The Lozen Monastery "Saint Spas" is situated at the northern slopes of Lozen Mountain on a small terrace under the Polovrak peak. The old monastery was most probably built during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. It was plundered and destroyed by the Turks during the conquering of the Urvich fortress and Sofia in 1382. During XVII c. the Lozen monastery was restored and the present-day church was built in 1821. In its original design it was a single-chamber building with a massive semi-cylindrical vault. Almost a quarter of a century later, in 1847, its interior was painted with the money of priest Kiriyak from Vratza, who was the abbot of the monastery. When the Turkish government allowed the Christians to build churches with more expressive architectural forms master Tzvyatko Todorov from the Radomir Region broke the vault and built three domes, carried by a light frame-built construction. In 1869 the famous icon painter Nikola Ivanov Obrazopisov, with the help of his students from the Samokov art school painted the church again. They followed a new way of distribution. This diversion from the traditional style was deliberately made, so as to create a special place for the Bulgarian national saints. Much stronger influence on the conscience of the enslaved people had the images of Bulgarian saints as: "Prince Boris I (Mihail)", "Ivan Rilski", "Patriarch Evtimii", "Nikola Novi Sofiyski" and others. The mural paintings have characteristic fresh and contrast tones, simple and light decoration of the clothes.
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Icon of Saint John of Rila
