Note: Bačkovo is located on the Cepelarska River in southern Bulgaria. It is best known for its monastery that was founded in 1083 by two Byzantine generals in the service of Emperor Alexis Comnenus. Only the charnel house survives from the original structure, which has burnt down several times over the centuries. A church, that of Saint Archangels, built in the 12th century, has a floor that was painted by Zachari Zograf and his students in the year 1841. There is also the cathedral church of the Virgin Mary, built in 1604, that houses a famous icon of the Virgin Mary Eleusa, itself dating from 1310. The town was an important cultural center in medieval times. Today it is a village mainly serving the tourists who come to visit the monastery.
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