The Etropole Monastery is located 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) from the eponymous town, which lies to the north-east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

[5] The Etropole Monastery reached its apogee between the 16th and 18th centuries, when it emerged as the most important literary and cultural centre of the northern Bulgarian lands[1][6] under Ottoman rule, with its own scriptoria and a calligraphic school with a characteristic style.

Under abbots Anthony, Zachary and Raphael, who were in charge of the monastery from the 1620s to the 1640s, the Etropole Literary School was a major centre of production for chiefly religious manuscripts.

[3][6] The main material in the church's construction, limestone, may be the origin of the monastery's alternative name, Varovitets (from Bulgarian варовит varovit, "limy").

[4] In addition to the main church, the Etropole Monastery also includes two smaller chapels and various residential buildings in the Bulgarian National Revival style, which are situated in a grass-covered yard.

In the woods in the vicinity of the monastery are the Varovitets Waterfall, 15 metres (49 feet) high,[4] and its source, an eponymously named karst spring.