Lopushna Monastery

Lopushna Monastery

Apse view of the Lopushna Monastery cathedral
Monastery information
Full name	Lopushna Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner
Other names	Лопушански манастир „Свети Йоан Предтеча“ (Bulgarian)
Established	12th–14th century
Diocese	Vidin Eparchy, Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Controlled churches	Church of Saint John the Forerunner (monastery cathedral)
People
Important associated figures	Dionysius (important abbot) Lilo Lazarov (chief architect)
Site
Location	Georgi Damyanovo, Montana Province, Bulgaria
Coordinates	43°22′34″N 23°1′10.5″E / 43.37611°N 23.019583°E / 43.37611; 23.019583
Public access	yes

The Lopushna Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner (Bulgarian: Лопушански манастир „Свети Йоан Предтеча“, Lopushanski manastir „Sveti Yoan Predtecha“) is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery in northwestern Bulgaria. It lies in the Chiprovtsi part of the western Balkan Mountains, 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) southwest the village of Georgi Damyanovo, Montana Province.

Founded in the Middle Ages but built in its present appearance throughout the 1850s, the Lopushna Monastery, and particularly its complex main church, are one of the most notable works of the Slavine Architectural School and its most prominent figure, Lilo Lazarov. It was in the construction of the monastery cathedral that Lazarov first employed vernacular Gothic decorative features, a trademark approach of the Slavine School that set it apart from other architectural schools of the Bulgarian National Revival.