The first and only time I went to Glozhenski manastir (Glozhene Monastery) was by bike. We stayed in the village of Maluk Izvor, about seven or eight kilometres from the cloister. The cloister itself is actually named Sveti Georgi (Saint George), although everybody calls it Glozhenski because of the other nearby village, Glozhene.
The route to the monastery climbs the mountain but it’s not particularly steep, so ideal for amateurs like myself. The Little Spring hostel in Maluk Izvor (13 Zdrave Street) offers accommodation and also hires out bicycles suitable for coping with the Stara Planina terrain.
The easiest way to reach Glozhene Monastery is by taking Hemus Highway from Sofia, driving 75km to Yablanitsa, then veering right and crossing the town. From there you climb up the first Stara Planina hills. The distance from Yablanitsa to the Glozhenski monastery is about 13km, passing by Maluk Izvor en route.
The cloister is located on an impressive mountaintop affording a magnificent view as it was built on high rocks. One of the largest Bulgarian monasteries, it resembles a fortress. A main church, museum and residential buildings are all enclosed within the yard of Glozhene monastery.
The Kiev prince Georgi Glozh built the holy place in 1224 and the monastery was named after him. The young priest at Glozhene Monastery also related a story about the icon Sveti Georgi Pobedonosets (St George the Victorious). Legend has it that the cloister’s walls started to collapse and the miracle-creating icon vanished, as it had also disappeared, inexplicably, several times before. The monks searched in vain. The icon, which had been flying on the wings of God, was eventually found in the branches of a cornel tree (dogwood) on the east side of a high and inaccessible rock under the nearby Kamen Lisets Peak. The monastery’s residents happily returned it to its resting place in the church. The next day the icon went missing again. After searching for many days, they found it on the same cornel-tree! The miracle icon Sv Georgi disappeared three times in this fashion. Currently, it is preserved in the Lovetch bishopric, while in Glozhene Monastery church there is a copy. Many people visit Lovech every day to pray in front of the miracle icon of Sv Georgi.
Other stories relate that in the 18th century the cloister was one of Bulgaria’s cultural centres. The country’s greatest revolutionary, Vassil Levski, who fought against the Turkish yoke, sought refuge in the monastery. His hiding place is preserved to this day in one of the monastery’s rooms. It is a hole in the rocks, to which you descend from a space in the wooden floor of one of the rooms. Visiting tourists throw coins into the deep hole to listen to the sound they make before they reach the bottom.
Tourists also can sleep in Glozhene Monastery for seven leva but they must book in advance. The monastery can shelter about 20 people, who have to obey the cloister’s rules.
The biggest town near to cloister is Teteven, 12km away. Several family hotels in Teteven offer inexpensive services, including the Hotel-Restaurant-Bar Maxim (tel: 0678/ 5552), Hotel Titan (tel: 0678/ 2191; 2552), Hotel Vit (2 Mihail Koichev Str, tel: 0678/ 2034), Hotel Zdravets (29 Petrahilya Str, tel: 0678/ 2201, 2202; tel/fax: 0678/ 5551), as well as several other hotels and bungalow complexes in nearby Ribaritsa.
Easter in the monastery is celebrated in the traditional Orthodox way. Anyone interested in attending the holy ceremony gathers before the church at about 10.30pm on Easter evening (Saturday). At midnight the main priest circles the church three times carrying a lit candle, followed by the crowd. After midnight everyone begins the customary Bulgarian egg-tapping fight and eating the traditional sweet Easter bread known as kozounak.
