SOCIAL EVENTS
Rila Monastery Excursion, incl. Lunch
14 July 2010
Founded in the 10th century, the Rila Monastery is regarded as one of Bulgaria's most important cultural, historical and architectural monuments. It is on account of this also a key tourist attraction in Bulgaria and South-eastern Europe as a whole.
It is traditionally thought that the monastery was founded by the hermit St. John of Rila (Ivan Rilski), whose name it bears, during the rule of Tsar Peter I (927-968). The hermit actually lived in a cave without any material possessions not far from the monastery's location, while his students, who came to the mountains to receive their education, built the complex. Ever since its creation, the Rila Monastery has been supported and respected by the Bulgarian rulers. Large donations were made by almost every tsar of the Second Bulgarian Empire up until the Ottoman Conquest, making the monastery a cultural and spiritual centre of Bulgarian national consciousness that reached its apogee from the 12th to the 14th century.
Thanks to donations by the Russian Orthodox Church and more precisely the Rossikon monastery of Mount Athos, three brothers from the region of Kyustendil, who moved John of Rila’s relics into the complex, rebuilt the Rila Monastery in the end of the 15th century. The complex acted as a depository of Bulgarian language and culture in the ages of foreign rule. During the time of the Bulgarian National Revival (18th-19th century), it was destroyed by fire in 1833 and then reconstructed between 1834 and 1862 with the help of wealthy Bulgarians from the whole country, under the famous architect Alexi Rilets. The erection of the residential buildings began in 1816, while a belfry was added to the Tower of Hrelyu in 1844. Neofit Rilski founded a school in the monastery during the period. The monastery complex, regarded as one of the foremost masterpieces of Bulgarian National Revival architecture, was declared a national historical monument in 1976 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Since 1991 it has been entirely subordinate to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The museum of the Rila Monastery is particularly famous for housing Rafail's Cross, a wooden cross-made from a whole piece of wood (81×43 cm). A monk named Rafail using fine burins and magnifying lenses to recreate 104 religious scenes and 650 miniature figures whittled it down. Work on this piece of art lasted not less than 12 years before it was completed in 1802, when the monk lost his sight.
You have the exquisite opportunity to enjoy the peaceful and calm atmosphere of Rila Monastery. In order to get a grasp of a very important part of the Bulgarian history, as well as to obtain knowledge about interesting facts around the monastery itself we will provide professional English speaking guide and for your convenience the transport will be organized with comfortable bus. The lunch in a traditional Bulgarian restaurant will reveal you some of most peculiar dishes from the Bulgarian cuisine which you could taste only here on the Balkan Peninsula.