Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo - Bulgaria - Travel & Discover

A plateau stretches across northeastern Bulgaria. Kregi gorges cut into the plateau. These cliffs, which can reach 50 meters in height, were caused by long-term erosion from the Rusenskiy Lom River, a tributary of the Danube. This is where the Rakhine churches of Ivanova are found, just 20 kilometers south of the town of Rus'. Ivanova is an ensemble situated in an area that has been declared a natural, cultural and artistic reserve. Favorable climatic conditions determined the utilization of Ivanova's natural grottoes long before the modern era. Thracians and Romans inhabited them later on. The extensive complexes of monasteries built here were established between the time of the second Bulgarian state at the end of the 12th century The constructions were initiated by the monk Joachim, later to become Joachim I, the first Bulgarian patriarch, when independence was restored to the Bulgarian church in 1235. This significant monastery complex consists of about 20 medieval churches, chapels and cells numbering more than 300 rooms. A large part of the rock temples have been destroyed by natural forces, including earthquakes, rain, ice and sun. The names of the surviving Ivanova rock churches have been forgotten over the centuries, and the local population has given them new ones, according to its own custom. These names include God's Gorge, given to a church where people believed that they could see the image of Christ through a rock opening. An area called the Letters, for the signs and inscriptions preserved there. One church was called the Buried One, and another one simply the Church. Troglodyte communities over the centuries have created a little-known form of architecture that demonstrates exceptional versatility and resourcefulness. Troglodytes are people who live in caves hollowed out by human agency. The earliest of these caves date from the New Stone Age, when societies abandoned hunting and turned to farming and animal husbandry. It is simpler to hew a shelter out of rock than to build one, but considerable understanding of the natural environment is required, as well as a remarkable capacity to adapt to it. Contrary to what is often thought, the underground dwelling is not a backward form of architecture, but rather a more economical way of living, above all in regions where building materials such as wood are scarce. As a result, most Troglodyte dwellings are found in arid regions, where the significant differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures and frequent sandstorms provide an incentive to search for a serviceable shelter. To a greater extent than natural caves, artificial underground dwellings are designed on a human scale, to meet human needs. One of the most spectacular forms of this architectural tradition is sacred Toglitism. Underground temples, monasteries, buried vaults and catacombs constitute a vast heritage designed for worship or burial, a practice that indicates how the human imagination regards rock as an impregnable form of shelter. These forms of sacred architecture hewn from the living rock are highly sophisticated. Carving a sanctuary from the block of stone, like a sculpture, requires patience and devotion. Troglodytism belongs to a very ancient and widespread tradition that is practiced to this day. Though many of the rock caves have succumbed to natural forces over the centuries, specific traces and evidence have remained, offering categorical proof of the scale and character of the building complexes and their communicating corridors. The refined treatment of the stone, the vast scale of the horizontal and vertical retreats, with their terraces adapted as galleries or wooden arcades, bear witness to a variety of original architectural solutions. The monastery dedicated to the Archangel Michael, also known as Ivanovo or Caught in the Rock, dates from the 11th century to the 14th century. During this period the caves were inhabited by monks, men of letters who helped to foster the cultural and spiritual revival of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. Because of its religious and cultural importance, the monastery became an important pilgrimage site and gained many important patrons. The monastery complex has preserved many splendid examples of medieval Bulgarian art in a few of the churches. The rock premises used by the monks include the Chapel of Saint Michael Archangel, commonly referred to as the Buried Church, the Baptistery, the Gospodev Dol Chapel, the Church of Saint Theodore, called the Demolished Church, and the main Church of the Holy Mother of God. The Ivanovo Monastery owes its unparalleled cultural and historic value predominantly to its beautiful and well-preserved paintings, dating from the 13th and 14th century, that adorn its walls and that have been preserved in five of the rock churches. Skilled but anonymous artists painted the walls of the rock churches with realistic frescoes, exquisite in color and composition, thus turning them into a true treasure of Bulgarian medieval painting. The adoption of Christianity in Bulgaria in the 9th century was of great significance for the establishment of the Bulgarian Kingdom on the one hand, as a spiritual and cultural community within its own boundaries, and on the other hand as the important pretender for authority, glory and might in Europe. The monasteries were one of the means of realizing this achievement. The philosophers, poets and philologists who worked behind the walls of the monasteries were entrusted with the mission not only to develop the necessary forms for a religion, but to create a whole culture. Thus the monasteries became and remain centers of literacy and culture, as well as temples of art and architecture. But that was not their only function. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the history of the Bulgarian monasteries is a political history in full. From their struggle in the creation and promulgation of the Slavic language and culture, through their role as a bastion against the Byzantine conquerors, the history of Bulgaria's monasteries was full of challenges and trials. The raccoon churches at Ivanova have been declared a museum reserve, as is the surrounding land delimited by the following boundaries. To the north, the line running from the present wooden bridge over the Rusenskiy Lom river, to a point about 150 meters north to the church Gospodav Dol. To the east, the line passing about 150 meters east to the Rocky Crest and crossing the river about 1000 meters east of the church. To the south, the line running about 150 meters south of the area of the bridge over the Rusenskiy Lom river. The entire region has been declared a natural reserve and is protected by the law governing natural sites. This site, so difficult to access and so isolated, offers visual proof of the monks' desire to remove themselves from the world, to live a life of devotion to God through silence, study and prayer. Yet it was the very study of the Bible and other religious texts that made the monks into transmitters of learning and even more importantly, creators of the Bulgarian culture. This vital role performed by the monks of Ivanova made their monastery a site of pilgrimage, bringing its dwellers back into the world they had attempted to flee. Visitors can access the churches by steps cut into the rocks and fenced off by a safety parapet. The history of the monasteries, their character and their place in the consciousness of the Bulgarian people remained closely tied with the historical fate of the country. At present, there are 120 preserved monasteries in Bulgaria, which are a living chronicle of the country's culture and the creative spirit of its people. They contain marvellous architectural ensembles, ancient icons, unique masterly wood carvings and wall paintings. The miraculous icons, the artistically built altar walls, combined with the traditional way of life, create the unique atmosphere of these amazing monuments of architecture. Accessible to visitors is the Church of the Holy Virgin, which was built and decorated with murals, with the support of Tsar Ivan Alexander in the mid-14th century. The church is 16 meters long, 4 meters wide and 2.15 meters high. It can be found in the rocks 38 meters above the road, which smoothly follows the meanderings of the river. The frescoes adjoining the church reveal an exceptional artistry and a remarkable artistic sensibility when placed against the background of 14th-century painting and Bulgarian medieval art. They remain an important achievement in Bulgarian art and in the Christian art of Southeast Europe in general. The expressiveness of these frescoes is unsurpassed when compared to other known historical monuments and remains characteristic of the Paleolog style. Neoclassical in spirit and in elements of their subjects, the frescoes represent a departure from the canons of Byzantine Hellenistic art, revealing a clear preference for the nude and landscape with an architectural background in composition, drama and emotional atmosphere. The murals adorning the ceiling are extremely realistic, perfectly well preserved and clearly visible. They include 25 scenes from the New Testament, depicting the last days of Jesus Christ. The frescoes are painted on the hewn walls and ceilings of the grottoes with minor deviations and natural curves in the level of the rock. The chambers are at a height of 6 to 10 meters and are connected by a series of stairs, passages and galleries. The walls are covered with pictures with biblical themes and compositions with many figures. Great artistic value, refined color schemes and admirable skill are displayed in the compositions. The partly conserved frescoes are evidence of the notable achievements of the Bulgarian School of Medieval Art. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the tempera method became widespread for the first time in Eastern Europe, as can be seen in the murals of the Tarnova School of Art. That technique allowed the work to proceed more slowly than the fresco method and allowed the artist to achieve brighter and more saturated coloring and gave him the potential for a greater range of colors. The fresco technique continued to be used, for instance in the beautiful frescoes of the Raccoon Churches of Ivanovo and the Chapel of the Hurelo Tower in the Rila Monastery. For the visitor to Ivanovo, it comes as a surprise to see such small, often cramped spaces so lavishly painted with extraordinary frescoes. The monks of Ivanovo decorated the areas where they prayed and worshipped with the most important events of their faith, the patrons of their monastery and the saints to whom they were particularly devoted. Much more than painting on canvas, the fresco method, in which paint is applied to wet or dry plaster, is inherently subject to deterioration over time, as the elements, especially humidity and changes in temperature, cause the painting's surface to crumble or fall away. This is especially the case at Ivanovo, where the frescoes painted directly on the limestone of the cave's interior were not protected from external elements by doors or windows. Yet what remains proves that the rock churches and the frescoes that adorn them are unique in the history of Bulgarian art, in terms of color and composition. The Baptist Street Church is another church in the monastery complex. Its walls are decorated with the scene of the vision of St. Peter of Alexandria. In spite of its wealth, diversity and beauty, this underground heritage does not enjoy the same prestige as that built on the ground. The conservation of the so-called natural habitats permits us to understand how people blend into the environment and how to preserve them from erosion, the risk caused by digging and inherent in the very principle of this subtractive form of architecture. This multi-faceted heritage illustrates to an exceptional degree the ways in which human settlement can blend with the environment. Some major Togloditic sites registered on the World Heritage List are strictly protected. The caves at Ivanovo were inhabited by monks from the 13th century to the 17th century. Some of the most popular and best preserved of the churches are the Gospodev Dol Chapel and the Buried Under Church. Striving to be closer to God by adopting a solitary way of life, hermit monks began to settle here in the 13th century, digging cells, churches and chapels into the rocks. During the apogee of the religious complex, the rock churches are believed to have numbered about 40, while the cells of monks were about 300. Unfortunately, most of these have not survived. The extremely fragile and poor condition of the caves and frescoes requires research and restoration. The preservation and restoration work includes the stabilization of the rock and insulation against the infiltration of humidity, work requiring appropriate conservation tools and materials to safeguard the artistic and cultural value of the site, as well as the preservation of the existing harmony between the natural environment, architecture and the historical monument. The Ivanovo Rock Monastery is situated 21 km south of the town of Rus. In fact, the rock monastery is completely different from the other monastery complexes to be found in Bulgaria. In contrast to the traditional monastery complex, consisting of one or two churches and a residential section, the Ivanovo Cloister represents a network of small churches, chapels and cells hewn into the rocks. As monasticism emerged as the spiritual vanguard of the new Christianized world, the first monasteries began to be built in Bulgaria as early as the 4th and 5th centuries. Written documents and archaeological excavations from that time testify to the existence of several dozen monasteries erected on territories that would later be inhabited by the Bulgarian people. The organization of the first monasteries followed a Near East scheme that had already established itself in some places in Europe. But as early as the 6th century, Byzantine plans began gradually to make their influence felt, only later to become the standard for the construction of Eastern Orthodox monasteries. The adoption of Christianity as a state religion in 865 gave new scope to monastery buildings. Another impressive church is the so-called Buried Underchurch, its official name the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel. Despite its name and the damage wrought by natural forces, the frescoes of this church have been admirably preserved over the centuries. The Archangel Michael is perhaps the most celebrated angel in the Bible, and his image and story found a prominent place in the history of Bulgarian art. For the artists who decorated Bulgaria's religious sites, Michael symbolizes protection, deliverance, and faith. Working from the first ray of blue, they magnify God's power and strength. The Archangel Michael is often depicted as God's warrior, using his strength to provide protection for mankind. Religious lore ranks Michael as the master of all angels. As an archangel, he is on the second lowest of the nine ranks of angels. Yet his leadership role is undisputed. He is called the Prince or Greater Lord, Director of the Angelic Kingdom, Commander of the Heavenly Host, and the Viceroy of the Heavens. In Hebrew, the name Michael means nothing less than he who is God, or who is as God. In the famous War in Heaven, Michael is the legendary angel who casts the rebellious Satan out of Heaven after defeating him. This is one example of how Michael plays a role of defeating evil forces. Michael is most commonly depicted in classical art with an unsheathed sword. He is also portrayed as a dragon slayer. One of the church's most important patrons was Tsar Ivan II, who ruled Bulgaria as emperor from 1218 to 1241. Under his long rule, Bulgaria became the dominant force in the Balkans. He is considered, with good reason, one of the most important and successful rulers of Bulgaria, accomplishing such important tasks as the restoration of the autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate in 1235. The Tsar frequently visited the monastery at Ivanovo, treasuring his moments of solitude there. This special relationship that tied the Tsar to the monastery is evidenced by the portrait of the Tsar that is found in the Buried Under Church, on which he holds a model replica of the church, a typical feature of church donors' portraits. The history of the Bulgarian Church is that of a tug-of-war between Rome and Constantinople. Bulgarian rulers realized early on that the cultural advancement and sovereignty of its people could be achieved through an enlightened clergy governed by an autocephalous church, a status that was granted in 927. Byzantine and Roman dominance, however, eclipsed Bulgaria's independence, and it would not be until the rule of Ivan Asin II that it would regain its autonomous status under the second Bulgarian state. The uniqueness of the Rusenskiy Lom Natural Park is a result of a variety of factors, including its terrain, rocks, soil and specific climatic conditions. These factors foster great biological diversity and diverse habitats with species of different origins. 120 million years ago, this area was covered by a warm sea, which deposited thick layers of limestone. Eventually, this sea receded and left the rock layers exposed. During the formation of the Alpine-Himalayan system of mountains, of which Staroplanina is a part, great lateral tectonic pressures resulted in cracks in the limestone strata that now form the basins of the Danubian tributaries. Owing to the different densities of the limestone strata, picturesque meanders and canyon-like valleys were formed by the elements. Similarly, a multitude of caves, caverns and karst formations were gradually carved along the entire river system. These geological formations are most beautiful and interesting along the lower reaches of the rivers. The vegetation of the Rusenskiy Lom National Park is luxuriant and fascinating. The forest is mainly composed of mid-European species, with some representatives of southern plants. It is formed of about 60 kinds of trees and shrubs. In the inner sides of the curves one can mainly find purely sub-Mediterranean shrubs, with an abundance of Eastern Hornbeam. Along with them one can also see Christthorn, Mahaleb Cherry, Mana or Flowering Ash, Turkey Oak, Common Lilac, Sumac, Dwarf Almond, and Almond Leafed Pear. Among the 1,000 or so herbaceous species, there is an unusual number of southern representatives, immigrants from the steppes, as well as rock dwellers such as Stepa Ioannis, Steppe Feathergrass, Dwarf Iris, along with many others. The six rock-hewn churches of Ivanova are part of the largest Bulgarian rock monastery, the Archangel Michael, founded at the beginning of the 13th century. Thanks to the patronage of tsars and patriarchs, the monastery grew and was decorated with magnificent medieval frescoes over the following 200 years. These murals depict scenes from Christ's Passion, as well as portraits of tsars and saints. The richness and variety of the cells and chapels, together with the original architectural solutions, all found within a magnificent natural setting, confirm the value of this extraordinary historical grouping. The rock-hewn churches of Ivanova were included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.