Top 7 Caves ルセ地方での

The entire circular trail is very easy to walk. It has been cleared and is very well signposted.

Many bats can be observed in the caves

GERMAN Church: We are in the Church of St. Mary. It was part of the rock monastery of St. Michael the Archangel, which operated during the Second Bulgarian Empire from 1220 to around 1450. The church was carved into the rock and was painted around 1360. The entrance was where the balcony is today. The opening through which we now enter was drilled in 1936 by French scientists who were researching the wall paintings. To the left of the original entrance are depicted Tsar/King Ivan-Aleksander and his second wife, Tsaritsa/Queen Theodora, who donated funds for the carving and painting of the church. They are holding the rock in which the church is located and presenting it to St. Mary. This has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. In the 1980s, the rock was impregnated to prevent moisture from seeping in and damaging the frescoes. The wall paintings themselves are coated with a special varnish that protects them from negative effects. Chapel: This is the chapel of Saint Gerasim Yordanski. According to legend, he healed a lion's paw. In gratitude, the lion allowed Saint Gerasim to ride it. On the west side of the chapel, the saint is depicted riding the lion among a group of worshipers on the way to Jerusalem.

The rock monastery "Gramovets" was hewn near the "Smesite" area, where the Beli and Cherni Lom rivers merge and form the beginning of the Rusenski Lom river. Most of the monastery's rooms are vertically located in the central parts of the rock massif. They are connected to each other by a path. The church is very well designed. Its ceiling has a dome, which is a rare occurrence for cave temples. In places, plaster has been preserved, covered with very pale images from the mural decoration. In an inscription carved around a cross, letters from the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets are intertwined. This dates the church from the time of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. Nearby, along the river, to "Smesite", after passing a large collapse, you reach a cave Christian monastery with several floors. Steps carved into the rock lead to a church that is lower than the previous one and is also carefully designed.

A narrow path and steps lead to the temple. It is elongated and relatively low, with a well-leveled ceiling and floor. The desire to resemble the temple layout of brick churches is visible, but as far as the presence of monolithic rock allows. To the south it is open to the river valley, there are cutouts in the floor for a wooden structure. There is a rock bench next to the north wall. The place where the altar partition was placed is visible. A shallow arched niche is carefully carved in the east wall. It performs the function of the vaulted niches in brick temples - apses.

The Christian monastery is the last among the rocks along the ancient riverbed of the Cherni Lom River. It is part of the largest concentration of rock monasteries in Bulgaria - the Lom Rock Holy Mountain. It shows human processing, which led to the design of its components. The greatest attention was paid to the church and especially to its altar space. The upper part of the steps cut into the rock, leading to a rock platform, has been preserved. Around it, in a tiered manner, with the presence of half-storeys, most of the premises are developed.

The pictures in the cave have been preserved. Not restored, meaning not recreated with paint. You can see the originals. The Last Supper fresco is around 200 years older than the more famous Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Please do not use flashlights in the cave. The frescoes are intended to remain preserved for many hundreds of years.

A path about 500m long leads to this rock church. The monks lived in the surrounding natural caves and converted this place into a chapel. There are impressive paintings on the walls and on the way to the church there are always interesting views of the valley and other rock grottos. The way back goes down a steep staircase to the car park and a small souvenir stand.