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Ruen Monastery "St. Dimitar"

The Boboshevo monastery is located on the eastern slope of Boboshevski Ruen peak (1134 m above sea level) in the Vlahina mountain/>.Patron Saint's day is on 26 October.

Location

The town of Boboshevo is 3 km to the north-east of the Boboshevo monastery. The E79 first-class road connects Boboshevo with Dupnitsa (17 km to the north) and the town of Kocherinovo (17 km to the south).

History

It was founded in the 9th century and is one of the oldest Bulgarian monasteries. With the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule it was destroyed. In 1488 it was restored but at present it is deserted and is not functioning. The Boboshevo monastery is a complex including a church and residential buildings from the 19th century at about 500 m to the north-east of it. The church (12 x 6 m) is made of stone, one-nef, with a narthex and is partly dug into the ground. The narthex was built in 1864. Valuable wall-paintings dating from 1488 are preserved. In the 15th-18th century the monastery was an important literary and educational centre (a school was opened and functioned). It was mentioned in the biography of St. Ivan Rilski (written by St. Patriarch Evtimiy) that the Rila saint had been a monk in this monastery. He had lived in the cave above his native village of Skrino, about 4 km to he north-west of the monastery.

Nowadays the monastery is a monument of culture.