After that aromatic visit to Dupnitsa, our tour bus continued on to the Rila Mountains. Rila Monastery is situated up in the Rila Mountains some 75 miles (121 km) from Sofia. Its been an important Bulgarian cultural and religious site for centuries, with the oldest part dating to the 15th century. Rila Monastery was founded earlier, however, in the 10th century by St John of Rila 946). He is regarded as the patron saint of Bulgaria. The monastery was largely rebuilt in the 19th century as a symbol of Bulgarian national identify during the era of Ottoman rule. It was impressive that the monastery was respected by the regime of Bulgaria. The church itself in 1837. The exteriors of the church and buildings around the courtyard are in a characteristic black and white stripe scheme. The interior frescoes were in very good condition, appearing that they had been carefully conserved. A curious incident here was that in the mob at the gift shop a monk seemed to take exception to me. Id seen him before, crossing the courtyard and wearing a dour expression. Perhaps the felt there were too many visitors. I was quite taller than
