Rila Monastery sits at around eleven hundred metres in a forested valley of the Rila mountains, the highest range in the Balkans, where Musala at nearly three thousand metres stands above all the peaks of south-eastern Europe. The monastery lies at the end of a long road that follows the Rilska river upstream through beech and spruce, and the approach feels like going back in time. Mist hangs in the trees, the air smells of resin, and the river noise grows louder as you climb.
The founder was Ivan of Rila, a hermit who lived in a cave in the tenth century and was revered for his holiness, and after his death a community grew around his memory. Through centuries of Ottoman rule, the monastery kept alive Bulgarian language, writing and faith, and it is often described as the spiritual heart of the nation. A fire in 1833 destroyed most of the old buildings, and the present monastery was built in the following decades, with the great church and its richly painted porches covered in frescoes of saints, demons and angels by the painter Zahari Zograf and others. Only a stout stone tower from the fourteenth century survived the fire, and it still stands in the courtyard.
The courtyard is the thing. Four wings of arcaded galleries in black and white striped stone enclose the central church, with wooden balconies on several levels and a hundred or so small monastic cells. UNESCO recognised it in 1983. Visit early or late if you can, because the coach parties arrive in mid-morning and the place changes with the crowds. Sample the mekitsi, warm fried dough sold at stalls near the entrance, preferably with jam or white cheese.
The ride to and from the monastery is a pleasure, with a smooth, curving road through the forest, tight enough to require attention without being difficult. Fog and wet leaves can make it slippery, and in winter snow closes the upper sections occasionally. Rila town, about seventeen kilometres away, offers basic supplies, and Dupnitsa, twenty-four kilometres off, has a larger choice of fuel stations and shops. The monastery has simple rooms for visitors if you want to stay the night, which is the best way to hear the bells in the morning mist.