The Bulgarian monasteries - hiding human, warm and living rather than divine beauty behind their austere stone facades - still amaze with their magnificent architecture, unfading frescoes and murals, exquisite icons and wood-carvings, made by self-taught architects, builders and painters. During difficult and turbulent times the Bulgarian monasteries acted as centers of patriotism which helped to preserve the national feelings and the hopes of the Bulgarian people.
RILA MONASTERY The most impressive monument from the Bulgarian National Revival period rises amidst the rugged beauty of the Rila Mountains, just 120 km south of Sofia. Having survived the times with the self-confidence of the most zealous guard of the Bulgarian spirit and language, it still fascinates present-day visitors with the pure and harmonious line of the buildings, exquisite colonnades, arches, vaults, spacious rooms richly decorated with murals and fretwork.
The Rila Monastery
The monastery's most treasured historic and artistic monuments include the 14th century Hrelyo Tower, the five-domed Birth of the Blessed Virgin Church and the original monastery kitchens from the 19th century. The monastery also houses a rich museum collection of valuable old manuscripts and documents, charters and icons, an ethnographic exhibition of fabrics, jewelry, carpets and wrought iron objects, and a library containing more than 16,000 books. Rila Monastery is included in the UNESCO List of World Heritage
	Murals from the Rila Monastery
BACHKOVO MONASTERY One of the oldest monasteries in Bulgaria, it rises in the picturesque Chaya River Valley, 29 km south of Plovdiv. Founded in 1083, Bachkovo Monastery is chiefly known for its original architecture, rich collection of old icons, jewelry, coins and church plate. The library preserves many valuable incunabula and old manuscripts. Its most remarkable features, however, are the paintings that are seen everywhere - in the church and ossuary, where the figure of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander is discernible among the 11th and 14th century murals, in the refectory (1601), in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin main church (1604), and in the Holy Trinity and St. Nicholas church (1840), which contain some of the first murals painted by the celebrated National Revival artist, Zahari Zograph.
The Bachkovo Monastery
ALADJA MONASTERY This is one of the few preserved and accessible rock monasteries in Bulgaria, dating from the early Middle Ages and conforming to the hesychastic idea of silence, asceticism and moral perfection. Monastic cells and a small church have been dug into a sheer rock, 14 km north of the city of Varna and close to the Black Sea resort of Golden Sands. Painted in various colors, 13th-14th century frescoes are still discernible on its walls.
The Aladja Rock Monastery

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