Aladzha Monastery

[Grimeto]

Aladzha Monastery



Aladzha Monastery is the most famous among the numerous rock monasteries that existed

on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast in the 13 – 14 centuries. These unique cult monuments are spread out over a vast territory, including the Balkans and the Near East. The historic science claims that the rock monasteries came into being together with Christianity – it is a well-known fact that the cave is among the most important symbols connected with the sacraments of Christmas and the Resurrection. The latter fact explains why the cave monasteries were part of the life and religious practice of the hermits and the early monastic confraternities from the 4th to the 6th centuries whose traditions were later continued by the medieval rock monasteries.

Some scientists believe that the Varna rock monastery made part of a large complex consisting of over 500 similar cloisters on the territory of Northeastern Bulgaria that were connected with Hesychasm, the doctrine of the holy energy, which was disseminated in Byzantine and Bulgaria in the 13 – 14 cc.

Aladzha Monastery is one of the numerous natural caves that were formed in the soft limestone sediments on the bottom of the ancient Sarmatian Sea that covered nearly the whole of Southeastern Europe 12 million years ago. The monastery has been attracting many explorers and visitors due to its beautiful woodland location 14 km from Varna.

Aladzha Monastery was first mentioned in “Letters from Bulgaria”, a book by the Russian novelist Victor Teplyakov, written in 1832. The systematic research on this ancient Christian monument was initiated in the end of the 19th century by the first Bulgarian archeologists – the brothers Karel and Herminegild (Hermin) Škorpil. Already in the beginning of the 20th century they founded the Varna Archeological Society and the Archeological Museum that undertook the task of managing and preserving the monastery. In 1912 Aladzha Monastery was declared a national historical monument on the initiative of the Škorpil brothers and later on, in 1957 it became a cultural monument of national importance, following a scientific proposal launched by the National Institute on Cultural Monuments.

Aladzha Monastery is one of the few rock monasteries on the territory of Bulgaria with clearly distinguishable premises, situated on two levels in a 40m-high limestone rock. – monastery temple, chapel, requiem church, crypt (cemetery), kitchen, dining room, monastic cells and farm premises.

In the Westernmost part of the first level, right by the visitors’ staircase is the monastery church. A small altar niche is carved in the middle of its eastern wall. The church was decorated with mural paintings like most Medieval Orthodox churches but, unfortunately, the easy access to them decided their destiny. What have been left of the paintings today are hardly readable fragments. Some information about the wall paintings is contained in K. Škorpil’s notes and in a watercolour copy of a painting by Milen Sakazov from the beginning of the 20th century. The image of Mother Mary was painted centrally in the altar on the eastern wall. It can be seen from the watercolor painting that the Holy Mother is sitting on a high throne with the infant Jesus on her lap. Another layer of wall-painings is clearly perceived on the periphery of the image and especially in its lower part. The comparative dating of the upper layer dates it back to the 13th – beginning of the 14th century. In this case the painting under it of which only an arm holding a book can be made out (probably part of the image of Jesus Pantocratos) should date back to the 11th – 12th cc, if not earlier.

A stone staircase is hewn out in the floor of the church, leading through a narrow tunnel to the other premises on the first level. A narrow corridor starts from the end of the staircase. Six monastic cells have been preserved in the northern wall of the corridor. The cells were separated from the corridor and from one another by wooden partitions. There are small niches in the walls, which were used to place icons and other belongings of the monks.

Тhe corridor leads to a large irregular room. A semi-circular niche is hewn out in its northwestern wall. The small openings in the middle of the ceiling show that a wooden partition was used to separate the room in two. The western part (with the niche) was the kitchen and the eastern part was the dining room. The dining room was one of the most important rooms in every monastery bearing a certain symbolism whose roots can be traced down to the “Secret Dinner” and the common table that was shared by the early Christians.

A short platform leads eastwards from the dining room to a small room, most of which has been destroyed. The semi-circular abside that survived in its eastern wall, as well as the East-West positioning of the room show that this used to be a small church. The fact that it is situated above the crypt (cemetery) gives reason to believe that it was a requiem church. A winding wooden staircase used to lead up from the church to the chapel on the second level.

The crypt (cemetery) is situated in the lowest part of the first level. The remains of a brickwork wall show that it used to be separated from the outside world and the entrance. The crypt has only three graves which leads us to believe that the Aladzha monastery monks observed the wide-spread medieval tradition to remove the remains of the dead monks from the grave seven years after they were buried and to lay them in a common grave with the respective ritual.

It is not known to us where the ossuary of the rock monastery was. The other two graves have been hewn out in the entrance landing and date back to a later period. The latter fact has been confirmed by an 18th century silver ring/stamp that was discovered in one of the graves.

The second level of the rock monastery represents one bigger niche with the chapel in its eastern end. This is the only well-preserved brickwork room in the monastery. It was used for the everyday religious practices, while the festive liturgies were officiated in the main church of the monastery. Part of the original medieval wall paintings here have been preserved to this day due to the difficult access to the awkwardly situated chapel and the collapse of the wooden staircase which, we believe, took place already in medieval times. One of the best-preserved paintings is the composition on the ceiling, representing a fundamental Christian subject matter – the Ascension. The style of painting of the figures, the colours and the ornaments refer the chapel murals to the 13 – 14 cc. which is definitely the heyday of the rock monastery.

About 800m Northwest there is another group of caves, hidden in the rich vegetation. The caves are situated in three levels and the Škorpil brothers called them the “Catacombs” making analogy with the cult centres of the early Christian communities of the Roman Empire.

Best preserved is the second level of the caves, consisting of one larger room with unclear function and a smaller one next to it containing five grave chambers. Two crucifixes from the early Christian era have been engraved on the Western Wall of the larger room and on the eastern wall of the smaller room. The crucifixes were dated back on the basis of the two engraved letters – “alpha” and “omega”, meaning, “I (Christ) am the first one and the last one, the beginning and the end.” There is another grave on the outside landing of the second level, as well as a small entrance, which has been almost completely buried under the sliding rocks. The other two levels represent natural caves that have been inhabited by the monks.

The crypt, the two engraved crucifixes and the 4th-6th cc. finds – pottery fragments, coins from the time of Justinian First The Great (527 – 565), as well as the remains of a metallic censer give us reason to assume that the catacombs have been inhabited in the early Christian era (4th – 6th cc). The remains of an early Christian basilica, a small fortification and a number of settlements located East of Aladzha Monastery, are also referred to the same historic period.

The connection between the three groups of monuments, situated close to one another, is unknown to science. It could be presumed that the Catacombs, the basilica, the fortification and the settlements (and, probably also the Aladzha Monastery caves) represent one of the early Christian centres on the Black Sea coast, mentioned in the chronicles of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Borphyroges (913 – 959). If this hypothesis is true, then the 13th – 14th cc medieval rock monastery could be considered to be a continuation of the ancient Christian tradition in these parts and, it could be assumed that, together with the Catacombs, it formed a larger monastic complex.

After Bulgaria’s fall under Ottoman domination in the end of the 16th century Aladzha Monastery, like many other Bulgarian monasteries, was deserted. However, the local people continued to respect and to visit the place even in the following centuries of foreign domination which is confirmed by the 18th century silver ring/stamp discovered in the crypt.

The real Christian name of the monastery is unknown to us. The word “aladzha” is of Persian-Turkish origin and means “motley, colourful”. The monastery might have been given its name due to the murals preserved in the chapel. A legend recorded by K. Škorpil in the end of the 19th century has it that the original name of the monastery was St. Spas, originating from Christ the Savior.

There are no written documents on Aladzha Monastery and the neighbouring monuments. What has been preserved are the legends of monks’ spirits haunting the remains of the monastery, forest deities and endless underground labyrinths, hiding innumerable treasures or, maybe, the undiscovered secrets of this beautiful and mysterious place.

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