← Back to feed · Map

Bakadjik Spassky Monastery in the Village of Chargan (Bulgaria)

Фото 1
The Bakadjik Spassky Monastery, known in Bulgarian as Bakadjishki manastir "Sv. Spas", is a male monastery of the Sliven Diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. It is located on the northern slope of Mount Bakadjik, near the village of Chargan in the Yambol Province, just 10 km from the city of Yambol.

After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, which led to the liberation of part of Bulgaria from Turkish rule, the Russian army remained in the country for another two years. In early 1879, Lieutenant General Mikhail Skobelev discussed with the residents of Yambol the idea of building a church in memory of the Russian soldiers. It was decided to erect it on the northern side of the Bakadjik hill, on the site of the old Byzantine monastery of the Holy Savior, which existed during the April Uprising of 1876. General Skobelev personally chose this location for the future church. Construction began in the spring of 1879 by the 30th Infantry Division, with funds coming from donations from Russia and Bulgaria. Among the donors were General Skobelev's mother, Olga Nikolaevna Poltavtseva-Skobelev, and his sister, Princess Beloselskaya. Local residents, despite their poverty, contributed their labor. On the Feast of the Ascension, they brought wool, wheat, hemp, hides, and auctioned them off, donating the proceeds to the construction.

On May 12 of the same year, Archpriest Alexey Kuznetsov, the dean of the 30th Infantry Division, along with its commander, General Shnitnikov, laid the foundation stone for a church in the name of the holy and righteous Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky near the village of Chargan. This event was dedicated to the salvation of Emperor Alexander II from an assassination attempt by D. V. Karakozov. Bulgarian clergy attended the laying, but did not serve due to the Greek-Bulgarian schism. The church was designed to be 16.70 m long and 5.20 m wide, with a women's section, as was customary during the Turkish rule.

After the withdrawal of Russian troops, General Skobelev Jr. gifted the building church a gospel and a cross with engravings. The construction was completed by the residents of Yambol with the support of Bulgarians and Russians. The iconostasis was created by Russian monks, and the banners and icons were transferred from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

A male monastery in the name of the Holy Savior was opened at the church, which could accommodate 200 people and had no bell tower. It was part of the Kherson Diocese but was managed by the St. Petersburg Metropolitan. The abbot was a former colonel, hieromonk Parfeniy (Pavlov). The monastery owned fields, livestock, a beehive, and a vineyard, and on its territory stood two two-story houses and outbuildings. Nearby was a wooden Ascension chapel, to which thousands of pilgrims flocked on the Ascension, thanks to donations that sustained the monastery.

As of 2014, there were no monks at the monastery. The monastery's property was maintained by one Bulgarian priest and his wife.

Geo point

Бакаджикский Спасский монастырь в селе Чарган (Болгария)

Comments