As part of our orientation, the school took us to Rila Monastery. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the largest Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria and also the most famous. It is in the mountains about 70 miles south of Sofia. After a rather unpleasant minibus ride up winding mountain roads, we stopped at a restaurant along a mountain stream for lunch. It was beautiful. I had some sort of salad with cheese (of course) and roasted peppers (that arrived cold ???) and French fries. Yay for fried potatoes (without cheese)!
We then reboarded the bus and I chose a seat closer to the front for the last 10 minutes to the monastery. The monastery was founded in 10th century by Saint Ivan of Rila, however, the oldest parts still standing are a tower and the monastery gates, all from the 13th century. The original church from this period was destroyed by the Ottoman’s in the 15th century. A new church was built by 1469; however it was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1833. The current church was constructed between 1834 and1862, during the Bulgarian renaissance, and is completely covered with beautiful paintings on every part of the walls inside and out. The Rila Monastery has historically been a refuge for the Bulgarian culture. Bulgaria was ruled by the Turks for nearly 500 years before gaining its independence in 1878 only to be taken over by the Soviets after World War II. During these times of outside rule, books, documents, religion, and cultural traditions were kept safe at the monastery. The monastery received donations from many wealthy patrons and other Orthodox monasteries around the world. This allowed the priests to offer generous gifts to the rulers that kept it and its contents safe. In fact, books from my school were hidden at the monastery until the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 90’s.
Rila Monastery has a great museum with beautiful icons, scrolls, and robes and Rafail's Cross. Carved by a monk from a solid piece of wood, the cross is covered with religious scenes and over 600 characters. This is not a big cross either. Most of the characters are about a centimeter tall. It is an amazing piece of work that took Rafail 12 years to finish.
You can also climb several steep stone steps to the 5th floor of the tower. There are some interesting artifacts, including a chapel from the 13th century on the top floor that has very old paintings. It also offers great views of the Monastery and surrounding mountains.
Near the monastery is the cave where the monastery’s founder, Saint Ivan of Rila, lived out his life as a hermit and was eventually buried. You have to hike up the side of a mountain and then you will find the cave. Supposedly, only the righteous will be able to climb out the top of the cave. The hole is very small and some sideways shifting is required, but I made it. I guess that means I'm going to heaven and so is everyone else in my group, since it is not actually that hard to do. It is definitely not a large cave, but I suppose if you are going to be a religious hermit, that is the point.
That night we had a picnic at the president’s house where I did not have to eat any cheese.
