the Transfiguration Monastery
. Next to the Patriarchal Monastery stand the cliffs of the Arbanasi mountain, part of the foothills of the central Balkan Mountains
.
There are at least a few theories with regard to the monastery's exact foundation, all pointing to the Middle Ages. According to an inscription discovered during the construction of the present monastery church, it was originally founded on 27 January 1070 by churchwarden
Georgi Prilozhnik and his son Kalin, and its patron was already the Holy Trinity
. At the time, Bulgaria was under Byzantine
rule, which lasted for more than a century and a half (1018–1185). Two other theories link the monastery's establishment with the religious and cultural upsurge of the Second Bulgarian Empire
in the mid-14th century, under Tsar Ivan Alexander
. The first one claims the Patriarchal Monastery dates from directly after a religious council in 1350; the second one, considered more likely, ties it with future Bulgarian patriarch
Evtimiy of Tarnovo. According to this version, the Patriarchal Monastery was originally a cave monastery
populated by Evtimiy and his students in the early 1370s. After Evtimiy was elected patriarch in 1375, the cloister acquired the honorary name Patriarchal Monastery.
In the late 14th century, the Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Trinity was one of the major hubs of the Tarnovo Literary School
, which produced masterpieces such as the Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander and the Tomić Psalter
. However, the Fall of Tarnovo
to the Ottomans
on 17 July 1393 meant an end to the monastery's heyday, and by 1416 the Bulgarian Patriarchate had been subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople
. Despite being arsoned, it nevertheless continued to exist, and in the 18th and early 19th century it was regularly the subject of donations by the rulers of Wallachia
and Moldavia
, the Romania
n principalities across the Danube
. Charters by Ştefan Cantacuzino
(1715), Grigore II Ghica
(1748), Alexander Ypsilantis (1776) and Constantine Ypsilantis
(1803) have been preserved, and there is direct evidence of donations by earlier voivodes like Matei Basarab
.
, Kolyu Ficheto
. The monastery church follows a cross-in-square
plan with three dome
s, which were added later. Blind arch
es with red brickwork
inside decorate the exterior, and a four-columned exonarthex marks the west entrance.
The altar
of the current church was brought from the Ancient Roman
ruins of Nicopolis ad Istrum
. In antiquity, it was used as a pagan sacrificial altar. It has an inscription with dedications to Zeus
, Hera
and Athena
and dates to the rule of emperor Antoninus Pius
(138–161). At the base of one of the church's columns is another Roman artifact, a provincial border stone from the rule of Hadrian
(117–138). The interior decoration and the iconostasis
of the church were the work of Samokov
painter Zahari Zograf
, who was also active in the Rila Monastery
, the Troyan Monastery
and the nearby Transfiguration Monastery.
The church, along with the entire monastery, suffered extensive damage during an earthquake
in 1913. The church was reconstructed in 1927, while the adjacent buildings were rebuilt after World War II
, in 1946–1948, when the monastery was converted to a nunnery. However, Zahari Zograf's frescoes have not been restored, and the interior of the monastery church remains for the most part unpainted. At present, the monastery complex includes the main church, residential buildings, chapels dedicated to Jesus Christ and Evtimiy of Tarnovo and a well, as well as the grave of Metropolitan Joseph of Veliko Tarnovo (1870–1918).
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
monastery in the vicinity of Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists...
, north central Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. Founded in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, it was reconstructed in 1847 and again in the mid-20th century.
Location and early history
The Patriarchal Monastery is situated on the banks of the Yantra RiverYantra River
The Yantra is a river in northern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the Danube. It is 285 km long and has a watershed of 7,862 km²....
within its Dervent Gorge. It lies some 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
from 1185 to 1393. On the opposite bank of the river is located another medieval cloister, the Transfiguration Monastery
Transfiguration Monastery
The Transfiguration Monastery or the Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration of God is an Eastern Orthodox monastery located in the Dervent gorge of the Yantra River. It lies near the village of Samovodene, seven kilometres north of Veliko Tarnovo, in central northern Bulgaria...
. Next to the Patriarchal Monastery stand the cliffs of the Arbanasi mountain, part of the foothills of the central Balkan Mountains
Balkan Mountains
The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea...
.
There are at least a few theories with regard to the monastery's exact foundation, all pointing to the Middle Ages. According to an inscription discovered during the construction of the present monastery church, it was originally founded on 27 January 1070 by churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
Georgi Prilozhnik and his son Kalin, and its patron was already the Holy Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
. At the time, Bulgaria was under Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
rule, which lasted for more than a century and a half (1018–1185). Two other theories link the monastery's establishment with the religious and cultural upsurge of the Second Bulgarian Empire
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
in the mid-14th century, under Tsar Ivan Alexander
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
. The first one claims the Patriarchal Monastery dates from directly after a religious council in 1350; the second one, considered more likely, ties it with future Bulgarian patriarch
Patriarch of All Bulgaria
The Patriarch of All Bulgaria is the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The Bulgarian patriarchate was re-established in 1953.-History:...
Evtimiy of Tarnovo. According to this version, the Patriarchal Monastery was originally a cave monastery
Cave monastery
A cave monastery is a monastery built in caves, with possible outside facilities. St. Anthony the Great known as the founder of monasticism lived in a cave.- List of cave monasteries :*Albania**St...
populated by Evtimiy and his students in the early 1370s. After Evtimiy was elected patriarch in 1375, the cloister acquired the honorary name Patriarchal Monastery.
In the late 14th century, the Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Trinity was one of the major hubs of the Tarnovo Literary School
Tarnovo Literary School
The Tarnovo Literary School of the late 14th and 15th century was a major medieval Bulgarian cultural academy with important contribution to the Medieval Bulgarian literature established in the capital of Bulgaria Tarnovo...
, which produced masterpieces such as the Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander and the Tomić Psalter
Tomic Psalter
The Tomić Psalter is a 14th-century Bulgarian illuminated psalter. Produced around 1360, during the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexander, it is regarded as one of the masterpieces of the Tarnovo literary and art school of the time...
. However, the Fall of Tarnovo
Siege of Tarnovo
The siege of Tarnovo occurred in the spring of 1393 and resulted in a decisive Ottoman victory. With the fall of its capital, the Bulgarian Empire was reduced down to a few fortresses along the Danube.- Origins of the conflict :...
to the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
on 17 July 1393 meant an end to the monastery's heyday, and by 1416 the Bulgarian Patriarchate had been subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
. Despite being arsoned, it nevertheless continued to exist, and in the 18th and early 19th century it was regularly the subject of donations by the rulers of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n principalities across the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. Charters by Ştefan Cantacuzino
Stefan Cantacuzino
Ştefan Cantacuzino , was a Prince of Wallachia between April 1714 and January 21, 1716, the son of stolnic Constantin Cantacuzino.-Life:Ştefan was involved in his father's intrigue against Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, denouncing him to the Ottoman Empire , and surrendering Brâncoveanu's secret...
(1715), Grigore II Ghica
Grigore II Ghica
Grigore II Ghica was Voivode of Moldavia at four different intervals — from October 1726 to April 16, 1733, from November 27, 1735 to 14 September 1739, from October 1739 to September 1741 and from May 1747 to April 1748 — and twice Voivode of Wallachia: April 16, 1733 – November 27, 1735 and...
(1748), Alexander Ypsilantis (1776) and Constantine Ypsilantis
Constantine Ypsilantis
Constantine Ypsilantis , was the son of Alexander Ypsilanti, a key member of an important Phanariote family, Grand dragoman of the Porte , hospodar of Moldavia and Walachia , and a Prince through marriage to the daughter of Alexandru Callimachi.-The Liberation of Greece from the Ottoman...
(1803) have been preserved, and there is direct evidence of donations by earlier voivodes like Matei Basarab
Matei Basarab
Matei Basarab was a Wallachian Voivode between 1632 and 1654.-Reign:Much of Matei's reign was spent fighting off incursions from Moldavia, which he successfully accomplished in 1637, 1639, and 1653 - see Battle of Finta...
.
Present monastery
In the early 19th century, the Patriarchal Monastery suffered two disasters. In 1803, a brigand raid plundered its buildings, and in 1812 an outbreak of plague caused the abandonment of the already hardly active cloister. The monastery was, however, reestablished in the 1840s. The monastery church was built in 1846–1867; it was designed by the most famous architect of the Bulgarian National RevivalBulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
, Kolyu Ficheto
Kolyu Ficheto
Nikola Fichev , commonly known as Kolyu Ficheto , was a Bulgarian National Revival architect, builder and sculptor born in Dryanovo in 1800....
. The monastery church follows a cross-in-square
Cross-in-square
The term cross-in-square or crossed-dome denotes the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine churches. The first cross-in-square churches were probably built in the late 8th century, and the form has remained in use throughout the Orthodox world until the present day...
plan with three dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
s, which were added later. Blind arch
Blind arch
A blind arch is an arch found in the wall of a building which has been infilled with solid construction so it cannot serve as a passageway, door, or window. The term is most often associated with masonry wall construction, but is also found in other types of construction such as light frame...
es with red brickwork
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
inside decorate the exterior, and a four-columned exonarthex marks the west entrance.
The altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
of the current church was brought from the Ancient Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
ruins of Nicopolis ad Istrum
Nicopolis ad Istrum
Nicopolis ad Istrum was a Roman and Early Byzantine town founded by Emperor Trajan around 101–106, at the junction of the Iatrus and the Rositsa rivers, in memory of his victory over the Dacians. Its ruins are located at the village of Nikyup, 20 km north of Veliko Tarnovo in northern Bulgaria...
. In antiquity, it was used as a pagan sacrificial altar. It has an inscription with dedications to Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
and Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
and dates to the rule of emperor Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...
(138–161). At the base of one of the church's columns is another Roman artifact, a provincial border stone from the rule of Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
(117–138). The interior decoration and the iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
of the church were the work of Samokov
Samokov
Samokov is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a kettle between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia...
painter Zahari Zograf
Zahari Zograf
Zahariy Hristovich Dimitrov , better known as Zahari Zograf is arguably the most famous Bulgarian painter of the Bulgarian National Revival, noted for his church mural paintings and icons and often regarded as the founder of secular art in Bulgaria due to the introduction of everyday life...
, who was also active in the Rila Monastery
Rila Monastery
The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila, better known as the Rila Monastery is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated in the southwestern Rila Mountains, south of the capital Sofia in the deep valley of the Rilska River at an elevation of above sea level...
, the Troyan Monastery
Troyan Monastery
The Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God or, as it is more commonly called, the Troyan Monastery is the third largest monastery in Bulgaria...
and the nearby Transfiguration Monastery.
The church, along with the entire monastery, suffered extensive damage during an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
in 1913. The church was reconstructed in 1927, while the adjacent buildings were rebuilt after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in 1946–1948, when the monastery was converted to a nunnery. However, Zahari Zograf's frescoes have not been restored, and the interior of the monastery church remains for the most part unpainted. At present, the monastery complex includes the main church, residential buildings, chapels dedicated to Jesus Christ and Evtimiy of Tarnovo and a well, as well as the grave of Metropolitan Joseph of Veliko Tarnovo (1870–1918).