Monks lived in caves here in the Middle Ages, and the monastery is mentioned in an Ottoman tax register in the 15th century. It is linked to St Dimitar of Basarbovo, a local shepherd who became a hermit in the 17th–18th century; his relics are kept in Bucharest.
A stone stairway leads up from the riverside courtyard to the small rock chapel, with icons set against the bare stone, and further up to a viewpoint over the valley. Below are a small church, a museum room and a spring that pilgrims visit.
The monastery lies on the edge of the Rusenski Lom Nature Park, close to the UNESCO-listed Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, and makes a short, easy excursion from Ruse.
