Bistreshki Monastery "St. Ivan Rilski (Pusti) - Kasinets"

Information about the early existence of the Bistreski Monastery can be found in the rock inscriptions above the monastery itself. They talk about the founding or restoration of the monastery in 1544 by Dimitar Dubov. After the full reading of the text, it is assumed that this is the donor of the monastery. According to the legend, the most revered Bulgarian saint - St. lived in it for forty days in fasting and prayers. Ivan Rilski, after whom the monastery itself was later named. During the Ottoman yoke, the holy monastery was also a refuge for bandits, which is why it was twice destroyed, but later rebuilt. The last renovation of the monastery was in 1867 during the time of Hieromonk Joasaph. In the period 1894 - 1928, for insufficiently clear reasons, he was abandoned by his monks and since then he has been called ""Ivan Pusti"", and in 1928 he was consecrated with a new name - ""St. Ivan Rilski ”. There is also the name ""Ivan Kasinets"", which comes from the name of the nearby area Kasinata. After 1990, treasure hunters dug up everything in search of gold, destroyed the altar and the frescoes, and took out all the church utensils. The magernitsa and the water supply system were destroyed. After tens of years of oblivion in September 2008 the rock monastery ""St. Ivan Rilski ”, known as“ St. Ivan Pusti ”has been restored in its current form. It can be reached by an asphalt road. According to research, in 1822 the first workshop in Bulgaria for making copper engravings and prints was founded in the Holy monastery. Through this activity, the monks maintained contacts and distributed engravings in Russian monasteries. The work of this workshop is a stamp with an image of the monastery with the church, the surrounding buildings, rocks and walls. South of the monastery church there is a small high cave. It is supposed to have been inhabited since the time of the Thracians and there was a Thracian sanctuary in it. On one of the walls of the cave at a height of about 7 meters there are rock murals. There are 5 scenes from the life of St. Dimitar and the images of Ivan Rilski and Ivan Bogoslov There is a text in Slavic letters along the entire length of the murals.