Rila Monastery | UNESCO sites in Bulgaria

October 23, 2019

The holy Rila Monastery

 

The Rila Monastery rises magnificently among the ancient forests of Rila Mountain, 
at the confluence of the Droushlyavitsa and Rila Rivers, in a place naturally fortified and 
protected by high mountain ridges. 
 
 'the Rila Monastery" was founded in the 10th century by the Reverend loan Rilski the 
protector of Bulgarian people and a most respected Bulgarian saint. With its thousand- 
year-old history and almost uninterrupted existence as a center of monks' heroic deeds 
on Bulgarian soil, the Rila Monastery has turned into a treasure-house, a preserver 
of the Orthodox faith, culture and identity of the Bulgarian people throughout the 
centuries. It preserves, to this day, the memory of all crucial events our people went 
through, ever since the reign of the pious Bulgarian tsar (king) Petur. 
 
 During its centuries-long existence, the monastery went through periods of 
prosperity and ruin. Repeatedly set on fire and pillaged, it continued to exist, supported 
by the material help of pious Bulgarian rulers in the Middle Ages, and by Orthodox 
Christians during the Bulgarian National Revival. While under Turkish rule, the 
monastery received a generous support from the Russian tsars and Moldova rulers.