The XIX century expansion

The 19th century inaugurated a significant phase of expansion and cultural revitalization fueled by the Bulgarian National Revival. To accommodate a growing number of pilgrims, a second (southern) courtyard was added to the complex. This expansion was largely made possible through the lavish patronage of the wealthy Chalakov family from Plovdiv. Between 1780 and 1860, "The Great" Stoyan and Valko Chalakov emerged as the monastery’s primary guardians, using their immense influence within the Ottoman administration to fund large-scale construction. Under their sponsorship and the leadership of Abbot Hieromonk Ananius, the Church of St. Nicholas was built between 1834 and 1837. This third church, featuring a cross-shaped architectural foundation, was situated in the newly formed southern yard.

Between 1839 and 1841, the eminent Bulgarian master Zahari Zograf was invited by Abbot Matthew to decorate the interior of St. Nicholas. Zograf’s frescoes in this church, particularly the "Last Judgment," are considered masterpieces of the Revival era, famously including satirical portraits of Plovdiv’s socialites and his own self-portrait—the first of its kind in Bulgarian mural art. During this same period, the vaulted open narthex of the 12th-century Church of the Holy Archangels was also painted by Zograf, while its interior was later completed by Joan Mosch in 1846. The 19th-century transformation was visually memorialized in 1846 by the painter Alexi Atanasov, who executed the monumental "Panorama" mural on the outer wall of the refectory. Using a Vienna copper print as a model, Atanasov depicted a bird’s-eye view of the entire monastery as it appeared following the expansion, including the Easter procession of the Miraculous Icon and portraits of the Chalakov benefactors.