Behind fortress-like stone walls, tiers of arcaded galleries frame a courtyard dominated by the five-domed Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. Its gilded iconostasis and colourful frescoes include work by the renowned painter Zahari Zograf. Most buildings date from the 19th-century rebuilding after a fire in 1833, but the stone Hrelyo Tower survives from 1334–1335. The monastery museum holds Rafail’s Cross, a wooden cross carved with intricate miniature scenes.
Sofia, Bulgaria
Rila Monastery
Hidden in a forested valley of the Rila Mountains, about 117 km south of Sofia, Rila Monastery is the largest and most famous Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. Tradition says it was founded in the 10th century by the hermit Saint John of Rila. During centuries of Ottoman rule it helped keep Bulgarian language and culture alive, and it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983.
- Saint John of Rila
- Hrelyo Tower
