Christians and Bogomils in the Balkans: Resilience in Bachkovo

Nestled in the Rhodope Mountains, the small village of Bachkovo presents a picturesque scene with red-tiled roofs amidst lush greenery, fig trees, and walnut saplings. The village, home to about 300 people, is characterized by stone paths and a pervasive, sweet aroma of figs, even before the fruit ripens.

Above the village, rugged peaks pierce the Mediterranean greenery, reaching towards the sky. Ancient stairs lead down to a significant treasure: the Bachkovo Monastery. This, Bulgaria's second most important monastery, traces its origins to the 11th century. It was founded by Georgian monks during the Byzantine era and houses a library with ancient religious books, supplemented over centuries with Greek and Slavic texts.

The monastery endured through Byzantine times and later came under the protection of Bulgarian tsars. It became a crucial stronghold of Christianity during the Ottoman Empire's expansion, particularly after the fall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in the late 14th century. The article suggests that five centuries of Turkish colonization did not extinguish the Christian traditions and identity of the region's inhabitants, posing the question of how this resilience was maintained.