The Bulgarian Orthodox Church this year will celebrate the 800-year anniversary of the establishment of the historic rock-hewn monastic and chapel complex of Ivanovo, near the northern city of Ruse
The rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo were included in an UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
The caves in the region have been inhabited by Orthodox monks since the early 13th century, when the complex was established by the future Patriarch of Bulgaria Joachim I.
Among others, the chapels at the complex are noted for their medieval murals, representative examples of late Byzantine-era ecclesiastical art.
