This is the largest monastery on the Balkan Peninsula. It has been a major Christian,cultural and enlightenment center. The monastery is an impressive monument of Bulgaria medieval and National Revival architecture and mural painting. It was founded in the 10th century by Saint Ivan Rilski. It is located at an altitude of 1,100 m in the northwestern part of the Rila Montain. Today’s buildings of the compound date from the beginning of the 19th century.

The monastery compound has a quadrilateral shape and a total area of 8,800 sq.m. Hrelyo’s Tower (built in 1335) and the main monastery church (1834-1837) ,lie in the center of the courtyard whose area totals 3,200sq.m. The magnificent frescoes of the main church were the work of famous Bulgarian master-painter of the National Revival period (18th-19th century) – Zahari Zograf, Stanislav Dospevski, Hristo Dimitrov and others.

Rila Monastery is located 3km to the north of the town of Rila and 100 to the south of Sofia. The monastery is flanked by small mountian rivers of Rilska and Drushlyavitsa and is only 4hours walking distance from Malyovitsa peak, rising at 2,729m above sea level. The highest peak of Rila is Mousala (2,925m) above sea level, which is also the Balkan peninsula’s highest point.

It became a UNESCO monument in 1983.