Things to do in Rila Monastery
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Church of Rozhdestvo Bogorodichno
Within the monastery's walls, four levels of colourful balconies - with monastic cells, storerooms, a refectory and kitchen - surround the large courtyard, where stands the magnificent Church of Rozhdestvo Bogorodichno, Bulgaria's grandest monastery church. Built between 1834 and 1837, the structure is crowned by three great domes.
Its outside walls are covered with frescoes both vivid and harrowing (or humorous, depending on your disposition), depicting hell, where demons with whips, chains and pitchforks torture sinners in various states of woe and undress. The happier paintings, depicting the virtuous accompanied by angels and saints, indicate the moral lesson that ste…
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Museum
The 19th-century revolutionary leader, Vasil Levski, formed and trained insurgents at the monastery and urged the monks themselves to take up arms against the Turks in 1876. This history is highlighted in the small, separate museum on the 3rd floor. The museum door is usually locked, but staff at the reception office inside the gate can open it.
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Ethnographic Museum
Beside the Samokov gate in the northeast of the monastic compound is the Ethnographic Museum, displaying regional folk costumes, textiles and crafts. Labelling is in Bulgarian only.
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Restaurant Drushlyavitsa
Outside the Samokov gate, this fine place has outdoor tables overlooking a little brook, and serves traditional Bulgarian cuisine.
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Bakery
This popular little bakery , next to the Rila Restaurant, sells hot, deep-fried doughnuts, bread and all-natural sheep yoghurt.
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Rila Restaurant
The Rila offers similar fare to Drushlyavitsa, but is more atmospheric, set in a 120-year-old building.
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Rila Monastery
Bulgaria's most famous monastery is set in a towering forested valley. The 300 monk cells span four levels of colourful balconies, overlooking a large misshapen courtyard, while the Nativity Church, built in the 1830s, contains 1200 magnificent murals.
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