Bulgaria's Ministry of Tourism will create destinations for pilgrimage tourism to encourage visits to holy places in Bulgaria, Bulgaria's Tourism Minister Mariana Nikolova said during her visit to the Troyan Monastery. 

This will encourage year-round travel and help local economies, Nikolova believes. 

The Troyan Monastery is the third largest in Bulgaria and is visited by thousands of tourists every year, the minister added. The Holy Monastery was founded at the end of the 16th century and preserves one of the three miraculous icons of the Three-handed Theotokos (Bogorodica Troerucica) - a copy of the old miraculous icon kept in the Hilendar Monastery in Mount Athos.