Monastery St.George

"St. George" Monastery  near the village of Belashtitsa (hence called Belashtinski monastery) is located in the Western Rhodopes mountain, about 12 kilometers south of Plovdiv, left of the road Belashtitsa - Galabovo. The monastery was built in 1020 by the Byzantine commander Nikephoros Skifi involved in the battle against King Samuil in Belasitsa mountain. Nicephorus Skifi was managed a stronghold near the present village of Belashtitsa (the remains of it are still visible near the village). He built a monastery and named it after St. George.

The monastery was destroyed in 1364 during the Ottoman invasion, and was restored only as late as XVIII century. It was burned again in 1878 in the latest fighting in the Russo-Turkish War. After the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman rule the monastery was restored, but remaining under control of the Ecumenical Patriarchate till 1906.

The monastery complex consists of a church, chapel, residential and commercial buildings. The church is one-nave, one-apse, with an indoor and outdoor porch, and without domes and murals. It was built in 1838. There Is also a holy spring which is believed exists from the founding of the monastery.

Nowadays Belashtinski monastery "St. George" is acting convent and is declared a cultural monument.