Cave monastery
A cave monastery is a monastery that is not classically worked into a cave or created in a natural cavity with structures or buildings above the surface of the earth, but underground . Most of the cave monasteries, most of which belonged to the Orthodox Church , can be found in Southeastern Europe and the Near East .
description
A cave monastery can be laid out in a naturally existing or in an artificially created cave, some of which have been developed on the outside similar to a grotto . This form of the monastery often served as a hermitage for the monks, mostly of the Orthodox faith, who performed their prayers here in the greatest possible seclusion from the world and tried (and sometimes tried again) to approach God . The cave passages of various lengths include small or even the smallest monk cells and underground churches or chapels at certain intervals . The caves were also used as a burial place for deceased monks and abbots . Some of these cave systems have now fallen into disrepair, while others have been preserved and at least partially accessible to visitors and / or tourists. Most of the cave monasteries can be found in Southeast Europe and the Middle East.
Well-known cave monasteries
Ethiopia
Bulgaria
- Alajah Monastery
- Albotin Monastery
- Bassarbowski Monastery
- Ivanovo Monastery
- Klaster Joan Pusti
- Kanarata Monastery
- Madara Monastery
- Matochina Monastery
- Michalitsch Monastery
- Nisowo Monastery
- Osmar Monastery
- Rasboishte Monastery
- Sedemte Dupki Monastery
- Shashkanite Monastery
- Schajan kaja monastery
- Sweti Nikola monastery
- Tarapanata Monastery
- Urwitsch Monastery
Lebanon
- Anthony Quzhaya (in its oldest parts a cave monastery)