Thursday 2 June 2011

Aladja monastery/ Скалният Аладжа манастир

Aladja monastery

Aladja manastery is one of the most famous rock monasteries in the northeastern Bulgaria. This medieval rock cave monastery is located 17km north of Varna, the second biggest city of the country, which is also called the sea capital.

Aladja monastery carving

Aladja monastery








The monastic cells were carved in the 25-m high carst cliffs at different levels. The third picture shows how the cave complex used to look like...

Aladja monastery

Today, the grotto is a popular tourist destination. Its present name appeared in the late Ottoman period; "aladja" (which means colourful) referred to its colourful murals, now almost destroyed.
Aladja monastery

6 comments:

betchai said...

it is interesting to know there is a rock cave monastery, indeed, cave offers so much solitude, and for some, they also used it as refuge. thanks for the info, and beautiful pictures.

FilipBlog said...

I like the wood carving

Nicky said...

Great blog! Nice pictures! XO

papillon said...

Nice pictures and informations about this very special place in your home country. We hope you enjoy your trip;-)
J+C

Vagabonde said...

I know very little about Bulgaria. This monastery looks beautiful. Thanks for coming to my blog and leaving a message, I appreciate it.

Jana said...

thank you for all the visits and comments! sunny smiles and greetings:-)))