Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery

thumb|300px|Monastery of St. Jovan (John) Bigorski near Debar
thumb|300px|Inside the monastery
Monastery of St. Jovan (John) Bigorski (Macedonian: Свети Јован Бигорски, St.Jovan Bigorski) is an important Macedonian Orthodox monastery located in the western part of Macedonia, near the road connecting the towns of Debar and Gostivar. 
The monastery church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. According to the monastery's 1833 chronicle, it was built in 1020 by Ivan I Debranin. The Ottomans destroyed the monastery in the XVI century. The monastery was restored in 1743 by the monk Ilarion, who also built several monk cells. Later, in the period from 1812 to 1825 the monastery was expanded by archimandrite Arsenius. Among the donors there is also a mention of a monk Iov, recognized by some researchers as the future educator Yoakim Karchovski. One of the most valuable treasures of the monastery is the iconostasis created by Petre Filipovski Garkata from the nearby village of Gari. This iconostasis is considered one of the most beautiful and most valuable wood-carved iconostasis in the Orthodox religion. Another valuable monastery treasure is an icon dating from 1020 with supposedly miraculous healing power.
== External links ==
*ExploringMacedonia
*St. John Bigorski
*culture.org.mk
*gostivar.com
*pictures
*pictures
Category:Christian monasteries established in the 11th century
Category:Macedonian Orthodox monasteries
Category:Christian monasteries in Macedonia
bg:Бигорски манастир
de:Kloster Sveti Jovan Bigorski
hr:Manastir Sveti Jovan Bigorski
mk:Бигорски манастир
ru:Бигорский монастырь