Orlitsa Convent Complex and Pirin National Park · 612 km from Rila
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
612 km
Riding-time estimate
13 h 07
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
612 km from Rila to Rila, about 13 h 07 of riding. On the way it passes Pirin National Park, \Pchelino Convent\ Complex, back through \Pchelino Convent\ Complex and back through Pirin National Park. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Orlitsa Convent Complex
The town of Rila is a small place at the foot of the mountains that bear its name, and the Orlitsa convent stands just a short way outside it, in the valley of the Rila river. It is a quiet complex, a working community of nuns, with a small church and gardens, and it gets a tiny fraction of the visitors that go to the great monastery further up the valley. For that reason alone it is worth a stop, since you can sit in the courtyard and hear the river instead of a crowd.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Orlitsa Convent Complex is where the day begins. Next is Pirin National Park.
2. Pirin National Park
Vihren, at 2,914 metres the highest peak of the Pirin mountains and the third highest in the Balkans, rises above the town of Bansko in south-western Bulgaria in a sharp, pale pyramid of marble. The Pirin National Park protects the high country around it, a landscape of granite and marble peaks, glacial cirques, more than a hundred lakes and ancient forests of pine and fir, and it was listed by UNESCO in 1983.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pirin National Park comes up 60 km in. Next is \Pchelino Convent\ Complex.
3. \Pchelino Convent\ Complex
The mountains of southwestern Bulgaria are among the wildest in the Balkans, and the area between Rila and Pirin holds a string of small monasteries tucked into forested valleys. During centuries of Ottoman rule these monasteries kept the Bulgarian language, the Orthodox faith and the art of icon painting alive, and the great Rila Monastery, founded in the tenth century around the hermitage of Saint Ivan of Rila, became the national symbol.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Orlitsa Convent Complex closes the day.
Leg by leg
Orlitsa Convent Complex to Pirin National Park
Orlitsa Convent Complex → Pirin National Park is 65 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Pirin National Park to \Pchelino Convent\ Complex
Pirin National Park → \Pchelino Convent\ Complex is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
\Pchelino Convent\ Complex to Pirin National Park
\Pchelino Convent\ Complex → Pirin National Park is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pirin National Park to back through \Pchelino Convent\ Complex
Pirin National Park → back through \Pchelino Convent\ Complex is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through \Pchelino Convent\ Complex to back through Pirin National Park
back through \Pchelino Convent\ Complex → back through Pirin National Park is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pirin National Park to Orlitsa Convent Complex
back through Pirin National Park → Orlitsa Convent Complex is 65 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.