Aladzha Monastery is the most famous medieval rock monastery on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, inhabited by hermit monks in the 13th – 14th centuries. The beginning of systematic studies of this Christian monument was set at the end of the 19th century by the founders of Bulgarian archeology – brothers Karel and Hermin Shkorpil.
In 1927, Aladzha Monastery was declared a “national antiquities”, and in 1968 – an architectural cultural monument of national importance. There is no information about when the monastery was founded. The surviving frescoes in the chapel testify that there was a rich spiritual life here during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (XIII-XIV centuries).
After the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman slavery at the end of the 14th century, the Aladzha monastery gradually declined and was probably finally abandoned by the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century.
The Christian name of the monastery is unknown. The name “alaja” is of Persian or Arabic origin and means “variegated, patterned”. At the beginning of the last century, K. Shkorpil recorded a tradition according to which the patron saint of the monastery was St. Spas (from Christ the Savior). The unusual architectural forms and numerous legends about hidden treasures and ghosts of monks wandering among the ruins create an atmosphere of mystery and mysticism here that has attracted numerous admirers for decades. For a century, these facts confirmed Aladzha Monastery as one of the most attractive tourist destinations on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, included in almost all world guides. In the 70s of the last century, a museum building was built near the monastery, in which, along with the permanent exhibition, presenting the past of the monastic monastery, others dedicated to Bulgarian Christian culture were arranged.
In the lobby of the museum, visitors can buy popular science publications, discs with Bulgarian church music, various souvenirs.