The Granitsa Monastery "St. Luke" and the legends of old times. A place for a spiritual experience. But also for an ideal vacation. Legends of treasure hunters and gold. The Granich Monastery "St. Luke" is an active Bulgarian Orthodox monastery for girls. It is part of the Kyustendil spiritual district of the Sofia diocese. It is located about 7 km south of the town of Kyustendil and about 2 km southwest of the village of Granitsa, Kyustendil municipality, at the northern foot of the Osogovska mountain, in the Pustiya manastir area. The monastery was founded in the 10th century (this is supported by the name of the area in which the monastery was built, the discovered early foundations and the nearby medieval fortress "Granitsa"), repeatedly destroyed by the Turks, restored in the 20th century (1948). And according to tradition, St. Ivan Rilski studied there. Two collective finds were found in the monastery garden: several hundred silver Venetian coins from the 14th century and bullion coins of the Byzantine emperors Alexius I Komnenos (1081 – 1118), Manuel I Komnenos (1143 – 1180), Andronicus I Komnenos (1183 – 1185) and Isaac II Angelus (1185 – 1195). The three sons of Jacob, Bishop of Krupnik, Joasaph, David and Theophanes, who after becoming widowed, settled in the small monastery, and subsequently restored and renovated the deserted and plundered Rila Monastery (1453 – 1466). After the repair of the Rila holy monastery, the relics of the patron saint of the Bulgarian people – Ivan Rilski were returned there. In the monastery yard, a fountain was built, dedicated to the three monks Joasaph, David and Theophanes, originally from the village of Granitsa - the restorers of the Rila Monastery. The monastery has been declared a cultural monument. It is currently in constant operation. The road to the Monastery from the village of Granitsa is not in ideal condition, but there is no problem getting there. Above the monastery, just 200 meters away, there is a fountain and a convenient place for a wonderful picnic (see the video). You can rent a room to sleep in the Monastery. In the forest above the monastery there was a small lake, but I don’t know if it exists now. And a little-known story about the monastery. Many years ago, there was a man in the monastery who was a shepherd. There is an interesting story about him. He accidentally found a treasure of gold coins near the monastery. This treasure-hunting adventure of his is understood when he starts paying in the village tavern in Granitsa with the found gold coins. I don't know how this story ended. But most likely he drank all the gold he found, if he wasn't deceived and robbed by other people. There are many legends about buried wealth in the area around the monastery. There is also a legend that in this area between the villages of Slokoshtitsa and Granitsa, part of Tsar Shishman's gold and many written documents and books from that time were buried.