Chekotinski Monastery "St. Archangel Michael"

Overview

The Chekotinski Monastery "St. Archangel Michael ”is a functioning male monastery part of the Lovchani diocese. It is located along the river Malak Iskar near the village of Svode, about 15 kilometers from the town of Pravets. The name of the monastery is associated with the eponymous neighborhood in which it is located.
The monastery was founded at the end of the 12th century. It was destroyed during the Ottoman invasions in the 14th century, but was rebuilt in the following century. It was a spiritual center for transcripts of liturgical literature. The monastery was in close contact with the Bozhenishki Urvich fortress, located 4 km west.
At the end of the 17th century the monastery was burned down and looted by the Kurds. In the middle to the end of the XVIII century it was restored. Some of the monks of the Chekotin Monastery have participated in the activities of the revolutionary committees set up by Vasil Levski.
In its modern form, the Chekotinski Monastery is the work of Bishop Gennady Melnishki, abbot of the monastery from 1981 to 1998. The chapel “St. Gennady ”is in honor of St. Gennady, Patriarch of Constantinople.
The Chekotinski Monastery consists of the church "St. Archangel Michael ”, chapel of St. Gennady ”, residential and farm buildings.
The church is the only partially surviving building of the medieval monastery. It is a single-nave triconch basilica with an apse, vestibule and cylindrical vault. The entrance to the church is low and arched, shaped with cut stones. The narthex was reconstructed in 1841. The iconostasis is wooden, richly carved with stylized vine leaves and bunches, in the style of the Tryavna school. The icons were painted by Dimitar Zograf and Jovan Icon Painter from Samokov and Hadji Ivancho from Gabrovo. The murals were realized in 2012-2013.
The chapel "St. Gennady ”is located on the second floor of the three-storey residential building to the monastery. The chapel is richly painted and is often used for festive church services.