Transfiguration Monastery - Near Veliko Turnovo

The masterpiece of another age, of other principles in architecture and art, is the Transfiguration Monastery, erected 7 km from Veliko Turnovo in on of the picturesque gorges of the Yantra River. The monastery became one of the centres of the Turnovo School of Literature. It was burned to the ground when the capital of the Second Bulgarian State was taken; centuries had pass before life was reinstated here, on the top of the ruins. The monastery started its second existence only in 1825. A part of the building and the Holy Virgin Church were erected - a revival of the late 14th century Athos type of architecture, an absolute exception from the ideas and construction principles of the National Revival period. Construction of the second church - The Transfiguration - started in 1832.

The famous architect of the Bulgarian Nation Revival, Kolyo Ficheto, embarked on the construction of the new church. He created one of the supreme examples of Bulgarian Baroque - a cruciform.

The Transfiguration Church was painted by Zahary Zograph. Some of the icons were also painted by him, others - by Stanislav Dospevski.