Rila Monastery and the Seven Lakes

We are currently parked up at Alexandrovo campsite (N41.98714 E25.72641), a lovely peaceful campsite in the south-central part of Bulgaria run by an English/Japanese couple.

We haven’t been on a campsite since 13 July, in Sicilly and it hasn’t bothered us at all, as we have been loving ‘wild camping’ in Greece and now in Bulgaria!  We are using the campsite just as a stop over from Rila to the Black Sea, where we are headed tomorrow. Plus, an opportunity to give Sonny, the motorhome a good clean inside and out!

We left the Pirin Mountains 3 days ago and headed for the Rila Monastery.  The weather changed quite a bit, we woke up to 12°C - Brrrrr and the clouds had covered the mountain tops.

We arrived at Rila Monastery at about 2pm and parked up at a large car park, just below it (N42.13948 E23.34823), at 1,818 metres.  There were tour buses and cars everywhere and you couldn’t see the Monastery for people.  We asked the car park attendant if we could stop overnight and in a mix of Spanish and English said ‘Si Si, it’s okay’.  Within ½ an hour of us parking up the heavens opened.  It continued to rain, with thunder and lightning for about 2 hours.  Everyone came rushing back to their cars and by 5pm the car park was empty. 

Sonny's spot for the night, nestled between the mountains in an empty car park!

When the rain stopped we decided to walk out, and take a look up at the monastery.  Well, what a lovely surprise all the tourists had virtually gone and we almost had the place to ourselves – definitely the best time to visit!

Rila Monastery

The Rila Monastery is one of the most important religious and cultural sites in Bulgaria and judging by the amount of people here when we arrived, one of the most popular places to visit in the country! The monastery was founded in the 10^th Century by St John of Rila, a hermit who devoted his life to a spiritual calling and gaining a strong following among the people.  It was significantly rebuilt in the 14^th century, but was destroyed by a fire at the beginning of the 19^th Century and was rebuilt between 1834 and 1862.  It became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.

The Rila Monastery encircles the large Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, that contains the relics of Saint Ivan.

Entrance to the beautiful and ornate Cathedral - no photos are allowed to be taken in here

One of the Orthodox Priests chilling!

The Monks quarters.  People were booking in for overnight stays - they must let it out a bit like a hotel to make money!

Alongside the cathedral is the oldest part – the 14^th century Hrelyu Tower, named after the nobleman who built it.  It stands 23m high, contains a number of impressive frescoes and an important chapel on the top level.

Leaving Rila we stopped at this antiques/scrap yard – wow, there are some really old and fascinating items in here that would probably fetch a fortune in the UK.

Mel surveying all the old bikes

We stopped at Sapareva Bania for lunch, where we discovered this hotspring 'geyser-fountain' with 103° C - the only one in continental Europe.  We didn't hover too long though, as the smell of sulphur was strong!

Apparently, in these parts you take your cows for a walk rather than a dog!

Our spot for two nights at the bottom of the Seven Rila Lakes, a large car park for 10LV a night. (N42.24274 E23.32441).  Parked nearby to us were 2 German motorhomes and a Spanish Campervan.

The next day we took the chair lift to the top (18LV/€9 return per person), which is very slow and takes about 15 minutes. 4x4s take campers up to the top, where you can pitch your tent on selected areas. You can hike to the top but it’s a long uphill slog and takes about 2 hours.

The lakes are situated in the highest mountains on the Balkans, between 2,100 and 2,500 metres.  Getting off the chair lift you start your hike, to the lakes.

Looking back to the chair lift

All the lakes are given names because of their shapes.

The Lower Lake – the lowest, The Trefoil (three-leafed) Lake, The Fish Lake – the shallowest one, The Twin – the largest, The Kidney, The Eye and The Tear

Not long into the hike, we found all the campers, near The Trefoil!

 Arriving at The Kidney Lake, we came across a group of people dressed in white, arranged in a circle doing small dance moves to live music.  We had heard of Paneurhythmy (sacred Bulgarian Dance of Life) performed by the ‘White Brotherhood’ at the lake but it is usually performed on 19 August.  It was so peaceful and relaxing to watch.

The Kidney Lake, with the circle of dancers in the distance

The Eye - the deepest lake

The Tear - the highest lake

At the top, where you get a view over all 7 of the lakes.

The clouds started to come in very quickly up here - time to put rain coats on!

So, we headed back down to the Kidney Lake for sun and a picnic.

Once back down, we stopped at one of the little stalls outside the chair lift and treated ourselves to some homemade white cherry honey - very sweet but delicious!

The roads in Bulgaria up to now had been really good, and obvious signs that there had been input from EU money.  However, leaving The Seven Lakes it was noticeable how quickly the good roads turned to bad, especially once we got near to Borevets, which is a big ski resort.  The place and roads were very run down, unlike Bansko (in the Pirin Mountains), the other big ski resort we had come from a couple of days ago.  So we headed for the motorway (A1), which unfortunately wasn't much better but quicker!
Tomorrow we travel to Sunny Beach on the Black Sea to meet up with our daughter who is holidaying there at our apartment - we can't wait!

Sally x