Cherepish monastery Assumption of Virgin Mary

The Cherepish monastery "The Assumption of Virgin Mary" is located in the Iskar defile of the Balkan mountain, 2km south-west of village of Lyutibrod and  29km southeast of the town of Vratsa. It was built during the ruling of king Ivan Shishman (1371-1393) and as most of Bulgarian monasteries had been destroyed several times during the Ottoman yoke. 

The complex is small in size and consists of a church and several buildings dating from the XIX century and restored today. The church is one-nave, vaulted building with a spacious entrance, and a peaked dome. There is an exquisitely carved wooden iconostasis with icons from a master from Tryavna school - Vitan.

For centuries it was the home of prominent writers, translators and calligraphers, who have left such precious works as the Cherepish Gospel (XVI century); the Gospel of Monk Danail, the Book of the Apostles of Jacob (XVII century). In 1797, the monastery gave shelter to St. Sofronii Vrachanski.

The Cherepish monastery has been declared a cultural monument of national importance.