Aladzha Monastery
It is the best known rock monastery along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, 14 km away from Varna. The cells of the monks and the chapel were carved into the soft sandstone into a group of natural caves. The predominating opinion of scholars is that the monastery was under the influence of a religious teaching that was in circulation in Byzantium and Bulgaria at that time. It taught about the energy of God - "isichasm" or "hesychasm".
Visitors today can see in the 40-odd metre high rock separate rooms of the monastery complex- the place of worship, the chapel, a special church for requiescat (mass for the dead), tombs, the kitchen, the dining room, the cells of the monks and work rooms. They all are situated on two natural terraces, one above the other. In the past, the church was richly decorated with wall paintings. Probably that is why the monastery was called Aladzha meaning "motley, multi-coloured". In the 17th-18th century, the monastery was abandoned by the monks.