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The Plakovo monastery
The Plakovo monastery (dedicated to St. Prophet Elijah) was founded during the times of the Second Bulgarian State and it was destroyed with the subjection of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule. It was not reconstructed before 1450, but only to be repeatedly set on fire and raided afterwards. In 1835, the monastery hosted the famous Velcho’s Plot, with one of the leaders of anti-Ottoman plot being the ex-abbot of the monastery, Father Sergey. Following the Turks’ suppression of the plot, the monastery was again ruined.
At present, the monastery complex consists of a church, residential and farm buildings. The present-day church was rebuilt in 1845 and is a rare representative of the Bulgarian orthodox architecture of the so-called Athos type, typical of the Second Bulgarian State. Built by the famous bulgarian master, Kolyo Ficheto (1856), the residential buildings as well as the majestic 26-meter bell tower, rising above the western residential building of the monastery, represent other sights of visitors’ interest. The monastery, which is functioning as an orthodox cloister, is declared a monument of national culture.
