I know of no other country with such a straight and strong backbone – the Balkan Range, with such a beautiful head – the magnetic Rila Mountain. A land whose feet are washed by the Black Sea, and the mountains, rivers and lakes in its bosom preserve universal secrets. Like a fire-dancer in ecstasy, Bulgaria has spread its arms over the fertile plains of Dobrudja and Trakia, and sweeps in the dance anyone who comes in touch with this heavenly land.

The moment I set foot in the gorge of Rusenski Lom, this area got a top place in my chart of landmarks in Bulgaria. I am joyfully surprised every time I go there and there seems to be no chance anything would displace it from its top position.
You travel across the infinite Danube Plain from Pleven to Ruse and you have no idea what the plain hides. A turn to the right suddenly takes you to a different world.

A small river, gathering water from the Ludogorie, makes its way to the Danube. It has folded the yellow loess it goes through, and the soft and hard limestone, into amazing meanders, over the centuries it has modeled the rocks in picturesque shapes.
Apart from being

one of the most beautiful spots in Bulgaria,

the canyon gorge of Rusenksi Lom is a special energy place. If you relax and open your heart to the sky, you will feel directly the power that sustains the visible world in harmony. This is one of the places where the Magic that weaved matter from light appears almost tangibly around you. Your life changes after spending several days in Polomieto (The Gorge). You need not do anything special, just walk around and enjoy the scenery. But meanwhile you somehow become wiser and a better person. You set your thoughts in order, you see a way out of any difficulty and convention. At some point you may find yourself doing something you haven’t done often lately – smile for no reason.

Rusenki Lom Natural Park as a whole is a piece of art. At first, the elements’ play with the earth created a unique natural world. Then man perceived the exclusivity of this place and added to the natural perfection the works of the medieval genius. The Karst limestone have shaped fantastic formations – rock colossi, a mosaic of niches, “rock wall-rugs” (‘honeycombs’, as the locals call them) and numerous caves.

In the reserve there are over 800 plant species; 17 bird species, listed in the Bulgarian Red Book and endangered on a European scale, fly about while you hike along the footpaths by the river or climb the rocks. Here is the northernmost habitat of the Egyptian vulture in Europe.

Going down to the river is like riding in a time-machine. You find yourself

on an intact Roman road

and the wild scenery stretches for dozens of kilometers. At places the road vanishes and you have to climb, crawl, fly… Then before your eyes appear the rock monasteries and churches of Polomieto.

High up in the rocks, 40-50 m above the ground, you can see the cave orifices. They were the homes of the medieval hermits and Hesychast monks. Some 700 years distance us from the times when this place was throbbing with spiritual life, which marked the last decades of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. There were over 40 rock temples and around 300 hermit “cells”. The Hesychast followers secluded themselves and meditated for their spiritual elevation. Their nourishment were forest fruits and roots. We can imagine how disillusioned they were from the wealthy bishops and behind-the-scenes intrigues in the large cities. They left the worldly life, full of vanity, and devoted themselves to prayers to God.

The monks expanded the natural caves and transformed them into chapels, churches and living premises. They settled in large numbers in the caves in the area during the first half of the 13th century. There were nobles among them. On of the numerous inscriptions on the cell walls mentions that “Tsar Georgi”, probably Georgi I Terter (1280–1292) spent his last days here as a priest.

In the locality of Gospodev Dol are preserved premises cut out in the rock 32 m above the ground, covered with frescoes. Christ Blessing is seen in the cave opening and the altar niche is painted with biblical scenes – The Assumption, The Ascension, Descent into Hell. In the locality of Pismata two churches have survived. The Vision of Peter of Alexandria is the fresco preserved in the one, and in the other, which is half-destroyed, called “The Buried Church”, there are interesting frescoes such as the donor’s portrait of King Ivan Asen II and Archangels Council.

The Ivanovo Complex is on the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage

The Ivanovo rock-hewn monastery dates from the 12th century – the reign of Asenevtsi (1186–1396). Most remarkable of the group of caves is The Holy Virgin Church, constructed and icon-painted with the financial support of King Ivan Alexander. The church-donor and his wife, Queen Theodora, are depicted in full length on the northeastern wall. Their presence speaks of close relations between the monks and the capital of Tarnovo.

The church is 38 m above the road level and is 16 m long, 4 m wide and 2.15 m high. Of its mural-painting wealth, only the frescos on the ceiling are preserved, while those on the walls are almost deleted.

The ceiling is divided by decorative frames into 25 rectangular fields. The scenes The Life of John the Baptist, Judas’s Hanging, Christ’s Passion, and saints are depicted. The paintings are in the style of the Paleologue Renaissance in Byzantium and are distinguished for their harmoniously selected colors and expressiveness of the faces.

The author of this marvelous work is unknown. He painted colorfully and realistically, rendered the scenes closer to reality and the ordinary people, rather than in the established ascetic and sober style, which dominated the Middle Ages proper.

The nude human bodies and the architectural details in unique perspective, speak of revival of the antique tradition. In the 13th century, the Bulgarian lands saw the rudiments of the Renaissance, which swayed Europe in the next few centuries. These frescoes are considered a peak achievement of the Bulgarian medieval fine arts. An American art historian claims that the preserved frescoes in The Holy Virgin Church are testimony to the unique development of art during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, and that only the Ottoman domination prevented Bulgaria from attaining

the aesthetic heights of European Renaissance

In the village of Ivanovo there is a Tourist Information Center. There you can obtain exhaustive information about the region, brochures and maps. The rock complex is 4 km east of Ivanovo, signs are in place. You can reach it by an asphalted road or a blazed trail. Working hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. Tourist guide lecture available.

In 2004, under a project of the Ruse regional administration: “Ruse – Ivanovo – Cherven: Journey from the Present to the Medieval Past”, the complex was overhauled for tourists. The project was financed by the EU PHARE program for development of cultural tourism in Bulgaria.