A trip to Bulgaria - Part II, Rila Monastery

Rila Mountain and Rila Monastery

Hello again! :))

This post is dedicated to our quite interesting and full of adrenaline trip to the Rila monastery, which we visited this Sunday, during the celebration of Ilinden..
This is a holy place, which was found in 9th century by the hermit and saint Ivan Rilski, after the Bulgarian Rulers accepted the Christianity... As He says in His testimony, when He came to the desert of Rila, He was the only human being there, and He lived with the beasts, the sky was His roof, the ground was His bed, the plants were His food, a small cave up in the mountain was His shelter in storms...
As the monastery is a huge and vivid example of the traditional Bulgarian medieval monasteries from the period of the First and the Second Bulgarian Empire, the small "hole", which leads out of the cave is a place, where legends say only a person with pure soul can go through... As the very monastery, hugged between the skirts of the might Rila mountain and the strong stone walls and battle towers, impresses You with the rich and soft pictures, icons and every kind of ecclesiastic arts, the cave and the hole for pure souls just strikes You with its simplicity and... purifying powers...
When we climbed up to the "hole" and we were quietly arguing who to be first, cause no one wanted to be first, i just turned left and began to climb up the small stairs and my friends and my family..they were behind me and i was leading them...Till the moment i entered the cave and only the single lonely flame of a tiny candle was enlightening our way deep inside and at one moment everything was so dark that i wasn't able to see anything and i felt fear...for a first time in my life i felt how it is to shiver by fear..not knowing where to go, not knowing where you are stepping, just touching around like a blind, kneeling and crawling in the low space between rocks... and not that the path is long..but the fear of your sins is big... Nikko was walking behind me and i just whispered to Him "I'm afraid", but He just pushed me forward to the light, where a piece of sky was smiling... And there, climbing through the rocks, already seeing the sky, at the end for a piece of a moment i just asked myself...do i dare? But my friends and family were behind me..i couldn't stop, i couldn't give up.. and i reached it! Oh, God, thank you for the help! And thank You for showing me what is fear and what is forgiveness, and what is peace...
Everything there was magnificent! And enchanting! And full of that energy that only holy places emit around like a circle of pure life...something which You almost can touch...

And here are some shots of the Rila mountain, the monastery and the hole.... ;)
It is very beautiful place to visit and i recommend it in 200%
Enjoy the Second Part of the photo trip!

The magical beauty of Rila mountain, the heart of Bulgaria :)

a pic in the restaurant we had lunch...just over the river... :)

First sight inside the courtyard of the Monastery, crowed by guests :)
Another shot of the Monastery and the mountain....
On the Left is the Church and on the right are some of the residents rooms...

Another view of the inside part of the Monastery

Some of the paintings on the outside wals of the Church... the travelings of the Soul...
enjoying the calmness...
me and Nikko in front of a bush of roses, which are used not only for beauty, but also for preparing wonderful perfumes, liquors, sweets, rakia, etc... recommended to be tasted by a faithful fan of roses marmalade! ;)

An angel and a monk...
The Back Door now in a reconstruction period...


sitting on the bridge of the back door... behind is the fire truck.. i wished so much to be a fireirl when i was a kid...

the Back Door view and the charming fire truck :)


This is the small church just in front of the cave of St. Ivan Rilskia pic of the rocks of the cave
Me, happy after coming through the hole, pure and enlightened by the flash of the camera... O:D


I hope You liked also the photo trip of Part II - The Rila Monastery Adventure :)

Yours, the pure- souled Eden ;)