Nowadays the Bassarbovo monastery is the only active rock monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated in the canyon-like valley of the river Lom, where there are about three hundred premises in the rocks. In forty of them there were churches. Some of them had been naturally formed, the others had been cut out by people. Most monasteries were inhabited after XIIth century AD and some of them even before that. During that period hermit life spread out widely in Bulgaria. Monks whose faith in God was strong left the world and sought secluded places to pray and communicate with God. The name of Bassarbovo monastery is for the first time mentioned in a Turkish tax register in 1431. The monastery was abandoned in XVI century. A monk Hrisant re-established it in 1937. It consists of a rock church and several rooms, cut out high in the rocks. The vegetation in the churchyard is abundant. Bassarbovo monastery is visited by a lot of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.
On 21 May 1953 Romanian Patriarch Yustinian accompanied by Romanian and Bulgarian Episcops visited the monastery.
On 27 October 1985 the 300th anniversary of the death of St. Dimitry Bassarbovsky was celebrated. Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim and the Holy Synod of Bulgarian Orthodox Church officiated a holy Mass. This event has been recorded in the church chronicle and in the history of the modern church. Ivanovo rock churches are situated 15 km from Bassarbovo monastery. They have been included in the List of UNESCO protected historical monuments as ones of worldwide significance.
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