TRADITIONS AND FAITH – RILA MONASTERY

Departure Date

Daily

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TRADITIONS AND FAITH
VELINGRAD –  BANSKO – ROJENIAN MONASTERY – RAZLOG – VELINGRAD

Price

to 2 3 4 5+ persons
Per person BGN 195 140 115 99
Per person EUR 99 72 59 51

 

The price include: Air-conditioned VAN, Guide, lunch, entrance fees

 

BEGINNING – 8,30

At 8.30 we head to the town of Bansko. Bansko is one of the most attractive mountain resorts, regardless of the season. It is located on the Pirin mountain and is especially attractive for lovers of winter sports. Each summer the International Jazz Festival is held, one of the most important in Europe. Then Bansko from sacred place for skiers turns into the sacred place for jazz lovers. In addition, all the year are open for visits its numerous museums.

We will walk through the cobbled streets between the stone houses with traditional wooden verandas, very original wood carvings and wall paintings – examples of Renaissance architecture from the early 19th century. We will visit the History Museum – part of the museum complex “Bansko”. Here are presented some of the most significant cultural and historical monuments of the city. We will enter the church “Sveta Troitsa” (“Holy Trinity”) – built in 1835. In the spirit of the Bansko School of Art are all murals, wood carvings, sculptures and architectural solutions. In the courtyard there is a belfry – 29.50 meters high. In the belfry is placed a clockwork mechanism. Thus “Sveta Troitsa” becomes a model of the architecture of the past, which combines the functions of a church steeple and a clock tower.

LUNCH

After visiting Bansko, we will direct to Rila Monastery – the most important, imposing and famous monastery in Bulgaria. Before arriving we will stop at the restaurant ZODIAK, next door to the monastery, where, among the aroma of the forest, we will be offered traditional Bulgarian cuisine dishes.

RILA MONASTERY

After lunch we will visit the Rila Monastery – one of the most important cultural monuments in the country, one of the symbols of Bulgaria, listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It was founded in the 10th century by the hermit Ivan Rilski and his disciples. Ivan Rilski himself was later canonized as a saint by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In the monastery many educators and writers have worked. In 1961 the Rila monastery assumes the status of a national museum, and its surroundings have been proclaimed a natural park. It is located at 1,147 meters above sea level, among the fragrant pine forests in the Rila mountain.

The monastery is a complex of religious, residential and agricultural buildings with a total area of ​​8800 square meters. It stands out for its unique architecture. From outside, with the stone walls of the main buildings, high 24 meters, forming an irregular pentagon, the monastery looks like a fortress. Therefore, when a pilgrim or tourist enters the interior through one of the two iron doors, he is surprised by the elegance of its architecture: arches and columns, covered wooden stairs and carved terraces, behind which are the monk’s cells – about 400. In the cobbled courtyard there coexist in a strange symbiosis the severe fortress battlements of the tower ¨Hrelyovata kula¨ and the baroque silver domes of the main church. In the center of the courtyard there is the oldest building of the complex – an impressive stone tower, built up by the local feudal Sevastokrator Hrelyu in 1334-1335. Just next door stands a small church, which is a bit younger (1343). In more recent times (1844)  to the tower has been added a belfry. About the same time is built the main church of the monastery – “Rozhdestvo Bogorodichno” (“Birth of the Mother of God”). The temple has five domes, three altar niches and two lateral chapels. One of the most valuable things in the interior is the iconostasis with its incredible wood carving. The frescos were finished in 1846 and are the work of many masters, but only the famous Zahari Zograf has signed his paintings. In the church there are many icons of great value, created between the 19th and 14th centuries.

The monastery has its own library, which is extremely rich in literary material, collected over the centuries. Here are preserved valuable written records of Bulgaria – about 250 manuscripts of the 11-19 centuries; 9000 incunabulars, annotated manuscripts, Renaissance graphic works, etc. In the museum, located in the territory of the monastery, a rich exhibition is kept – a historical collection of 35,000 artifacts, icons collections, works of applied art, wood carvings, religious and ethnographic objects.

RAZLOG

After the visit of Rila monastery, we sit on the bus and take the way back to Velingrad. We will get off for a short break in the town of Razlog, located between three mountains – Pirin, Rila and Rhodopes. The old town has the typical architecture of the Renaissance. The houses are from the 30’s of last century and most of them are cultural monuments.

END OF THE EXCURSION – Around 19.00 we will be at the hotel.

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