Monastery of Kapinovo

The "St. Nikola" Monastery of Kapinovo lies at the foot of the Elena
Balkan, near the Vesselina river. This is one of the biggest
monasteries in Bulgaria and is an interesting monument of architecture
from the period of Bulgarian National Revival. In the east wall of the
monastery, there is an inscription indicating that the monastery was
built in 1272. During the Turkish yoke, the monastery was destroyed and
later restored several times. In 1835 masters from the town of Dryanovo
reconstructed the monastery church, and Papa Vitan - a master from
Tryavna, painted the big icons of the iconostasis. The whole west wall
of the church represents scenes of the Doomsday and is one of the
richest compositions in Bulgaria. It was painted by Joan Pavlovich, an
artist from Razgrad.

In 1856, the old walls of the monastery were destroyed and the
two brothers Horozov from Elena constructed massive two-storied
residential buildings. The exterior is 8m high, 1.5m thick and made of
stone, and this makes the monastery imposing.

When restoring the monastery in 1856 paintings of the two
brothers St. St. Cyril and Methodius were put up above the entrance
door. An unknown artist painted the interior walls in the chapel, built
in 1864. Among his paintings are portraits of Famous Bulgarian
spiritual and literature activist - Ivan Rilski, Theodosii Tarnovski,
Patriah Evtimii, and Ilarion Maglenski. The strongest impression makes
the portrait of the two brothers Horozovi.

As far back as the beginning of the Bulgarian national revival,
the monastery served as a cultural center. In 1794, father superior of
the monastery became Pope Stoiko Vladislavov, later known as Episcopate
Sofronii Vrachanski. He was a custodian to the transcript of History of
Slavic Bulgarians, from Paisii Hilendaski. In the close proximity of
the monastery there is a deep pool, a favourite place for bathing and
bivouacing in the hot summer days.

Source: visit.bg