Ivanovo Rock Monasteries

We headed out of Veliko Tarnovo in the early afternoon so we'd have time to stop at these rock monasteries.  The main sites Taylor and his parents had seen when they went to visit after his mission but I was able to find all sorts of small but amazing sites all on pinterest.  Who knew?

These rock monasteries were one of those.  Why are they called "rock monasteries" you ask?  Because they're literally carved INTO the rocks.  During the Ottoman Empire's rule of Bulgaria from 1400 to almost 1900AD, the christian churches were allowed to continue running as long as the priests agreed to collect taxes from the people and pay them as tribute to the Ottomans.  Those who refused were killed.  So many of them fled and went into hiding.  They found that the rock layers in this part of Bulgaria are softer than most and could be chipped away at to form man-made caves.

See how high up they were though?  Yikes!

Here's the zoomed in shot.

So off we headed on our walk through the woods... since we're not that good at rock climbing.

We walked...

And walked...

And finally came around the corner to a very tight entrance.

Back in the day the entrances were hidden better and much harder to find.

And once the monks were inside and living safely, with not much to do, they decided to paint frescos which are amazingly well preserved and just, well, amazing!  It's like being in the Sistene chapel with a really short ceiling.

Here I've sacrificed my dignity (and black pants) and lay on the dusty stone floor and take this picture of the ceiling.

They really were just unique and fascinating.

And sadly, affected by natural forces of rock movement and weathering.

This entire chunk of the ceiling fell off and the painting is in half.

Then it was time for a long trek back down and Taylor's turn to document that I was actually there.