Destination 》Europe 》Central and Eastern Europe 》Bulgaria 》Rila Monastery & Seven Lakes
Year Visited: 2018 – August
During my backpacking trip through Central and Eastern European countries, my son and I made day trips from Sofia to Seven Lakes & Rila Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Rila Monastery (The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila), the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria, is situated in the southwestern Rila Mountains. Founded in the 10th century, the Rila Monastery is regarded as one of Bulgaria’s most important cultural, historical and architectural monuments. The monastery complex, regarded as one of the foremost masterpieces of Bulgarian National Revival architecture became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. On 25 May 2002, Pope John Paul II visited Rila monastery during his pilgrimage to Bulgaria. Pictures below are from Rila monastery.
Rila is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula. The Seven Rila Lakes are a group of glacial lakes, situated between 2,100 and 2,500 metres elevation above sea level. Each lake carries a name associated with its most characteristic feature. The lakes are located one above the other and are connected by small streams, The lakes usually freeze during October, and do not melt before June. Round-trip hike to visit all seven lakes took us little over 7 hours.
As these were day trips, we came back to our cool hostel in Sofia every night. After couple of days in the capital city, we went to Veliko Turnovo by a marshrutka (shared taxi).
Window on the World 