The Monasteries Along the Nishava Valley Near Godech

“Baba Vanga, the Bulgarian prophetess, said that the monastery should be renovated if the town wanted to drive away the surrounding evils in those times…” says Ani Asparouhouva, chief inspector at Godech Municipality. And she adds that a belief was ruling there about the evil in the area and the necessity to overcome it by rebuilding the monastery that used to exist there. The voluntary donations and work of the local people rebuilt at the same place and named it “St. Nikolai Letni”. An antique Roman temple dating from 2-4 c. was discovered at the foundations of the sanctuary. The two temples were designated National Monuments of Culture.

The town of Godech is situated a mere 45 km to the west of Sofia. It is a municipal center of 19 settlements of approximately 6,000 residents. The largest village is Gintsi with some 300 inhabitants, whereas the least populated is Ravno with only 25 people. Unemployment is another contemporary evil causing the migration of most of the young people. Frank yet distressed, the mayor Mr. Vladimir Alexandrov lists the problems of the area – poor infrastructure, old water supply and drainage system, unresolved problems with the Water Supply and Drainage Company, summer water rationing, murky drink water resulting from the outdated purifying station…

The future of the municipality relies on the development of tourism. An eco-tourism project has been prepared, which envisages the construction of an eco-path. Another project suggests that a total of 3,000 decarås of land in the vicinity of Petrohan should be given to the established joint-stock company to build and run golf, balneology and equestrian tourism facilities. The construction is estimated to cost some 500,000 BGN, yet it will create 100 new jobs.

Besides, it is possible to invest in the production of all sorts of herbs, wild fruits and potatoes, because the municipality of Godech is an ecologically clean region with no industrial manufacturing. And none has ever existed.

Nevertheless, numerous monasteries have existed in this western area of Bulgaria ever since ancient times. Archaeologists have long claimed that there was a medieval monastery center in the valley of Nishava river, meandering through Godech. “An ancient road traversed our territory, we are situated at a crossroads from Europe to the Near East. Therefore it is only logical to assume that we have had a chain of monasteries,” says Mr. Boris Stankov, secretary to the Municipality. He lists the names of the churches in the villages of Gintsi, Komshtitsa, Goubesh, Touden. Then he adds the names of the monasteries in Lopoushna, Vradlovtsi, Boukorovtsi, Godech and Razboishkia, where is one of the few Bulgarian rock monasteries. Legend has it that every morning the construction workers came to the building site to find the result of the previous day’s work heaved up on the rocks. Then they again started to build at the bottom. And everything was repeated. All this was interpreted as a sign of God regarding the exact whereabouts of the temple. Today the Razboishkia Monastery “Presentation of the Blessed Virgin” is a national monument of culture. Ever since the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, the Godech region is said to have belonged as a monastery center to the Sofia Mount Athos…

“The Holy Ghost” is one of Godech’s monasteries. It was erected in the Middle Ages, yet no written sources have survived to pinpoint its chronology. Its destiny was typical of the Turkish yoke times – it was devastated, demolished, dishonoured and forgotten throughout the centuries. Yet it came to be restored in a bizarre way…

“The monastery was discovered by a fortune-teller, the sick Elina from the village of Grigorevo in Elin Pelin region. When she first came here in 1923, she outlined the foundations of the two churches “The Holy Ghost” and “St. Cyril and Methodius and Their Five Disciples” in a private unseemly plot of village land. She brought worshippers from the town to show them the sanctuaries and uttered their names. There were probably consecrated grounds in the times of Turkish dominance. Elina obtained the approbation of clergymen, who sent people to dig up the place and discover the foundations of the two churches 70-80 cm underground! A third one is believed to have existed there, but its foundations have never been found,” says father Todor Toshev, head of “St. Dimitar” Temple in town. I am thinking about the traditional faith of those residents of Godech, who brought these ruins back to life. First they made a well in 1927 and then a building adapted to spiritual needs. The construction of the two churches took place many years later, in the post-war years. The monastery spiritual settlement called “The Holy Ghost” was completed, as today it is surrounded by a monastery fence. If there is anything worrisome in our modern times according to father Todor, it is the spiritual void occupying people’s souls. It is the result of long economic and political changes, the diminishing importance of the church and ubiquitous nonchalance. Still there is hope that all these will soon turn into a fading memory…

In the center of town, tucked away in the newer basilica made of ashlars cemented with mortar, rises the old church “St. Dimitar”, which is a monument of culture built as early as 1836.

“The second stage in the conservation and restoration of its murals is forthcoming,” comments Maya Stanimirova, who is in charge of the immovable monuments of culture in the municipality. “This is the main church in town, and although its 19 c. murals are primitive, they are quite good and colourful.” Their reconstruction was carried out by Stoyan Nikolov and Zamfir Popov in the 90s. Then the Ministry of Culture and the municipality allocated funds, which regretfully only covered the reconstruction costs of the murals on the vault and the western wall. There was dampness as well as much damage done to the iconostasis. Now some 30,000 BGN is badly needed to preserve the uniqueness of this church.

However, this year the municipality has lent no funds for the conservation works on its territory despite the necessity to preserve the religious art in the region. Everyone is proud of “St. Nikolay” church in the village of Gintsi. It is a monument of culture dating from 11c. It was erected on the western bank of Nishava river below Rogacheta neighbourhood, in a picturesque area. Some 300 meters away from it lies a consecrated ground with a fountain and a consecrated cross. The ruins discovered nearby have given researchers sufficient ground to rank it among the so-called single church-monasteries, which were built in medieval times on traditional consecrated grounds and gained particular popularity throughout the region of Sofia in 17-19 c. The murals of the church located 1.5 km from the center of Gintsi were painted in two periods (1658 and 1864) and in two layers. It is presumed that those dating from 7 c. were in all likelihood the work of Pimen Zografski. Two centuries later a new layer was spread on them. Today the leaking roof has led to the discovery of the older ones, since the old paints and limestone have been partly washed away. According to other opinions the oldest murals go back to the time of King Ivan Assen!

The arrival of Vidov Day is not merely a wish in Godech. It is the traditional holiday of the town, where some 5,000 people reside and celebrate it every last weekend of June. Then you can see the rich folklore tradition maintained by the dance troupe of Nikola Vaptsarov cultural center, established over 100 years ago. The living conditions here appealed even to the Thracians, who a few thousand years ago built ancient towns at several places in the municipality (in Touden, Komshtitsa, etc.). And probably in those early times arose the feeling that this remote and quiet place was suitable for living, which is the most widespread hypothesis regarding the origins of this quaint name of Godech.

Roumen Stoichkov