Day 3, Cosmos Balkans Tour, Rila Monastery and Folk Dancers and Dinner

On Our Way to the Rila Monastery

We drove through several small villages on our way to the Rila Monastery from Sofia. Almost all the houses had their own grape vine trellises.

On Our Way to the Rila Monastery

The Rila Monastery is in a valley in the Rila Mountains. Very pretty scenery here and should be even more beautiful in the fall when the trees change colors. There are some cabins and hotels in the area.

On Our Way to the Rila Monastery

The Rila Monastery

The Rila Monastery was founded by a hermit monk, Ivan Rilski, in 927 A.D. The monastery was rebuilt several times. The Ottomans raided the monastery at the end of the 14the century and destroyed it in the middle 15th century. It was rebuilt at the end of the 15th century but was destroyed by a fire in 1833. It was rebuilt again between 1834 and 1844. Before the Ottoman Conquest, the monastery was a medieval Bulgarian cultural and spiritual center. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Rila Monastery

No photos were allowed inside the monastery’s church or museums, but they were allowed outside the buildings. The frescoes outside were quite beautiful.

The Rila Monastery

Another of the frescoes––some were of scary scenes and some were of angels and saints.

I have put my photos of the Rila Monastery and also of the drive there from Sofia on a slide show. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/rila–monastery/

(Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, “Rila Monastery”).

The Rila Monastery

Folklore Dinner

An optional folklore dinner in Sofia that included Bulgarian folk dancing was offered this evening at this restaurant in the photo.

Folklore Dinner

Some of my tour group at the dinner. I believe we were served Bulgarian plum brandy called rakija, both commercially and home made and which has about a 40% alcohol content––drink it slowly and sparingly. It has quite a wallop.