Rila Monastery and Boyana Church Shuttle Tour
Description
Rila monastery shuttle will take you to Bulgaria's most important and visited historical site and even more - two UNESCO places, amongst with Boyana church. Enjoy the wonderful frescoes from 19th century, representing the achievement of the Bulgarian Revival painting school, feel the amazing spirit of the largest monastery in the country, surrounded by the indescribable beauty of Rila mountain. V travel team will represent to you all the secrets of this place. In the afternoon we will visit Boyana church, where murals from 13th century will show you the majesty of the Bulgarian medieval country.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Rila Monastery was founded in the 10th century by St John of Rila, a hermit canonized by the Orthodox Church. His ascetic dwelling and tomb became a holy site and were transformed into a monastic complex which played an important role in the spiritual and social life of medieval Bulgaria. Destroyed by fire at the beginning of the 19th century, the complex was rebuilt between 1834 and 1862. A characteristic example of the Bulgarian Renaissance (18th–19th centuries), the monument symbolizes the awareness of a Slavic cultural identity following centuries of occupation.
Located on the outskirts of Sofia, Boyana Church consists of three buildings. The eastern church was built in the 10th century, then enlarged at the beginning of the 13th century by Sebastocrator Kaloyan, who ordered a second two storey building to be erected next to it. The frescoes in this second church, painted in 1259, make it one of the most important collections of medieval paintings. The ensemble is completed by a third church, built at the beginning of the 19th century. This site is one of the most complete and perfectly preserved monuments of east European medieval art.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements
Reviews(69)
The two sites: Rila Monastery and Boyana Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are definitely worth a visit. They are two architectural masterpieces, steeped in history, spirituality and culture, that fascinated us at first glance. Our guide, Simeon, was professional, knowledgeable and helpful (and speaks excellent Italian!). The bus driver was prudent and reliable.
I had a great time. The tour guide was very kind and helpful. I recommend it 100%. I will definitely book another trip with them next time.
We visited the Rila and Boyana monastery with Simeon. Lovely place and explanations of Simeon or Simon. It is very cultured and has not stopped talking and explaining, plus it has put typical music on the bus.
Rila Monastery is amazing, is a MUST to pay a visit. The tour guide Lubo is a very good tour guide, provided very sufficient historical knowledge and background , and explained the instructions very detailed. Strongly recommend to pay a v8sit there.
Hristo was an amazing guide, so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the history of the monastery and church. We really enjoyed our trip and would definitely recommend it to everyone. Our only issue was finding the bus to begin with! We were in the right place but originally turned away as the provider was listed on our ticket as "V Travel". We went back and asked them to check for our name on the reservation and it was there but the guide wasn't aware that tickets like ours could be with his company. Very glad we went back to ask or we would have missed this amazing experience!
An unserious tour operator. We booked and paid for a tour to the Rila Monastery with an Italian guide. The night before it was cancelled.
It was raining hard, unfortunately, but we had a great time there. With the help of the explanation of the guide, we understood well the history and how precious the churches are.
Excellent tour Guide was great Small group as opposed to touristing with the masses Very comfortable Delivered on what was advertised and more
The guide Georgi was knowledgable and attentive and the overall experience was good, as the Rila monestary is very special, it's surely worth a visit. Yet the tour was too long - we had too much free time in the monestary and aferwards we stopped in a reataurant for additional hour or so, which extended our tour even more unnecessarily. We could have come back to Sofia two hours earlier.
Dear customer, we thank you very much for the positive and kind feedback. Being a group tour and trying to mainatain a standard high level of service, our tour guide respects the tour timetable very closely in order to satisfy as many customers as possible. Our tour has finished even about 25 minutes earlier and the group was dropped off at the meeting point at 16:35.
Positive experience. Must-see tours if you are in Sofia. Very nice guide, during the trip he also talked about the culture and history of Sofia in general entertaining us along the way. What a good audio guide also in Italian, useful to learn more about the Monastery of Rila
