The Bachkovo Monastery St. Assumption of the Holy Virgin is the second large and significant Bulgarian monastery. It was built in 1083 by Grigor Bakuriani a military in the Byzantine Empire, a Georgian by origin. From that time is the ossify with its exquisite architecture and wall-paintings. The winter church of the Archangels dates in all likelihood to the l2th century. After 1344 Tsar (king) Ivan Alexander (1331-1371) raised several new buildings. In the early l6th century the monastery was destroyed by the Turkish conquerors to be restored in the late l6th century. Of great interest are the monastery refectory (1601 ), the big domed kitchen the church of the Assumption (1604) with murals dating from 1643, the domed church of St. Nicholas (1837) decorated in 1840 by the Revival Period painter Zahari Zograph.

Dryanovo Monastery of St. Achangel Michael was founded in the l2th century and is in close proximity to the summer residence of the Bulgarian rulers from the Assen dynasty. It was for several times destroyed during the Ottoman domination. In its present-day site the monastery exists since 1845. The main church was built in 1861. Almost ruined after the Ottoman Turks' invasion, the monastery buildings were restored in 1880. Next to the church is the ossuary raised in memory of the perished insurgents. In the monastery there is a museum collection with exhibits from all historical epochs including neolithic finds from a nearby cave.

The church of Boyana is situated in Boyana – a suburb of Sofia. It consists of three parts built in three stages. The first stage was in the end of the 10th century and in the beginning of the 11th century. The second one was in the middle of the 13th century and the last one – in the middle of the 19th century.

The construction of the first cross-shaped part was connected with the Boyana fortress which exited at that time. The temple was built of bricks and is a small almost cubic cross-shaped building. During the 13th century the old temple was widened with the building of the two-storied second part at the west side of the church. It has a dome of a church-tomb type. There are two niches on the down floor, where the church donors sebastocrator Kaloyan and his wife Desislava, who were ruling Sofia district during this period, should have been buried.

The second floor was approached through a door on the southern façade with several steps under it, which didn’t reach the terrain. Probably a step-ladder served as an extra connection and its removal turned the family chapel into a defensive facility. The second part was built of stones and bricks, and its façade has ceramic decoration. The third part of the church was built during the Bulgarian Revival with funds donated by local people and it serves as a narthex. It doesn’t have any special architectural and artistic value.

The importance of the church of Boyana as a cultural monument is mostly due to its superb frescoes. Very little has survived from the frescoes of the first church. When the second part was built, the two connected buildings were completely repainted. The painter’s name is not known and he is simply called the Boyana master. The pictures are realistic and vivid. The face of Jesus Christ, traditional scenes from the Bible, figures of saints were painted in the second church. There are life-size portraits of the sebastocrator’s and the royal couples. The portraits of Kaloyan and his wife Desislava are the oldest ones in Bulgarian art which have been drawn from nature. They are wearing official clothing, the face of Kaloyan is sophisticated and noble and Desislava is thought to be the most beautiful female face from her time. Kaloyan presents Saint Nikola, painted next to him, with a model of the church, which was devoted to the saint. The chapel on the second floor is devoted to Saint Panteleymon. King Constantine and his wife Irina are wearing crowns and brocaded clothing. The King holds a sceptre in his hands.

The frescoes of Boyana from 1259 have a high artistic qualities and undisputable contribution to the European art culture. They also have historical and documentary value.
The Boyana Church was included in the World Cultural and Natural Heritage List at the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Committee session of 1979 in Luxor, Egypt.

The chronicle of Rila Monastery reflects the entire history of the Bulgarian State and the Bulgarian people, the defence of their spiritual and cultural nature. The introduction to the Rila Monastery could well start with the words of the first Bulgarian historian, Paissii of Hilendar, recorded in 1762 in his Slav-BulgarianHistory:
"Of all the Bulgarian glory when there were so many large monasteries and churches in Bulgaria earlier the Lord has left only the Rila Monastery to exist in our times... It is of great use to all Bulgarians. Therefore, it is the duty of all Bulgarians to guard it, and to give alms to the sacred Rila Monastery. . . "
The monastery was founded by Ivan Rilski (John of Rila) in the 10th century as a colony for hermits. It has been destroyed by fire, and abandoned by the monks. Its presentday place, 119 km south of Sofia, is the one in which it stood during the 14th century, when the protosebast Dragovol Hrelyo settled in the monastery as an independent ruler. In 1335 he built the five-storey defence tower, topped by the Transfiguration Chapel, fragments of whose murals can still be seen today.
By the end of 14th century, the Rila Monastery had turned into a powerful feudal entity with many villages, lands and properties. Tsar Shishman alone, the last Bulgarian ruler, donated it over twenty villages in different districts. The monastery's unquestionable authority influenced the Turkish sultants who confirmed the rights granted by the Bulgarian kings by special firmans. Irrespective of this, the Monastery was devastated around the mid-15th century. It started rising again after the relics of Ivan Rilski were brought from Veliko Turnovo here in 1469 (passing through the whole of Bulgaria as a nationwide patriotic procession).

The Troyan Monastery is the third biggest in Bulgaria and the third in sighificance as well. It was created at the end of the 15th century but the first written information about it was preserved from the 17th century. The monastery church is of main interest here as it was built by master Konstantin from Pestera in 1835. Zahari Zograph /1849/ painted the muralpaintings in it. The carved wood iconostasis, work of a master from Tryavna /1839/ is distinguished with genuine artistic qualities. The wood carving in the the St. Nikola Monastery Chapel, created by Senior Monk Kipriyan in 1794 is amazing, too. The Monastery is famous for its miracle-working icon “Holy Virgin Troerouchitza”. It was a renowned literary centre, too and nowadays it is in possession of a rich and valuable library.

Sokolovo Monastery was founded in 1832-1833 by archbishop Yosiph of Sokolovo and hieromonk Agapi. In 1834 the main church was built with the financial aid of donors from the villages of Etura and Nova Mahala. The residential Nsrings were consecutively erected between 1836 and the late l9th century. Of greatest interest is the guest-room with the gateway dating from 1836. The ossuary and the adjacent plastic fence were raised in 1860. The monastery fountain with falcons chiselled out in the corners goes back to 1868. A fire burnt the western wing of the monastery but it was restored in 1981-1982.