Lopushan Monastery "St. John the Baptist"

The Lopushan Monastery "St. John the Forerunner" is located at the foot of the Stara Planina Mountain near the village of Georgi Damyanovo (until 1958 in the village of Lopushna), Montana region. This monastery followed the fate of many Bulgarian monasteries, which during the Ottoman rule were repeatedly destroyed and devastated and rebuilt. With its restoration in 1853, the Lopushan Monastery became an important spiritual hearth. At that time, the abbot of the monastery, hieromonk Dionysius, opened a cell school for free education of the children of poor parents from the area. The school developed an active educational activity. The monastery became a favorite place of the writer Ivan Vazov, and during his stay here he created part of his unforgettable novel "Under the Yoke".

 

The monastery complex consists of a church, residential and farm buildings and a white stone fountain surrounded by a stone wall.