RILA MONASTERY AND BOYANA CHURCH

– Discover two great UNESCO places with one day trip
– Explore the Rila Monastery, the biggest monastery in Bulgaria
– Visit the Boyana Church and see its unique medieval frescoes
– Enjoy a day in the mountains
With this day trip, you will be able to visit Rila Monastery and Boyana church- UNESCO World Heritage sites. Learn their old history and legends as your guide’s commentary takes you back into time.
This shuttle-group tour departs at 9.00 in the morning from Alexander Nevsky square, Behind the cathedral. First, you will travel about 2 hours on a scenic road to the Rila Monastery- the biggest and most important monastery in Bulgaria. It was established back in the 10th century. The current buildings are from the mid. 19th century, with a defensive tower that survived from the 14th century.
In the monastery complex, you will admire the impressive architecture and frescoes, while the guide tells you its story and legends. The guided tour is about 40 minutes. After this, you will have about 2.5 hours of free time during which you can visit the history museum, take photos, check the shops and have a lunch break. At about 14:15 you will depart back to Sofia and you will visit another great UNESCO historical place – Boyana church, dating back to the 11th century, which has unique and very well-preserved frescoes from the period of the 13th century. You will be able to learn about their meaning and significance and see how expressive they are. The stay at the Boyana church usually takes about 30 minutes.
The expected return to the center of Sofia is between 5 pm and 5:30 pm.
Audio guides in the following languages are available for the monastery and the church: Spanish, Italian, German, French and Russian. They cost 5 euro more per device and should be ordered before the tour!