9 Best Sights in Bulgaria

This monastery dedicated to Sveti Ivan Rilski (St. John of Rila) is in Chiprovtsi, a village an hour outside Belogradchik. The monastery, composed of the church, a small graveyard, and a belfry, was originally built in the 10th century but was razed six times between the 15th and 19th centuries, including right after the violent Chiprovtsi Uprising against the Ottomans. The church you see today dates to the mid 19th century.

The simple exterior looks more like a stone barn than a house of worship but Arbanasi's oldest church has exceptional artwork hidden within. Built during the 15th century, its exterior is so unexceptional so as to avoid rousing the ire of the then-ruling Ottoman Empire. In the mid 17th century, nearly every single inch of the church's walls and vaulted ceiling were painted with stunning frescoes—nearly 2,000 scenes from both the Old and New Testament are featured. Most have been lovingly restored, but a few were left untouched so that visitors can make a comparison. Keen craftspersons should also take note of the church's hand-carved iconostasis.

The 17th-century church is hidden inside a handsome, tree-shaded stone building with terracotta roof—it looks more like a wealthy merchant's house than one of worship. The reason is because when Bulgaria was under Turkish rule, it was decreed that churches could not be taller or more ornate than mosques. Its interior walls and domed ceilings are covered entirely in striking frescoes. The wood-carved iconostases were meticulously carved by artists trained at art school in Tryavna.

Believed to have been built in the Middle Ages, this working convent has been plundered several times over its long history, and sections of the church were rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries. After the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, a belfry went up over the eastern entrance. The convent's beautiful frescoes are the work of then-well known icon painters, two of whom, a father and son pair, were trained at the art school in Tryavna.

Built by an Osman Pazvantoglu, an Ottoman soldier who rebelled against them and became governor of Vidin, this mosque and library date from 1800. The small square library is made of stone with a metal dome and was dedicated to Pazvantoglu's late mother. The high-ceilinged mosque is also made of stone and filled with carved wooden furniture, with a wooden balcony for women. There is some debate about to whom the mosque is dedicated; some say it's to Pazvantoglu's late father, but others say it's to his lover, a Bulgarian Christian. Anyone is welcome to visit and take photographs, and there's a small area where books are sold. Women should cover their heads.

Eight kilometers (5 miles) from Veliko Tarnovo, just outside the village of Samovodene, is this beautiful Eastern Orthodox monastery. From Veliko Tarnovo, you can hike here in about an hour and a half. The monastery was originally built in the 14th century but, like so many churches, was burnt down by invading Ottomans. It was rebuilt in the 1830s, designed by Bulgarian National Revival architect Kolyu Ficheto. The stunning frescoes and icons that cover the monastery's interior are the handiwork of Zahari Zograf, perhaps Bulgaria's most famous National Revival artist. Preobrazhenski Monastery sits on a hill, surrounded by trees and overlooking the Yantra Gorge.

A pleasant place to stroll through well-tended gardens and soak up the history, St. Nicholas Monastery has seen its fair share of turmoil: it was pillaged and burned down once in the 14th century and twice in the 18th century, and shortly thereafter had to shut down because of the plague. It was restored in the 1830s, and this is the structure you see today. The monastery has played host to two of Bulgaria's former rules, Tsar Ferdinand and his son Tsar Boris III, and you, too, can sleep where royalty once did; St. Nicholas Monastery has a few simple rooms that can be rented.

Vidin’s main cathedral is an Orthodox Christian church and an important house of workshop for locals. While the original late-17th-century structure was wooden, what you see today is made of stone and was built between 1885 and 1926. Sveti Dimitar is believed to be Bulgaria's second largest church; its central dome is 33 meters tall. The church has undergone some restoration to its icons and frescoes, which are in good condition.

There are fewer than 1,000 Jews living in Bulgaria now, and most of them in Sofia, but at one time Vidin had a sizeable Jewish population who came mostly from Spain in the late 15th century. This neo-Gothic synagogue opened in 1894 and at the time was considered a very grand structure, with stained-glass windows and intricate stonework. The then-Communist government seized the building during WWII and began restoration in 1983, until the collapse of the regime government left the synagogue without a roof. Though there's been talk by the Ministry of Culture of repairing the synagogue and turning it into a museum, the site remains an abandoned ruin. Though it's a shell of the grand building it once was, it remains a small but important slice of Vidin's history.