According to the museum, the monk Joachim settled here in the early thirteenth century. Joachim received royal support for the monastery. The complex contains rock-hewn churches, chapels and monastic cells. St Michael the Archangel was chosen as the monastery’s patron. RuseXplore describes wooden ladders and platforms linking the churches. According to ICOMOS, the churches were linked by galleries destroyed by rockfalls. Joachim was proclaimed patriarch in 1235. A patriarch heads the Church; this office linked Joachim to the royal capital, Tarnovo.
History of Bulgaria
