Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

612 SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE

. Murals
Magnificent murals
adorn the church walls,
illustrating characters
and episodes from the
Bible. Zahari Zograf,
Bulgaria’s greatest
19th-century painter,
is the only one of the
artists responsible to
have signed his work.

Rila Monastery, situated in the

northwestern Rila Mountains

Arcades

The murals in the arcades

vividly depict sinners thrown

into an apocalyptic vision of

Hell. This contrasts with the

arcades’ graceful structure of

arches, slender columns and

blind cupolas.

CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY
The exquisite Church of the Nativity,
which stands proudly in the middle
of Rila Monastery’s courtyard, is the
largest monastic church in Bulgaria.
Its exterior is a busy but harmonious
confection of stripes, curved domes
and arches set at differ ent levels. It is
worth spending some time exploring
the outside before entering the main
body of the church.

The arcades are decorated

with some of the monas-

tery’s finest murals

Entrance

to church

Established in the 10th century by St Ivan of Rila,

Rila Monastery (Rilski manastir) is Bulgaria’s most
impressive example of National Revival architecture.
Generously supported by successive kings, the
monastery flourished until Ottoman raids destroyed
it in the late 15th century. While the Russian Church
sponsored its renovation, Rila’s monks played a
crucial role in preserving Bulgaria’s language and
history during the most repressive periods of
Ottoman rule. Devastated by fire in 1833, the
monastery was rebuilt with funding from wealthy
Bulgarians intent on cultivating national pride at a
time of great hope for liberation from the Ottomans.

Rila Monastery 2

Рилски манастир

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp636–8 and pp639–41