September 14th, 2007 
Sheila Simkin This was our last monastery and THE most famous one in Bulgaria, Rila Monastery. We drove past the Village of Rila and made a short hike through dense forest to the chapel and cave of St. John. St. John of Rila, was a 10th century hermit who chose this valley as an escape from feudal-era savagery. He and his followers established the small cave hermitage and lived there in search of enlightenment. (I felt nothing…not a drop of enlightenment.)
From the cave, it was downhill on a trail to Rila Monastery, the greatest Orthodox sanctuary in Bulgaria. NOW, we saw tourists. Lots of tourists. Rila Monastery was a renowned Christian pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages, founded in 1335 and is famed for its architecture, murals, fortress-like walls and mountain setting.
Rila’s most treasured historic and artistic monuments include the 14th century Hrelyo Tower, the five-domed Birth of the Blessed Virgin Church and the original monastery kitchen from the 19th century. The fourth floor residential part had 300 monks’ cells, four chapels, and guestrooms for donors. There was also a collection of valuable old manuscripts and documents, icons, an ethnographic exhibition of fabrics, jewelry, carpets and wrought iron objects, and a library containing more than 16,000 books. The frescoes here were completely incredible…well-worth seeing…different on all sides of the Church…with constantly changing colors in the changing light.
We spent the afternoon exploring Rila but after a while, ex-Marine and I became monasteried-out and wandered on the streets, to people-watch all the tour buses coming and going, eat ice cream and browse through the many shops. Finally, a really good lunch sitting in this outdoor restaurant, before heading to Gornata Zemya (“Upland”) Hotel in Panichishte.
The Upland Hotel was far from luxurious (basic, more accurately describes it) with small rooms and a large common area downstairs and my least favorite of all the different guesthouses and hotels during the trip. I could certainly understand the rationale for staying here though. Opposite the hotel was the start of the path up to Seven Rila Lakes and the Rila National Park Visitors Center was also nearby with maps and brochures telling about all the different walks in the mountains. Rila is the largest National Park in Bulgaria, located only about 60 miles south of Sofia.
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