The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Convent in Kazanlak

Its massive iron gate is hospitably open from dawn to dusk, as is fit for every monastery. Behind its tall walls, one finds oneself in an oasis of solitude and serenity, preserved amidst the dynamics, noise and hustle-and-bustle of the industrial city. Here each inch of land is steeped in memories and legends, which have survived throughout the nearly two-century-long history of the monastery. The broad cobbled alley, flanked by three huge fir trees on the right, leads to the convent, whose murals and interior are currently being restored with the assistance of the Culture National Fund by a team of experts spearheaded by restoration painter Tatyana Dimova. She regards the temple as unique and one of its kind in Bulgaria in terms of its architecture and painting. In 1974 (State Gazette No34) it was proclaimed a monument of culture along with the marble fountain in the yard and the buildings used as a Russian hospital during the Liberation War.

The Beginning
Legend has it that in 1828 the Holy Virgin appeared in the dream of Susana Gencheva from Kazanlak, a nun from the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Convent in Kalofer, and advised her to return to her hometown and establish a convent there. The profoundly religious woman fulfilled the holy message. She singled out eight girls from Kazanlak and started to instruct them in divine service and handicrafts.

he newly founded women’s convent was housed in the mansion of Ivancho Klatnata, a famous trader in rose oil. After a while the novices resolved to take the vow and the ceremony of getting their hair cut was conducted by Archimandrite Kalinik, abbot of the monastery in the village (nowadays town) of Maglizh, in the region of Kazanlak. The nuns led a life of poverty and deprivation in the course of 14 years, dreaming to build a true monastery. Most actively involved in the task was the nun Zinovia Stancheva. In order to raise the necessary funds, she left with two other nuns for Braila (Romania), where her brother Dimitar Stanchov was a trader. With his aid they collected the first 1,000 groshs from the Bulgarian community there. 750 groshs went for the purchase of the land on which the monastery lies today. Yet to legalize its existence, they needed a royal decree, which was obtained thanks to the help of the brothers Hristo and Nikola Tapchileshtovi, rich merchants from Kalofer living in Constantinople at the time. Within several years the nuns traveled eight times to Russia via Constantinople and Odessa, stopping in Kiev, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kronstadt and other cities in search of donations for the construction of a church and nuns’ cells, while in the period 1867-1871 they cruised Serbia and Austria to raise funds for the building of a girls’ orphanage after a European model.

In the course of 15 years the convent yard got gradually built-up – tall massive walls were erected and the nuns’ cells in its northern part were completed. According to the nuns’ memories from the time, the first ceremonial haircuts were performed in the yard amidst the orchard, as there was still no church. The convent was named The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin after the monastery in Kalofer, where its founder had come from. (The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin as a Christian church holiday dates back to 7 c. It is celebrated on November 12 and is connected with the presentation of the 3-year-old Maria, daughter of Ana and Joachim, at the Jerusalem temple. According to the legend, in the presence of clerics and relatives, the girl was placed on the first step of the temple and she climbed up the other fourteen on her own. This was interpreted as an omen and from then on Maria was consecrated to God and remained to live in the temple.)

The Church
Commissioned by the St. Petersburg Metropolitan Bishop Isidor, then chairperson of the Russian Holy Synod, the project was designed by a Russian architect. “It is a basilica. The walls were made of local stone and are 1.2-meter thick. With its huge dome, unsupported by pillars, the temple indeed does not have a parallel within the bounds of Bulgaria,” claims the restorer Tanya Dimova.
The first sod done was turned in 1857. The construction works continued for nine whole years and were done by a group of builders from Debar under the management of Master Builder Kozma. Impressive is the fact that at the time the local authorities appointed a Turk as a monastery guard to defend it against encroachment from people of his own religion! In 1866 the temple was completed and consecrated by the Greek Bishop Athanasius of Tarnovo. Later on a girls’ school was built here (1872).

The nuns received a large donation from Russia for the new church – robes, icons, crosses, gospels and a shroud of Christ, as well as funds to paint the walls and the dome. The church plate was a present from Empress Maria, Metropolitan Bishop Isidor and the Troitsa-Sergievo, Alexader-Nevski and Kiev-Pechora Monasteries. The money and chests of presents were sent to Bulgaria via the post of Naiden Gerov, Russian Consul in Plovdiv at the time. The five monastery bells cast in Russia were donated to the temple in 1869. There is plentiful ground to assert that those generous donations converted the convent in Kazanlak into a symbol of Christian solidarity with the Bulgarians residing outside the Ottoman Empire.

In late 1869 began the painting of the temple. The painters were reputable men of integrity and genuine patriots: the nationwide famous Georgi Danchov painted the dome in 1871, Petko Iliev Gagin from Kazanlak painted the walls of the church in 1870, Father Pavel and his son Father Nikola from Shipka painted the altar. They were all disciples of the Apostle Vassil Levski and while traveling across the country to paint, they completed the work assigned to them by the revolutionary committee.