I will lift mine eyes unto the hills

Ever since coming to Bulgaria, we´ve been looking forward to a trip to Rila monastery, a UNESCO world heritage site, which is supposed to be one of the highlights of the country. So Saturday was the day to catch a slightly obscure bus and head out into the Rila mountains outside Sofia. The bus journey was a 3 hour trek through very poverty stricken rural countryside: hundreds of crumbling and unoccupied buildings, rubbish everywhere, donkeys pulling carts along the motorway, women washing clothes at a single outdoor tap. Poverty is obviously not confined to the city slums but is the way of life for the majority of the country. Apparently the average Bulgarian survives on 100 pounds per week total living expenses.

The last leg of the journey, from Rila village to the monastery in the mountains was just spectacular: stunning views of snow capped craggy mountains and rushing streams, with some ominous rock falls at the side of the road. The monastery really is incredibly remote, which I suppose makes sense as it was founded by a hermit who wanted complete solitude. It certainly makes you realise why the Ottomans didn´t bother trying to conquer it. The monastery is built like a fortress with high walls, cloisters round the inside and the church in the middle. There´s been a monastery on the site since 900, though the present building dates from the 19th century as there was a fire which destroyed all the original wooden structures. In a wonderful burst of confidence however, they just rebuilt it exactly the same. And actually the relative newness of it means that you can see all the colourful murals in the church; in all of the other older Orthodox churches we´ve been in, the ceiling and walls are too blackened with soot from the beeswax candles and incense to be able to see the murals properly. It made me realise what a strong emphasis there is on story in the Orthodox tradition: every inch of the church is covered with depictions of moments in the Old and New Testaments and if you tried to identify every one, you´d be there all day. Favourite saints seem to include Sts Cyril and Methodius, obviously, as they´re the creators of standard Cyrillic, St Demetrius (?) and St George who appears everywhere enthusiastically killing his dragon.

There was quite a lot of snow on the ground while we were there, and this enhanced the secluded, peaceful atmosphere, which survives the smattering of tourists and the inevitable tacky souvenir stalls. This is really the spiritual heart of Bulgaria, and a great symbol of national and religious pride, as it was a working monastery all the way through the occupation by the Ottomans, and indeed still is. We saw quite a few monks around in their black robes, hats and long beards, and there are large parts of the monastery which are closed to visitors. Unfortunately, we were rather pushed for time, as there is only one bus back to Sofia in the afternoon, but we had a quick look around the museum and saw correspondence and gifts from all round Eastern Europe to the monastery, which was obviously a real hub of intellectual and cultural life all through the late middle ages and the Renaissance. Although they didn´t get printing until incredibly late: the first Bulgarian printing press was in Rila monastery in the 1890s! One exhibit in the museum was particularly interesting: a beautiful wooden cross carved with over 600 tiny exquisite figures portraying biblical stories, which took one monk 12 years to complete. He then lost his eyesight, presumably because of so long staring down a magnifying glass, so never got to appreciate the final product, which is a very sad story.

I think we were all sorry to leave the monastery so soon, as it is a deeply moving and very beautiful place. Bulgarians don´t have very much to boast about, and don´t boast at all about what they do have, but Rila seems to be the place that embodies something of their national pride, religious devotion and spirit of quiet fortitude.