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The distance between Sofia and the Rhodope mountain town of Assenovgrad is 150km. Only 10km further into the mountain is nestled Bachkovski manastir (Bachkovo Monastery) – the second-largest monastery in Bulgaria and certainly the largest in the Rhodope Mountains.

The Rhodopes start when you enter the hilly Assenovgrad. Further on, the route passes by Assenova krepost (Assen’s Fortress), which is picturesquely hewed out in the august high rocks, welcoming visitors to this part of the mountain.

The path from Assenovgrad to the village of Bachkovo, where the road to Bachkovo Monastery starts, dovetails the Chepelarska River. Reaching the village, a parking lot and a type of open-air market mark the point where you should proceed on foot to the cloisters, or, alternatively, drive up to the left until you reach the parking lot right in front of Bachkovo Monastery.

Many locals have found ways to earn money en route to the cloisters, mainly by selling various locally produced goods and other inexpensive colourful items. But the locally produced jams, spices and wooden statues are truly noteworthy, as are the special Rhodope teas, nuts and home canned fruits and jellies. A restaurant with a real waterfall is also the place to enjoy traditional salad from this part of Bulgaria, a glass of rakiya or local mezze (appetisers).

Bachkovo Monastery was founded in 1083 by the Georgian commander-in-chief of the Byzantine armies, Grigorii Bakuriani. At that time those Bulgarian lands were in Byzantium and Aleksii Komnin ruled there.

The monastery was initially designed to shelter 50 Georgian monks and one abbot. In those days it was independent; obeying the church’s dictates while enjoying the status  of an autonomous municipality.

One of the greatest Bulgarian figures from the Middle Ages, Patriarh Evtimii, was almost certainly exiled to the Bachkovo cloister, although there is no evidence that he died there. In the 14th and 15th century Bulgarian monks also lived there.

Both churches in the monastery, Sveti Arhangel Mihail i Gavril, and the big one – Sveta Bogoroditsa (Saint Mary, built at the place of the Georgian church) – were rebuilt in the 17th century.

Under the monastery roof you can find two yards with the two churches. The atmosphere is tranquil and pleasant; monks breed sheep and other animals under the cloister’s roof. A museum and a guest house can also be visited in Bachkovo Monastery. About 150 people can sleep there, in two, three or 20- to 30-bed rooms for the price of seven leva. A kilometre away from the monastery is the village of Bachkovo,  named after the holy cloister. The village story started when Grigorii Bakuriani donated the field Bachku to the monastery. Later the village of Bachkovo sprang up.

Several small hotels currently offer shelter in the village, including the Bachkovo Family Hotel (tel: +359 (0)331/ 641 45, +359 (0)88/ 882 51 24), where you can sleep for about 40 leva a night. Baryakov Family Hotel (41 Peyo Yavorov Str; tel: +359 (0)749/ 821 50, +359 (0)88/ 725 19 21) also offers accommodation for about 60 leva for a double room.

Easter at Bachkovo Monastery is similar to holy celebrations in other Bulgarian churches and cloisters, monastery museum curator Stamen Pepelishev told me when I was there on March 1, heading the annual spring celebration festival in Shiroka Luka.

On Easter evening (Saturday), the divine service starts at about 11pm. People converge  from surrounding villages and towns and even from larger Bulgarian cities like Plovdiv to attend the ceremony in this picturesque environment. At midnight the priest walks around the main church of Sveta Bogoroditsa three times, leading the congregation. After midnight people engage in the traditional egg-tapping fight with boiled eggs that they have already painted in red and other fresh spring colours. People also partake of Easter sweet bread, known as kozounak in Bulgaria. 

The service continues until 3am, when everybody goes home.

Bachkovo’s celebrations differ from others on the Monday after Easter. In Sveta Bogorodica Monastery, you can find the preserved holy icon of Sveta Bogoroditsa (St Mary), residing there since the time of the old church. It is believed this icon can perform miracles and heal people. Hence a queue of people waits to touch the icon and pray before it in the monastery every day.

On the second day of Easter the priest removes the holy icon from the church and pronounces blessings while ceremonial songs are recited outside in the cloister’s yard. Then, a procession headed by the main priest leads the icon two kilometres above Bachkovo monastery into the mountains where it was found. Attendees gather around the old church at this spot, spending the day picnicking and undertaking holy ceremonies. Afterwards, in the afternoon, the icon is returned to Bachkovo Monastery’s Sv Bogoroditsa Church.