Transfiguration Monastery, Bulgaria

It lies near the village of Samovodene, seven kilometres north of Veliko Tarnovo, in central northern Bulgaria.

After the Ottoman conquest of Bulgaria, the monastery was plundered and burned several times by the Turks and eventually entirely destroyed.

Among the more notable murals are those of the Last Judgment, the Wheel of Life, the Birth of the Mother of God, the Last Supper.

In addition, the main church was richly decorated on the outside and a wood-carved and gold-plated iconostasis was installed.

Between 1858 and 1863 Kolyu Ficheto constructed the seven-bell belfry, the residential buildings and the main entrance, as well as the underground chapel of Saint Andrew the First-called and the small Church of the Annunciation on top of it, with icons by Zahari Zograf's nephew Stanislav Dospevski.