The Rila Monastery, which is also known as The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila, is the largest and most popular monastery of Eastern Orthodox in Bulgaria.

How the present-day’s monastery edifices look like was set by Aleski Rilets, the first Bulgarian architect. He planned the architectural design and led the creation of the north wing with its well-known monastery kitchen, the eastern wing and the western wing. This is portrayed by 3 plaques above the mill’s doors, the Dupnitsa and the Samokov entrances. Aside from his name, the plaques also include the names of Teodosii and Father Superior Yosif. Subsequent to the upsetting fire that took place in the year 1833, Aleksi Rilets guided the reconstruction of the wrecked wooden parts of the monastery with help from three thousand master builders, who were able to get it done within just ten days.

The whole complex is rather remarkable for its dimension. The residential part of four floors is consisted of not less than three hundred monks’ cells, four chapels, one abbot’s room, one kitchen, one library, and a couple of guest rooms for the donors. The kitchen in particular is really interesting because of its large cooking tools. The outside of the monastery is also as intriguing because of its harsh and high stone walls incised through by little windows, giving us a more military fort feel than a monastery.

If you happen to get inside the complex, visiting the monastery museum is highly suggested. It holds a special work of art called The Raphael’s Cross. This cross is named after its artist and is actually made of one whole piece of wood. The monk made use of a magnifying lens, little knives and fine chisels in order to carve 650 tiny figures and 104 spiritual scenes into the cross.

The Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanavo are a set of monumental chapels, monasteries and churches built out of hard rock. These group of churches are totally different compared to Bulgaria’s other monastery churches. It is located by the town of Ivanavo, south of Rousse by twenty kilometres, on the high stony banks of Rusenski Lom, thirty-two kilometres higher than the river. This complex is widely known for its well-preserved and attractive medieval frescoes.

Monks had inhabited the caves in the area in the decade of 1220s, when it was discovered by the prospect Patriarch of Bulgaria Joachim, until the seventeenth century, when they hewed churches, chapels and cells out of hard rock. At the tip of the monastery group, the churches amounted to about forty, whilst the other grounds were around three hundred, majority of which aren’t presently preserved.

Ivan Alexander and Ivan Asen II, examples of 2nd Bulgarian Empire leaders, regularly donated money to the monastery complex, as confirmed by contributor portraits in few of the churches. Other donors were the nobles that came from the capital of Tarnovo, with which the complex had close relations in the thirteenth and fourteenth century. It was the core of hesychasm in Bulgarian grounds in the fourteenth century and maintained to survive in the premature centuries of Ottoman ruling of Bulgaria, however slowly decomposed.

The frescoes from the thirteenth and fourteenth century are responsible for the monastery complex’s popularity. These frescoes are preserved in five of the churches, which are seen as great illustrations if Bulgarian medieval art. The rock grounds that were used by monks include the Baptistery, the St. Archangel Michael Chapel, the St. Theodore Church, the main Holy Mother of God Church, and the Gospodev Dol Chapel, with the fourteenth century murals in the later one being debatably the most popular in Ivanavo and considered as some of the most significant representations of the Palaeologan art.