Rila monastery
Type: Monastery
Location: Monastery Rilski manastir »
In Bulgarian: Рилски Манастир »
The Rila monastery (real name is Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila) is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is located in Rila mountain, several kilomters east of town of Rila and 117km south of Sofia.
The monastery was built in X-th century and nowadays the complex spreads at area of 8800m2 and include also a church (XIX-th century), residential part and museum.
The sight is one of the foremost masterpieces of Bulgarian National Revival architecture and is declared a national historical monument in 1976. It is included in UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1983.
