Medieval monastery complex village of Voden

Overview

The medieval monastery near the village of Voden, Bolyarovo municipality, is located in the area "Excavations" - 2.9 km southeast of the village. The archeological site is located 400 m in a straight line from the "Little Fortress" - a fortress from the period X - XIII century and 800 m from the area "Druma".

The medieval monastery is built of small to large quarry and river stones welded with white mortar. The thickness of the walls varies between 0.60 and 1.10 m. Their maximum preserved height is 2.40 m. The external dimensions of the monastery are 53.50 x 43.50 m. During the cleaning of the archeological site three stages of alterations. The last stage is connected to the extensions of the western gate, which protrudes 6.00 m in front of the western wall. During its construction, bricks placed in vertical and horizontal rows were used to align the rows. This way of building distinguishes them from the rest of the construction equipment in the religious complex. The total built-up area of ​​the archeological site is 5 decares.

Each of the inner walls of the main entrance of the monastery is reinforced with 4 masonry columns. They are located at a relatively equal distance from each other and support the vaulted structure of the gate of the monastery complex.

The monastery church is built of small to medium quarry stones, welded with white mortar. The presence of decorative bricks with a T-shape and red color suggests that the facade of the temple was plastered with white mortar and in places these bricks are placed. In this way a picturesque combination of white and red is obtained. This construction technique was observed in the capital Constantinople and in the Black Sea cities in the XI - XII centuries.

Archaeological excavations have identified two construction stages. Within the first, a small cruciform church was built, under which there is a natural cave on three levels with a depth of 13 m. The cave is suitable for prayers, through the construction of 37 steps and two sites. During the second construction period, the small church became the altar of a large five-nave triabsid church.