Belashtitsa Monastery

The Belashtitsa Monastery is a convent in the western Rhodope Mountains near the village of Belashtitsa at 12 km to the south of Plovdiv. It is dedicated to St George the Victorious. The monastery has been declared a monument of culture and consists of a church, chapel, dwellings and farm buildings. The church is one nave, one apse edifice with inner and outer narthex without a dome and frescoes. It was constructed in 1838. There is a holy spring at the outer narthex. There is a stone fountain in the yard which was built in 1831. The monastery was established in 1020 by the Byzantine commander Nikephoros Xiphias who became governor of Plovdiv in 1018.