Rila Monastery

Rila Monastery sits at 1,147 m, between the Rilska and Drushlyavitsa rivers, about 120 km south of Sofia. It grew from the cell and tomb of St Ivan of Rila, who founded it in the first half of the 10th century. He died in 946. His relics were later taken to Sofia and brought back to the monastery in 1469.

The oldest building is Hrelyo's Tower, a stone tower built in 1335 by a local lord, with a small chapel on its top floor. A fire in the early 19th century destroyed most of the rest, and the monastery was rebuilt in the decades that followed. Under Ottoman rule it kept Bulgarian books and learning alive. UNESCO added it to the World Heritage list in 1983.

The mountains around it form Rila National Park, the largest of Bulgaria's three national parks. It holds more than 100 peaks over 2,000 m and more than 120 glacial lakes, and three of the Balkans' big rivers, the Iskar, the Maritsa and the Mesta, start here.

At the monastery you walk through a gate in high stone walls into a wide courtyard. Living quarters with arched galleries run round all four sides, and the main church, the Nativity of the Virgin, stands in the middle. It has five domes. Its outer porch and walls are covered in bright frescoes. Painters from Samokov and Bansko did the work, and Zahari Zograf is the only one who signed it. Inside is a large carved wooden iconostasis.

The church museum holds Rafail's Cross, a wooden cross carved by a monk at the start of the 19th century, with 36 Bible scenes and more than 600 tiny figures. The museums open at 8:30 and close at 16:30, or later from June to September.

This is a working monastery with monks, so the rules are real. Shorts, short skirts and sleeveless tops are not allowed in the complex. You cannot take photos or film inside the church or the museum. Men take off their hats in church, and backpacks, pushchairs and big bags stay outside it.

Up in the mountains, the Seven Rila Lakes sit one above the other in a bowl of peaks, joined by streams and small waterfalls. Each is named for its shape: the Tear, the Eye, the Kidney, the Twin, the Trefoil, the Fish Lake and the Lower Lake. The Eye is the deepest, at 37.5 m. Paths are rocky and above 2,000 m, so bring proper shoes and warm layers, even in July. Musala is a longer day on foot, usually started from the Borovets side. Horse rides follow forest tracks and high meadows at a slower pace.

The monastery is open all year. Arriving in the morning gives you the courtyard at its quietest, before most groups from Sofia get there.

The high mountains are a summer place. The lakes and the trails to Musala are usually walked from late spring to early autumn, and in winter they are for people with mountain training and the right gear. The Seven Lakes chairlift opens later on Mondays and stops for maintenance on the last Monday of each month, and longer in the off-season. Weather above 2,000 m changes fast, so start early and turn back if cloud or storms come in. Every 19 August the White Brotherhood gathers by the lakes for its New Year dance.