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The
monastery of Cherepish
The monastery of Cherepish is one of the most remarkable Christian monuments in the Iskar defile. It is situated on the very riverbank and is surrounded by unscalable imposing rocks. For centuries it was the main center of the literary and the cultural life in the region.
The archaeological research proved the monastery to have been built in the 14th century. The statutes of the monastery (tipnik), which dates from 1390-1396, still survives. The monastery existed throughout the 15th century and in various documents of that time is mentioned as Cherepets, Cherapish or Chelbish.
In
the beginning of the 17th century the monastery was rebuilt by St. Pimen
of Sofia (or of Zograph). In his “Slavo-Bulgarian History” Paisiy
of Hilendar writes: “St. Pimen toiled for a long time and made numerous
churches and restored many monasteries in the Sofia eparchy, where he
was born. Later he renovated the monastery of Cherepish, where he later
passed away… This Pimen lived till 1610.” The wall-paintings
in the church of the monastery date from that times.
and more....F.Kanitz - travel notes
At present day the monastery is a completed architectural complex, which includes a drawing-room, a school, the monastery kitchen (magernitsa), a chapel, residential and official buildings, storage and production structures. The attractive location an the traditional architecture of the monastery offer to the visitor an easy to access and picturesque place for taking a rest.