Troyan Monastery

Troyan Monastery sits in a wooded valley in the Balkan foothills and is the third largest in Bulgaria, founded in the sixteenth century and rebuilt in the nineteenth during the National Revival. Its distinction is the painting: Zahari Zograf, the leading Bulgarian painter of the period, decorated the church between 1847 and 1849, inside and on the exterior arcades, with a Last Judgement, saints, and among them a self-portrait, which was an unusual thing to include. The buildings around the courtyard are three storeys of timber galleries on stone. The monastery hid Vasil Levski and served as a base for the revolutionary committee, which is part of why it holds the place it does in Bulgarian memory. A crafts village at Oreshak lies just below.

What you actually see

• Zahari Zograf's paintings - the 1840s scheme inside and on the arcades.
• His self-portrait - included among the figures.
• Three storeys of timber galleries - the courtyard buildings.
• The revolutionary history - the monastery's role in the 1870s.

When to go

April to October; open year round. Two hours. Feast days bring crowds. The exterior arcade paintings are best in good light. Modest dress is expected.

Honest expectations

Photography inside the church is not permitted. The exterior paintings are weathered in places. It is busy at weekends and on feast days. The approach road is lined with stalls at Oreshak.

Nearby

The Oreshak crafts village is below; the Central Balkan park lies south.