ABOUT THE ZONE
The zone is part of the National park
Rusenski Lom and includes the valley of
Cherni Lom River and the adjacent forests between the villages of
Cherven and
Koshov and the valley of
Rusenski Lom River between the place of Smesite and the rock churches in the village of
Ivanovo. There is the medieval town of Cherven and the archeological reserve Ivanovo rock churches, situted 15 km from the
Bassarbovski Monastery. For their world historical significance the churches are under the protection of UNESCO.
THE MEDIEVAL TOWN OF CHERVEN
The first traces of men in the valley of Lomovete date back to the Stone Age. Thracians once had inhabited the area. The remnants from Roman fortresses found there tell that the Romans came to live in this land in 1 century.
Later on the Bulgarians built their well-protected settlements there. At that time (13 – 14 century) the medieval town of Cherven was one of the most important military, economical, cultural and religious centres of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. The archeological reserve “The Medieval Town of Cherven” includes remnants from a fortress, a church, and a castle. There one can see the best preserved medieval tower in Bulgaria, and a fortified underground spring used as a source of water during war.
THE ROCK MONASTERIES
In the Late Medieval Period (12 – 14 century) lots of monks came to live there in the hollows of the rocks. In the whole valley of Lomovete the number of medieval monks’ cells and churches is over 250. On the territory of the park the rock monastery complexes are over 40.
The unique archeological reserve Ivanovo rock monasteries includes the rock monastery ”St. Arahangel Michael”. It was one of the big religious and literary centres in Bulgaria during the 13th-14th century. The Ivanovo Monastery owes its cultural and historic value predominantly to the mural paintings dating from the 13th and 14th century, preserved in 6 of the rock chapels. The paintings in the church of “Virgin Mary” are recorded on the UNESCO List of World Cultural Heritage.
The other churches with preserved mural paintings are situated at the opposite bank of the river of
Rusenski lom.
Description
