Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
timetables, monastery and hiking information, maps, and large placards with local inform-
ation.
Getting There & Away
Blagoevgrad-Rila buses operate hourly, the last returning to Blagoevgrad around 8pm (3
lv, 45 minutes). Two daily buses also serve Sofia. If connecting from elsewhere, use
Dupnitsa-Rila buses (three daily).
Three daily buses (2 lv) also connect Rila village to Rila Monastery. If you're making a
day trip from somewhere other than Rila village, start early to leave enough time for all
the connections.
Rila Monastery
07054 / ELEV 1147M
Bulgaria's largest and most renowned monastery emerges abruptly out of a forested valley
in the Rila Mountains. It's a major attraction for both Bulgarian pilgrims and foreign tour-
ists. On summer weekends the site is especially busy, though at other times it provides
more solitude. Stay at a nearby hotel or camping ground, or even at the monastery itself to
experience Rila's photogenic early mornings and late evenings. You can also hike the sur-
rounding mountains.
The monastery was founded in AD 927 by hermit monk Ivan Rilski. Originally built
3km to the northeast, it came to its current location in 1335. By the 14th century's end, it
had become a powerful feudal fiefdom. Though it was plundered early in the 15th century,
the monastery was restored in 1469, when Rilski's relics were returned from Veliko
Târnovo. Rila Monastery was vital to the preservation of Bulgarian culture and religion
under Ottoman rule, even though the Ottomans sacked it several times.
Rila's greatest modern catastrophe was an 1833 fire that nearly engulfed all monastic
buildings. An inundation of funds from Bulgarian and foreign donors allowed reconstruc-
tion to commence within a year. In 1961 the communust regime proclaimed Rila a nation-
al museum, and 22 years later it became a Unesco World Heritage Site.
