"St. Marina" Monastery near Karan Varbovka
"St. Marina" monastery is located 3 km south of the village of Karan Varbovka in the municipality of Dve mogili, Ruse region. It is located 20 km south-east of the town of Dve mogili, 54 km south of the regional center Ruse and approximately 299 km north-east of the capital Sofia city.
According to researchers the monastery "St Martyr Marina" was founded during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom and has existed until the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule when it was completely destroyed. The existence of the monastery is conventionally divided into three periods.
The first monastery was founded during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom when the veneration of St. Marina by the Bulgarian people increased. The monastery used to stand among a wooded area, overgrown with thick vegetation. According to the legends, the cells of 49 monks were located around the church. The temple was richly decorated with stone carvings and moldings of walnut and its walls - with gold and multicolored firzes. After the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule the monastery was destroyed and its properties were inherited by the Turkish rulers.
THE LEGEND
According to the legend the rebirth of the monastery is due to a blind Turkish boy who washed with water springing from the site of the ruined monastery, and sighted. This happened on July 17, the day when St. Marina is being honoured. In gratitude, the Turk, the father of the child and the owner of the field in which the miraculous spring occured, presented the Christians with the field. A small church was built there and that marks the beginning of the second monastery of "St. Marina ".
The third monastery dates back to 1890 when the church was built by Italian craftsmen. In 1890 the holy spring - the spring located in the middle of the current church - was formed as a well, surrounded by iron railings. In 1984 the water from the holy spring was displayed outside in the yard and was directed to four spouts for ease of the pilgrims who came to a supply of the miraculous water by an electric pump. Then the spring was shaped like an octagon and glazed.
According to various reports, water from the holy spring has helped healing blind people, kidney problems, etc.
In 1940 the monastery kitchen, warehouse, cellar and bathroom were built and since 1965 the monastery has the status of women's. Until 2011 the monastery was inhabited by four elderly nuns, and the abbess was named after St. Marina. Then the monastery was converted into a male one. The monastery fest is the 17th July.
TRANSPORT AND ACCOMODATION
The village of Karan Varbovka can be reached by asphalt road by car or bus /from the town of Ruse/, while the monastery itself can be reached from the village via an asphalt road following the River Cherni Lom. The distance is 3 km.
The monastery does not offer any food, but small groups of people can spend the night there. Currently a new guest house is under construction. A few guest houses in Dve mogili are available for tourists as well as a guest house in the village of Pepelina /14 km in the north-west/
Sources: http://www.bulgarianmonastery.com, http://www.galeriatour.com/, http://www.bulgariamonasteries.com
Photos: http://www.bulgarianmonastery.com
