Aladzha Monastery – category Religious sites
Aladzha Monastery is a must-see religious sight, located 17 km from the city of Varna and just 3 km West of the beach resort Golden Sands (Zlatni Piasatsi) and Umani Hotel & Beach.
Aladzha Monastery is a medieval sandstone monastery and has been perceived as one of the most fascinating landmarks along the Black Sea Coast. The white limestone cliff is located in the tranquil Golden Sands Naturе Park (Zlatni Piasatsi Naturе Park) – a safeguarded region with uncommon tree species. The delightful nature encompassing the Aladzha Monastery joined with the verifiable and legendary imagery make the area a great place for social, eco and nature tourism.
The uncommon building shapes and various legends for buried fortunes and priest phantoms floating about the remnants make an enchanted and mysterious environment drawing in numerous admirers throughout recent decades.
A unique audio-visual show called “Legends of Aladzha Monastery” is complementing the experience in the evenings.
Image by Kamen Hadzhiev
History
The most popular archaic cavern religious site along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, Aladzha Monastery was built and inhabited medieval monks during the XIII-XIV centuries. The originators of the Bulgarian paleohistory Shkorpil siblings, Karel and Hermin, started deliberately to concentrate on this Christian landmark, and in 1927, Aladzha Monastery was pronounced a public landmark and in 1968 it was proclaimed a monument of architecture and construction of national importance.
After the fall of Bulgaria under the Ottoman burden toward the finish of fourteenth hundred years, Aladzha Monastery has bit by bit declined and it was likely around fifteenth – sixteenth century when it was at long last deserted.
The caves
The rooms and passages are carved into the cliff, and the cloister caves are cut on two levels into a practically 40m high limestone rock. The principal level comprises of a religious community church, devout cells, a feasting premise and a kitchen, a little burial ground church, a tomb (bone-vault) and homestead premises. The subsequent level is a characteristic cavern break in the eastern finish of which there is a religious community sanctuary.
About 600-700m west from the Aladzha Monastery there is a gathering of caverns known as the “Sepulchers”. The objects found by the archeologists like ceramics, coins, spray painting, and so forth, proof that the Catacombs were occupied during the early Christian Age (V-VI hundreds of years).
The Aladzha Monastery name
The Christian name of the Monastery is obscure. The name “aladzha” (alaca) is of a Persian – Arabian beginning signifying “diverse, splendid”. Toward the start of the last hundred years, K. Shkorpil composed a legend as indicated by which the benefactor of the religious community was St. Spas (named after Christ the Savior).
Adding to the great variety of this delightful region there is a gallery worked in 70s of last century, where alongside the long-lasting composition showing the Monastery’s set of experiences, a few fascinating presentations are held consistently. In the anteroom, the guests can purchase logical versions, Bulgarian church music CDs and different souvenirs of the Golden Sands (Zlatni pyasatsi or Zlatni piasatsi in Bulgarian) resort and the Varna area.
The Golden Sands Nature Park
The park was affirmed as a protected territory in 1943, and includes about 500 plant species and over 100 animal species. With its 13.2 square kilometres, it is the smallest Nature Park in Bulgaria, but nevertheless a remarkable one as the forests are remarkably similar to tropical forests, and favorite to nature lovers.
Accessibility
Please note the Monastery is on a cliff, and to reach its entrance, there are metal stairs. Within the site, there are stone stairs, thus may not appropriate for wheelchair users and physically challenged persons.
The TripAdvisor rating of Aladzha Monastery
Aladzha Monastery has a rating of 4.5 in Tripadvisor as of June 2022 and is classified as #8 of 75 things to do in Varna in category Religious Sites. With comments, such as “Incredible” and “A must see sight in Varna”, it is an ideal place to visit and combine history and nature in the Golden Sands area.
Contacts:
Aladzha Monastery is a popular tourist attraction visited by thousands of local and international tourists. There is a small admission fee – for details please contact the Nature park “Golden sands” (Zlatni Piasatsi Naturе Park)
Telephone: +359 52 355 460, +359 887 841 492
www.archaeo.museumvarna.com
If you need assistance to reach the Monastery, please contact Reception.