Rozhen (Christmas) Monastery of the Holy Virgin is located near the town of Melnik - a small Bulgarian town. He is one of the few medieval monasteries, which survived until our days.

The exact time when the monastery was founded, and the founder's name is not called. There are several versions, none of which failed to document. However, analysis of the architecture and structure of the plan and the cathedral church of the monastery allowed to include the construction of 12-13 centuries.

After the conquest by the Turks in Bulgaria Rozhen Monastery gained fame as a major religious and cultural center. In the 16th century it opened calligraphy school, was written several valuable manuscripts, such as "Interpretation of Job," which is now kept in the temple in Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulchre.

Resident repeatedly subjected to robbery and arson during the Ottoman rule, and restored several times, completed and reconstructed. In 1597 we carried out extensive restoration work, during which was built ossuary of St. John the Baptist, reconstructed church building and began the process of painting, which stretched for 30 years. In the 16-17th centuries, many buildings of the monastery were painted in the tradition of the Athos art school, but in the 18th century over most of the old murals were inflicted new ones and survived. The final reconstruction of the monastery took place in the years 1715-1732 with the financial support of the population.

Rozhen Monastery of the heyday reached in the 19th century, becoming the spiritual center of the region. In addition, leaders of the revolutionary movement to the monastery was a real haven. Near buried the famous fighter for the liberation of the Bulgarian national Yane Sandanski.

Nowadays, the monastery is open to visitors, it is well maintained. Visitors can appreciate the murals, unique stained glass windows and wooden carving iconostasis and lectern. The main treasure of the monastery is the miracle-working icon of Our Lady. The Rozhen monastery kept an impressive collection of icons of 16-19 centuries, as well as valuable samples of the temple ritual utensils.