Churches / Monastery of St Petka – Brajčino

Monastery of St Petka – Brajčino

The Monastery of St Petka (St Paraskeva) lies about 500 metres east of the village of Brajčino, on a meadow plateau below Mount Baba. The complex consists of the Church of St Petka, the lodgings and a fountain with holy water.

The exact year of construction is not known, but the monastery is thought to date from the 15th century. The inscription above the west entrance, which most likely gave the year, is damaged. The church has a single nave and is modest in size. Its wall paintings, with inscriptions in Greek, were made in two phases, in the 16th and 18th centuries.

The monastery burned down in 1902 and was abandoned for a long time. The lodgings were built in 1910 on the remains of the old ones. Villagers began restoring them in 1978, and the main restoration started in 1995. Today the lodgings work as a hostel with about 20 beds, a kitchen and dining rooms, open to visitors and hikers.

Next to the church is the spring of holy water. It is dry almost all year and flows only on 7 and 8 August, the monastery's feast. Many believers come then, especially women hoping to have children.