Rila Monastery

Location

The Rila Monastery is nestled in the Rila Mountains at an altitude of 1147m, and is some 117km South of Sofia in the valley of the Rilska River.

Although not a great distance from Borovets, the last part of the journey is on slow mountain roads, and the drive on average takes about 90 minutes.

The more ambitious and energetic can even try Hiking from Borovets!

History

The monastery was founded during the 10th century by Sveti Ivan Rilski (St. John of Rila) - patron saint of Bulgaria. Although built, destroyed, and rebuilt many times during its long history, the current incarnation was built by Bulgarian master builders from 1834-1862, after a fire destroyed it in 1833.

It is now regarded as one of Bulgaria's most important cultural, historical and architectural monuments. It is also a key tourist attraction in Bulgaria and Southeastern Europe as a whole.

The monastery was declared a national historical monument in 1976, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

Tourism

The monastery combines extraordinary architecture with numerous frescos and murals, the majority of which were painted between 1840 and 1848 by some of the finest artists of the time.

The entrance gate of the church of Protosebast Hrelyo is a stunning carving, preserved today in the monastery's museum of history. The museum also contains a multitude of gold and silver church plates, collections of coins, weapons, jewelry goldweave materials and embroidery. A unique masterpiece is the carved cross of the Monk Raphael worked over a period of 12 years.

Further Information

View the Rila Monastery Wikipedia page, or visit the Official UNESCO page devoted to the monastery.