MONASTERY OF ST. LEO OF ЛЕОНТИЈ (СВЕТИ МАНАСТИРОТ ВОДОЧА-ЛЕОНТИЈ)

This beautiful Orthodox monastery (Водочки Mанастир/Vodočki Manastir) is located in the village of Vodoča (300 inhabitants). Dedicated to St. Leone of Tripoli, it was founded in 1018 by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, just after the defeat of the Bulgarian Empire. Occupied by nuns renowned for their icons, the complex has four churches rebuilt over the centuries. The catholicon preserves the marble floor of a basilica of the ^5th-6th century, the apse of a church of the ^9th-10th century and some frescos of another of the ^14th century, destroyed by an earthquake in 1931.