Joachim I of Bulgaria

He was the founder of an extensive monastic complex known as the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, now included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

[1] After spending many years in Athos Joachim returned in Bulgaria and settled with three disciples near the village of Krasen, not far from the Danube river.

[2] His fame spread in the country and reached emperor Ivan Asen II (r. 1218–1241), who went to a pilgrimage to Joachim's abode.

[2][3] At that time Ivan Asen II discontinued the formal union between the Bulgarian Church and the Papacy in Rome, established in 1205 by his uncle Kaloyan and Pope Innocent III.

Joachim I was remembered as a "pious and saintly man", "celebrated for his poetic deeds" and revered as the "first Patriarch of the God-protected Imperial city of Tarnovo".