A night in the Rila Monastery

When planning our vacation in Bulgaria, the UNESCO Rila Monastery was one of the top priorities on our "to visit" list. After I found out that we were able to spend the night in this desolate, tranquil Monastery I was amazed and couldn't wait to get going.

The Rila Monastery is located South of Sophia in the Rila mountains. The Monastery was built by the disciples of the hermit St Ivan of Rila(876-946 AD). Since then the Monastery has become an important place for both the Eastern Orthodox church and the Bulgarian culture. It is worth to note that during the second Bulgarian Empire most of the Tsars made contributions to the Monastery.  It would however be during the Ottoman occupation that the Rila Monastery would play an important role in preserving the Bulgarian culture.

Nativity of the Virgin Mother, the main church of Rila Monastery

We visited the Monastery by car, although I heard that it's possible to visit by bus as well. We drove for about two hours coming from Sofia to reach our destination. We were immediately awe-stricken when seeing the fairy tail Monastery. It is easy to understand that this is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bulgaria.

However, we we're on a mission, we wanted to spend a night here to fully experience it's tranquility and nightly charm. After a bit of searching, we found a little reception where we paid 40lev(20euro) for a room. When entering the Monastery go right, continue straight on until you reach the museum, the reception room is at the right of the museum. The monk who rents the rooms doesn't speak English but was very friendly and welcoming.

View from our room on the 3th floor

Whilst searching for our room we passed the Tower of Hrelja(1334 AD), this defensive tower is the oldest structure of the Monastery and reminded me of the tower in the movie "In the name of the Rose". I was reminded again of the movie when we entered our room.
The room was exactly how I envisioned it to be in a medieval Monastery: basic, cold, authentic, perfect.

We were told by the Monk at the reception that at dusk the Monastery gates were closed and that no one was allowed to enter or leave until dawn. Thereafter we went for an evening stroll profiting from the fact that all the other tourists already had to leave. Walking around in complete silence in this beautiful place is quite a spiritual experience regardless if you're religious or not.

Beginning of the walk to the cave of St Ivan of Rila

After a short but sound night's rest we got up early to visit the inside of the main church and the Monastery museum. Afterwards we drove about ten minutes to the cave we're St Ivan of Rila lived as a hermit. The cave itself is only accessible by foot so make sure you Bring your walking shoes!
After a short hike in the beautiful Rila Mountains you first reach a small church, a little further along the Path you find the cave.

All in all, visiting the Rila Monastery was a unique experience, Bulgaria has many treasures and the Rila Monastery is without a doubt one of its finest.

The Main Church

Rila Monastery by night

Time for the morning prayer:) 

Small church next to the St Ivan's Cave