Etropole Monastery
[5] The Etropole Monastery reached its apogee between the 16th and 18th centuries, when it emerged as the most important literary and cultural centre of the northern Bulgarian lands[1][6] under Ottoman rule, with its own scriptoria and a calligraphic school with a characteristic style.Under abbots Anthony, Zachary and Raphael, who were in charge of the monastery from the 1620s to the 1640s, the Etropole Literary School was a major centre of production for chiefly religious manuscripts.[3][6] The main material in the church's construction, limestone, may be the origin of the monastery's alternative name, Varovitets (from Bulgarian варовит varovit, "limy").[4] In addition to the main church, the Etropole Monastery also includes two smaller chapels and various residential buildings in the Bulgarian National Revival style, which are situated in a grass-covered yard.In the woods in the vicinity of the monastery are the Varovitets Waterfall, 15 metres (49 feet) high,[4] and its source, an eponymously named karst spring.
CoordinatesBulgarianBulgarian OrthodoxEtropoleBulgariascriptoriaOttomanBalkan MountainsSecond Bulgarian EmpireByzantinemedieval BulgarianSerbian monarchscalligraphicBalkanshieromonkNational Library of BulgariaVasil LevskikatholikonhexagonturretlimestoneBratsigovoSaint Nedelya ChurchchapelsBulgarian National RevivalJohn the BaptistSaints Cosmas and DamianossuaryLovechNational Art GalleryPentecostHoly TrinityVarovitets Waterfallkarst springДимитров, БожидарMalki IskarEtropole Waterfall