For each monastery when created, the place is not selected randomly, so it is with the Chiprovtsi monastery. It was built in the 10thcentury in a picturesque area in the region close to the Balkan mountain. It is situated at 22 km from the town of Montana. The monastery is a historical and liturgical center with a rich history. It was the spiritual focus of the Bulgarians during the Ottoman rule. It is currently an active monastery, very well preserved and converted into a monument of culture. Chiprovtsi Monastery is among the most widely visited tourist sites associated with the spiritual independence of the Bulgarian nation. "Overall it is a spiritual and cultural center of the time when Bulgarian lands were in the Ottoman Empire. It is included in the list of Bulgaria's 100 National Tourist Sites and every Bulgarian should visit it”, says Archimandrite Antim, priest in the Chiprovtsi monastery.

"As every year on October 19, we celebrate our patron saint's day, the day of St. Ivan Rilski. This year the occasion is even more solemn. In the belfry called the Tower we consecrate the new chapel, where after some time the bones of the rebels killed in the Chiprovtsi uprising in 1688 will be carried. This makes this day different, featuring many laymen. Otherwise, each year the festivities begin with a liturgy, and blessed food is distributed to visitors and pilgrims to the monastery, which come together to pray and worship the icons. They also visit us in order to enjoy the beautiful landscape where the Chiprovtsi monastery is located. The monastery has always been open and has been a magnet for many people because here a particle of the relics of St. Ivan Rilski is kept. This is the holiest thing stored in the monastery. Every day people come to pray to Saint Ivan Rilski for health and hope so that they innermost desires might come true. People flock from all over Bulgaria, especially from the region of Chiprovtsi, Montana, the surrounding villages and towns. Together we celebrate the feast and the St. Ivan Rilski is a patron saint of all Bulgaria. He was the first monk of the Bulgarian monasticism and the patron of monks and nuns from all our monasteries," notes Archimandrite Antim.

Everyone is welcome in the Chiprovtsi monastery and can safely enjoy the beauties of nature, of the iconostasis in the church, which has been preserved in its original form and has been restored. Pilgrimage tourism is a mass phenomenon in recent years in Bulgaria and this is evident in the brotherhood in Chiprovtzi, explains Archimandrite Antim:

"Different people come to us but they all cross the threshold of the cloister with the awareness that this is not just a tourist destination, but a place where people can stay and heal their souls. Tourists leave donations that are in support of the sanctuary so thaty we might be able to maintain and ennoble the monastery building and its surroundings. So far we have only 20 places for accommodation. We have applied with a project for European support and hope to be approved in order to be able to make repairs and provide more accommodation for pilgrims. In the summer tourists come here with their tents and caravans. They ask us for permission to spend the night in the meadows outside the monastery. All they show great respect for the spiritual institution."

English: Rossitsa Petcova