The Batoshevo monastery

The Batoshevo monastery is situated over the village of Batoshevo near the town of Sevlievo. It was established in 1250 at the time of Tsar Mikhail Asen. It was destroyed when Bulgaria fell under Ottoman domination. In 1809 a monk started to live as a hermit at this place and tried to collect money for building a new monastery. However, this happened as late as in 1831 when after a plague epidemic the citizens of Sevlievo took a vow that if they stayed alive after the epidemic, they would build a monastery in the place of the old Batoshevo monastery again.

Construction started in 1836 with donations by merchants from Gabrovo, Sevlievo, etc. Bacho Kiro and other popular revolutionaries used to come to the monastery for secret meetings. In the time of the April Uprising in 1876 the monastery was set on fire, but sudden rain saved it.