Rila Monastery is about a two hour drive from Sofia. It's a Bulgarian monastery tucked away in the mountains.  The monastery is a historical, cultural and a religious site and on top of that, it's just plain old beautiful.
<a title="Entry way and horns at Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022731655/"><img alt="Entry way and horns at Rila" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3747/10022731655_72b629befb_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
I've been at least a half-dozen times and still I took my dAd and sister to visit.
<a title="Dad and Me at Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022823993/"><img alt="Dad and Me at Rila" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/10022823993_ef7c59be96_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
<a title="Dad, Charlotte and Carolyn at Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022710014/"><img alt="Dad, Charlotte and Carolyn at Rila" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2843/10022710014_a91982b108_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
<a title="Dad and Charlotte at Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022768286/"><img alt="Dad and Charlotte at Rila" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3768/10022768286_df01e472b6_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
Bulgarians love Rila. This is why I've been so many times and for good reason, it's a site that Bulgarians are proud of and want to show off.

Thus I figured that I should show it off too.

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<a title="Striped Detail at Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022760604/"><img alt="Striped Detail at Rila" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3714/10022760604_112ea5f7eb_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
The monastery doesn't look like that much from the outside but once you are inside the monastery walls, the real beauty emerges. The monastery walls are ringed in balconies and at the center of the monastery is the church and tower. Everything is painted. The black and white stripes are the most dramatic but the red and white are also pretty.
<a title="Rila Monastery by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022779915/"><img alt="Rila Monastery" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3817/10022779915_6f13811d1b_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
<a title="Details stripes at Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022771536/"><img alt="Details stripes at Rila" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5484/10022771536_4679f294dd_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
<a title="Detail Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022789345/"><img alt="Detail Rila" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3720/10022789345_abd5dfd0c1_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
I think that the part I like best are the very colorful paintings on the exterior of the church. It vaguely reminds me of the painted monasteries in Northern Romania. The big difference seems to be the vibrant colors at Rila.
<a title="Dad and Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022806516/"><img alt="Dad and Rila" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5495/10022806516_71b65eb270_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
<a title="Rila and the famous stripes by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022725064/"><img alt="Rila and the famous stripes" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3665/10022725064_f66c961642_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
Rila Monastery is one of a handful of  UNESCO world heritage sites in Bulgaria giving it a protected status. The basic are these: the church is Bulgarian Orthodox and the monastery was established in the 10th century by Ivan of Rila and then rebuilt in the 14th century.  During the Bulgarian National Revival the monastery played a large role in protecting and promoting Bulgarian traditions and the Bulgarian language. This, of course, is a huge reason that Rila is still so popular today.
<a title="Painting of God at Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022808566/"><img alt="Painting of God at Rila" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3715/10022808566_247acd90da_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
<a title="Classic Rila by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022726984/"><img alt="Classic Rila" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7318/10022726984_06a42e6729_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
In addition to the monastery, there is also a lovely little museum. The most impressive part of the small museum's collection is a hand carved cross. One of the monks spent 10+ years carving the large three dimensional cross and he went blind doing so. The carving is amazing. The cross has been carve with scenes from the bible (100+) and has over 600 individual figures carved on it. The museum doesn't allow photography so I don't have a photo. <em>Sorry</em>.
<a title="Rila Monastery by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022702684/"><img alt="Rila Monastery" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5345/10022702684_104abe1800_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
<a title="Rila and the mountains by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10022752305/"><img alt="Rila and the mountains" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3771/10022752305_6f3db5b601_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" /></a>
For me the best part of the monastery is the setting. The monastery is set in the mountains. You have to drive up a winding road and once inside the monastery you can see the mountain peaks and clouds over the top edge of the monastery wall.