Two churches in Plovdiv. Bachkovo Monastery has 11 tickets and tours to book; Rozhen Monastery has 3 tickets and tours to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Bachkovo Monastery stands in the Rhodope Mountains, about thirty kilometres south of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, beside the Chaya river, and entry to the monastery is free, while the museum and the ossuary charge small fees. It is the second largest monastery in Bulgaria, after the Rila Monastery, and one of the most important. Day trips from Plovdiv combine Bachkovo with the Asen's Fortress, a medieval fortress on a cliff nearby, and sometimes with the Wonderful Bridges rock formations or wine tasting in the region.
Rozhen Monastery stands in the Pirin Mountains of south-western Bulgaria, about six kilometres from the town of Melnik, the smallest town in Bulgaria, and entry is free, with donations welcome. It is the largest monastery in the Pirin region and one of the few medieval monasteries in Bulgaria to have survived the Ottoman period largely intact.
