ABOUT THE PASAREL MONASTERY
The Pasarel monastery “St. St. Apostles Petar and Pavel” is located 4 km away from the village of Pasarel, in the Sofia region, near a small river. It was built at 760 meters above sea level, on a terrace over the place where the Belarska valley and the Iskar River join. The Kaleto peak (Ravulsko kale) rises north of the monastery.
Emerged in the 15 century as a chapel, “St. St. Apostles Petar and Pavel” later developed as a small monastery. The monastery church is the only preserved up to day building of the complex. It was built and inhabited during the second half of the 19 century. The church is a one-nave, one-apse stone building with neither entrance nor dome (dimensions 7 x 15 m). It has a twofold roof, which is slightly slanted at its western end. Over the door of the church there once was a building inscription, which is no longer visible nowadays. In a niche in the wall over the inscription are the portraits of the patrons of the monastery “St. Petar and St. Pavel”. On both sides of the church door there still can be seen two lions depicted in a heraldic pose. The arch of the church is half-cylindrical and magnificently painted.
From the commemorative inscription in the altar apse one can assume that Hristo Iliev, an artist from Samokov, made the mural paintings in the altar in 1878. Another inscription near the door of the church gives evidence that in 1880 the two brothers Mihail and Hristo Blagoevi from the village of Tresonche, Debar (Yugoslavia) covered the walls and the arch in the central part of the church with mural paintings. These murals will strongly impress the visitors of the church with their coloring and great subject matter variety. The “Birth of Christ” scene, painted on the south wall of the church, is especially interesting and remarkable.
On the western wall, near the entrance of the church one can see the “Ascending of the Mother of God” scene. The image of Abbot Vassil Ivanov from the town of Sopot is portrayed over the front door of the church. He has submissively kneeled down, his head in a bow over his right shoulder, his imploring eyes looking at a roll of paper, which he is holding in his left hand. This is the only donor’s portrait in the Bulgarian religious painting art, in which the figure is presented in such a way. The message of the donor “It is The God I am begging to preserve this monastery and these people” is written on the roll in front of his face. Over another painting one can read: “Abbot Father Vassil Ivanov from the town of Sopot”. There is another inscription in the altar, which says: “1878 icon painter Hri…from the town of Samokov”.
The monastery was declared a cultural monument in 1973 and later on 18 October 2002 the National Institute of the Monuments of Culture proclaimed it a monument of the architectural and graphic arts of National importance.
The pictures from the photogallery are kindly donated by M.Momchil Tsvetanov
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