This monastery is to be found amidst the picturesque Zemen
Gorge on the bank of Strouma River about two kilometers southwest of the
town of Zemen, District ofRadomir. Some 6 km west of it there towered a
medieval fortress called Zemlungrad. The oldest building in the monastery
is its church, built of shapely cut tufa blocks. It is a cruciform structure
almost resembling a giant cube with a central cupola that stands on four
huge pillars of solid masonry; arcades connect them with the exterior walls.
The architectural lay-out features rather an interesting combination: the
western, the northern and the southern facades each have three arched bays.
The three apsides on the eastern facade reach the cornice underneath the
roof. According to various sources this temple was built in the llth century.
This monument of a church is very popular owing both to
the striking architectural approach and to the magnificent murals dating
back to the 14th century. When the church was last restored fragments of
the first mural layer were uncovered; experts said stylistically it belonged
to the llth century. The murals of the second layer have been dated to
the 14th century; they have been skilfully done so as to be in line with
the architectural ideas and their execution; the scenes and images and
their distribution in the mural space strictly correspond to the laws of
iconography and to the ecclesiastical canons of how to paint a Christian
temple in fresco. There is an inscription in Middle Bulgarian above the
portraits of the main church donors; it says the frescoes have been done
thanks to the aid of Despot Deyan and his spouse Doya. These two images
have proved to be of incalculable historical, artistic and ethnographic
value. The unknown artist has done his job perfectly: they look so alive,
their features are so expressive. To illustrate a point we can compare
them to another pair of portraits -those of Sebastocrator Kaloyan and his
spouse Desislava, donors of another celebrated old Bulgarian church, the
Boyana church /1259/ near Sofia, considered to be a unique monument of
immense 
cultural
value; it is also on the UNESCO cultural heritage list. Experts believe
that the Zemen portraits come second only to the Boyana ones as being among
the oldest images of secular persons in the medieval Bulgarian art possessing
exceptional aesthetic merit.
The icon-painter's style is predominantly decorative,
based on linear designs; he has mostly used dark brown, almost black lines
that form ovals, faces, conveying the feeling of flatness and warm variety
of colours; the lack of nuances is obvious. His images look very much alive,
the maestro's gift and his love and flair for reality do credit to his
art. One of the oldest icons of St. Ivan Rilski /of Rila/, founder of Rila
Monastery, is to be found here and it is in a good condition. The painter's
work covers almost all the major Gospel subjects. A number of scenes picture
glimpses of daily routines in detail and this once again illustrates the
painter's true feeling for the realities of life. There is one example
that is rather telling in this respect: a scene called 'Forging the Nails
for the Cross' and connoisseurs say it is exclusive in its originality
and execution.
In their style and iconographic characteristics the Zemen church murals belong to the archaizing current in the Bulgarian medieval painting. And no doubt they also belong to the most fascinating production of the Bulgarian monumental painting in the 14th century.
Mariana HRISTOVA-TRIFONOVA