This monastery lies 6 km to the north of Veliko Turnovo. There are caves in the cliffs there which were made into cells and chapels in the Middle Ages.
According to certain data the Monastery of the Holy Trinity was founded in 1070 by Georgi, a churchwarden and his son, Kalin, but it is thought more probable that it was built by Patriarch Euthymius with the help of Tsar Ivan Shishman, hence its name of Patriarchal or Shishman’s Monastery. For a time it was the centre of the Turnovo School of Literature, headed by Euthymius, probably also after he was elected Patriarch in 1375.
Roman relics with inscriptions showing that they came from Nicopolis ad Istrum, have been found in the altar and the narthex. The church was built up from its foundations by Master Kolyu Ficheto in 1847. Mural paintings decorated its walls. The large icons on the iconostasis, depicting the Holy Virgin, St. John the Baptist, Christ Pantocrator, the Holy Trinity, etc., were the work of Zachari Zograph. The church was destroyed by a severe earthquake in 1913, but was recently restored. Several of the old icons were saved, among which one of the Holy Trinity, dated 1708, and inscribed ,,by the hand of Daskal (Schoolmaster) Kosta and Tsonyu’ “. The former was probably a local teacher in a cell school in the neighbouring village of Arbanassi. The church also had an underground chapel.
The monastery is open for visitors every day from 7am to 7pm.
