Mother of Dios of Bachkovo (Orthodox icon)

Marian Advocation of Bachkovo (Plovdiv)
Recognized by the Church

The monastery of Bachkovo, near Asenovgrad, is one of the oldest and most venerated in Bulgaria, founded in the 11th century by the Byzantine commander of Georgian origin Gregorio Pakourians. He survived Ottoman domination and played a role in the Bulgarian national identity. It belongs to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and the veneration of its Marian icon is officially recognized in that Church.

Main data

Origin and history

The monastery of Bachkovo, near Asenovgrad, is one of the oldest and most venerated in Bulgaria, founded in the 11th century by the Byzantine commander of Georgian origin Gregorio Pakourians. He survived Ottoman domination and played a role in the Bulgarian national identity. It belongs to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and the veneration of its Marian icon is officially recognized in that Church.

The image and the sanctuary

In the monastery a famous icon of the Mother of God is venerated, considered miraculous by the Bulgarian Orthodox tradition and of Georgian or Byzantine origin according to the pious tradition. It is located in a special chapel within the monastic complex and receives continuous veneration of pilgrims. There are many exvotes left by faithful who attribute cures and favors to their intercession.

Sponsorship and coronation

There is no civil patronage or Latin-type coronation. It is an icon officially venerated in the Orthodox field; for the Catholic Church it is a respected Orthodox devotion, not assumed as its own sanctuary.

Party and devotion

The great pilgrimage of Easter Monday is well known, according to the Orthodox calendar, when the icon is carried in procession and crowds go to Bachkovo; it is a national religious event. Tradition tells that in times of invasions the icon would have been hidden and then miraculously found, a story that belongs to devotional legend and not to documented history.

Link to the Rosary

The Latin rosary is not part of the piety of this Orthodox sanctuary, whose Marian devotion is expressed in the Byzantine liturgy and the veneration of the icon. However, the Bachkovo icon is one of Bulgaria's great focal points of Marian prayer, shared in love for the Mother of God who unites Catholics and Orthodox.