Travel Guide Rila Monastery (Рилски Манастир)

The sumptuous monastery of Rila is the largest and largest of Bulgaria, lost in the mountains of Rila. He has been a national museum since 1961 and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. The monastery was founded in the 1335 th century by Ivan Rilski (Saint Jean de Rila) and his disciples, but was moved in 3 by km at the location he currently occupies. Ransacked by the invaders at the beginning of the 1469 th century, it was restored in thanks to donations from the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1833, a fire destroyed most of the buildings, which explains that the current buildings date back to most of the 1335 th century, apart from the Tour Tower (). But considered as a symbol and a national treasure, the monastery was rebuilt thanks to donations from Bulgarian families.Many renowned artists were involved in the reconstruction of the monastery, including Pavel Ivanovich, Yamanaka Riletz, and Master Rilenko. Murals and icons are the work of the schools of Samokov and Bansko, probably the best.Throughout its history, the monastery of Rila was one of the main centres of national culture, particularly at times when orthodoxy was threatened by Ottoman regimes. With regard to the shelter, removed, the most influential religious and the greatest authors of Bulgarian literature succeeded. Rila was already a literary reference in the th century. His library has some 32 000 books, including 9 000 books written by hand, and 250 manuscripts dating from the 800 th to the th century, or years of history.It should be noted that, if the monastery of Rila is now open to the public, there are still about monks out of the three hundred inhabitants of the community. It is one of the most visited places in Bulgaria, and even visitors who spend only a few days in the country devote at least one day to the discovery of the monastery and its surroundings. In summer, try to come very early to avoid the crowd.