Rila Monastery
| Rila Monastery Рилски манастир |
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UNESCO world heritage 
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| National territory: |
 Bulgaria
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| Type: | Culture |
| Criteria : | iv |
| Surface: | 10.7 ha |
| Buffer zone: | 1,289.7 ha |
| Reference No .: | 216 |
| UNESCO region : | Europe and North America |
| History of enrollment | |
| Enrollment: | 1983 (session 7) |
The Monastery of St. Ivan of Rila ( Bulgarian Манастир "Свети Иван Рилски" ), Rila Monastery for short (Рилски манастир) is an Orthodox monastery in the Rila Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria . It was founded in the 10th century and is the most important and largest monastery in Bulgaria. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage . The facility is one of the 100 national tourist objects .
From the 18th century until the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman-Turkish rule (1878), the Rila Monastery was the only functioning nationwide Bulgarian institution and, together with the monasteries of Zografou and Chilandar on Mount Athos, was one of the centers of the Enlightenment in Bulgaria .
The narthices of other Bulgarian monasteries were painted based on the model of the Rila monastery. The Samokow School of Painting was the leader in this field, with Sachari Sograf (1810–1852) and Dimitar Sograf (1796–1860) its most famous representatives.
location
The monastery of St. Ivan Rilski is located about 120 km south of Sofia in the western part of the Rila Mountains and is located in a mountain valley at about 1147 m above sea level on the west bank of the confluence of the small Drusljawiza stream in the larger Rila , so that the monastery is located between the two rivers. The north side of the valley rises with steep slopes to the 2729 m high mountain peak Maljowiza . On its north side, 6–8 hours away depending on the route, is the Maljowiza mountain hut. Other hiking trails lead from the monastery to the “Seven Lakes” and the “Fischsee” mountain hut (approx. Three hours).
Five are in close proximity to the Rila Monastery owned small monasteries and Metohija : Metochion Orliza, Metochion Pcelino, the grave of Saint Ivan of Rila, the Hermitage "St.. Lukas ”from the 14th century and the cemetery church. They were all rebuilt between the 17th and 19th centuries.
The monastery is favored by its geographical location. The Sofia-Thessaloniki road runs about 20 km to the west; and about 30 km northeast of the road from Istanbul via Plovdiv to Sofia (→ Via Diagonalis ). Both roads already existed in antiquity and were also used during the Turkish occupation. In the 18th and 19th centuries they had a special meaning for travelers in the Ottoman Empire: they offered travelers from Budapest and Vienna , as well as pilgrims from the Moldavian monasteries and from Russia the shortest route to the south - Thessaloniki and Athos. In the interests of merchants from western Bulgaria, the road was laid through the towns of Dupnitsa and Samokov at the end of the 18th century . So it passed closer to the monastery, and after this relocation a road was built between the Rila monastery and the trade route that can still be seen today.
history
Beginnings in the Middle Ages
The monastery was founded in the first third of the 10th century at the latest. According to the rituals and local traditions, Saint Ivan Rilski and his first successors lived in rock or tree trunk caves in various places on the upper reaches of the Struma River in the Vitosha Mountains and in the Rila Mountains, where the "old hermitage" is today. After he became known for “miraculous healings and the expulsion of evil spirits”, he found many disciples with whom he founded the first Rila monastery between 927 and 941.
In 946 Iwan Rilski died and was probably buried at the "old hermitage". Finds show that the first stone buildings and the first church were built here. Due to the limited resources and the isolated location, the church could only have been a single-nave building, similar to the church of the Batschkowo monastery from the 11th century. The ossuary and the chapel of St. Luke still date from this founding period .
Already in the Middle Ages the monastery was given rich gifts by pilgrims and developed into a center of spiritual and cultural life in Bulgaria. In 1334/35 the Protosebastos Stefan Chrelja Dragowol (called Chreljo) had a wall, a defense tower (Bulgarian kula ) and a small church built in the monastery courtyard. Nothing is known about the appearance of this small church. It was located directly on the Chreljo tower and was called "Mother of God Ossenowiza".
The monastery received extensive privileges from the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Shishman in 1378. Numerous writers, artists and builders left behind manuscripts, ecclesiastical and secular buildings, wall paintings, wood carvings, liturgical vessels and icons .
Certainly the monastery was not destroyed during the conquest of Bulgaria by the Ottoman Turks 1393-1396, which could be related to the fact that the region belonged to the Despotate Welbashd. The region probably became Ottoman when the ruler of the despotate, Konstantin Dragaš , became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire after the Battle of Mariza in 1371 . According to some sources, the despotate continued to exist within the Ottoman Empire. The despot of Welbaschd Jusuf is known, who rebelled after the battle of Ankara around 1402 when the Ottomans suffered a heavy defeat and then restored the despotate within its old borders. Around 1427/28, at the latest in autumn 1431, the principality became Ottoman again. The Ottomans destroyed its fortresses and built the sanjak Kyustendil within its borders , one of the largest in the Ottoman province of Rumelia .
All that is documented is that with the conquest of Bulgaria by the Ottomans, the monastery lost its influence in the 14th and 15th centuries and that it was looted and largely destroyed in the second and third quarters of the 15th century. Only the church and the Chreljo tower remained. The monastery was rebuilt towards the end of the 15th century. At that time, the relics of Ivan Rilski from the then Bulgarian capital Veliko Tarnowo were ceremoniously brought back to the Rila Monastery. The procession is detailed in the work Rila-Legend (Bulgarian Легендата за Рила и Пирин) by Vladislav Grammar . Even under Ottoman rule, the monastery enjoyed privileges similar to those in pre-Ottoman times. However, the Sultan's letter of protection in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Bulgarian: Цариград / Tsarigrad) did not completely prevent attacks. In 1466 a partnership agreement was signed between the monastery of Rila and the monastery of Saint Panteleimon in the monastic republic of Athos .
Relationships with the Orthodox Church in Russia were also established. In 1558, many monks from the monastery emigrated to Russia . In the 16th and 17th centuries, relations with the Orthodox churches in the neighboring countries of Serbia , Romania and Greece expanded .
The monastery church was given a new look at the end of the 18th century: in 1777 the east room was converted into an altar niche and the middle room into a naos , and in 1784 a narthex and two side chapels were added. These were decorated with wall icons until 1794. From the description of the monastery by Neofit Rilski , however, no conclusions can be drawn about the pictorial program of the old church. Because of the enlargement of the monastery church, in 1792 the Wali (governor) of Sofia ordered the guerrillas from Dupnitsa to constantly monitor the monks of the Rila monastery.
Construction of the first residential buildings began in 1816.
New building from 1834
In the winter of 1832/33 a major fire destroyed the monastery complex with the exception of the Chreljo tower and the chapel. In the era of the Bulgarian Enlightenment , reconstruction became a project of national importance. The buildings were restored, expanded and renewed with donations from the population. Shortly after the fire, the wealthy merchants Stojan and Walko Tscholakowi from Kopriwtschiza first agreed to help finance the start of the new building. In March 1833 the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople, Constantine I, started a collection campaign for the monastery. A building application was submitted in July of the same year. The local Turkish authorities recommended and the Sultan approved by a Ferman (decree) only repairs and additions in the old dimensions.
Before the reconstruction in 1834, the monks decided to completely demolish the chapel and replace it with a larger one. Under the direction of Igumen (Abbot) Jossif, the monastery complex was finally built in its current form. The new monastery church Sweta Bogorodiza consists of two parts, the three-aisled naos and the narthex, which were built at the same time. Two periods can be distinguished for the new building: The first from 1834 to 1837, when the church was built; and the second, from 1838 to 1860, when the interior was completed. The reconstruction was entrusted to the builder Alexi, who had already directed the renovations in the 1770s. The architect of the new monastery church Sweta Bogorodiza was Pavel Ivanovich from Krimin , a well-known builder at the time.
According to the monastery code, the construction of the church began on May 1, 1834, was completed on October 26, 1837 and consecrated in July 1838. The narthex was completed in 1835. Work on the interior of the church began in 1838 and ended in 1860. During this period the floor was covered with marble, the frescoes were painted and work on the roofing of the dome was started, originally with lead due to limited funds . This lead covering was replaced by copper from 1870 onwards.
The new building in the era of the Bulgarian Enlightenment in the late 18th and especially in the 19th century gave the Rila monastery new impulses. It became the destination of thousands of pilgrims , donors, builders and artists. In the struggle for an independent Bulgaria, the monastery served as a refuge for many freedom fighters, including Wasil Levski , Ilyo Wojwoda , Goze Deltschew , Jane Sandanski and others.
Administrative hierarchy
Originally the monastery was subordinate to the bishops of the area, probably first to the bishop of Serdika . Jordan Ivanov is of the opinion that the monastery was independent stauropegial at the time of the first and second Bulgarian empires (679-1018, or 1184-1393) and thus belonged to the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian patriarchs. During the Byzantine rule (1018–1184) the monastery was subordinate to the Archdiocese of Ohrid .
It is believed that the monastery was not placed under the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć immediately after the conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire and the associated dissolution of the Bulgarian Church in 1393 . For example, the above-mentioned contract of the abbot of the Rila monastery, David, with the Russian Panteleimon monastery on Athos is known from 1466 . In the treaty, the two monasteries established their unity, but separate administrations.
After the abolition of the Patriarchate of Peć in 1766, the monastery was stauropegially (directly) subordinated to the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople . Since the Bulgarian Orthodox Church became independent in 1870, the monastery was initially subordinated to the Bulgarian exarchs and later to the stauropegial patriarchs (today Maxim ).
Frescoes
The monastery church in Rila today has the extensive picturesque furnishings of the 19th century. The wall painting in the narthex of the Rila Monastery is not the oldest from the time of the Bulgarian Revival. The composition scheme, however, seems to be a symbiosis of almost all iconographic possibilities and is highly valued as a reflection of the Bulgarian art of the time.
The monastery buildings and valuable inventory
The main church is a structure with five semicircular domes over the apses and two side chapels. The interior is decorated with frescoes of religious scenes and a monumental iconostasis . The numerous icons were made by the most important Bulgarian painters of the time, including Sakari Sograf .
Of the former Chreljo Church , only the defense tower of the same name from 1334 remains, which is an example of the architecture of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Tarnowo School . A small bell tower was added to this tower in 1844.
The buildings on the monastery area house around three hundred decorated rooms. They offer a tremendous variety of architectural details, but above all of wall and ceiling paintings that are based on the folk. The pictures are depictions of everyday scenes, from the Gospel or portraits of donors. A museum was set up in the east wing of the monastery in the 20th century. The door of the Chreljo Tower is kept here, the collections also include old weapons from the monastery guards, documents from Bulgarian tsars, jewelry, old coins and church objects. One room contains icons that were given to the monastery from around the world. The museum treasures also include significant wood carvings such as Raffail's cross . 104 religious scenes and 650 small figures are depicted on the 81 cm × 43 cm wooden cross. According to a Bulgarian legend, the carving monk went blind over the years while doing this work. Since 2011, a number of vaults on the ground floor have been made accessible in the north wing, which housed the former monastery kitchen and oven and were equipped with an exhibition of monastic and rural utensils, including a hand-operated fire engine.
literature
- Emil Iwanow : The picture program of the narthex in the Rila monastery in Bulgaria with special consideration of the water consecration cycles. Dissertation. Erlangen 2002.
- Emil Ivanov: Rila Monastery, Article: RGG 4 , Volume 7, 2007, Col. 520.
- Margarita Koeva: Rilskijat manastir / Рилският манастир. Sofia, Borina Publishing House, 1995
- Friedbert Ficker : The Rila Monastery: national religious and cultural sanctuary in Bulgaria , Munich, 1993
- The treasures of the Rila Monastery. Committee for Culture, National Museum "Rila Monastery" (ed.), Undated
- Neofit Rilski: Описание болгарскаго священнаго монастира Рилскаго (to German about description of the holy Bulgarian Rila monastery, 1879)
Web links
- Official website
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Comprehensive site about Monasteries in Bulgaria (English)
- Treasures of the World - Page about the Rila Monastery
- 3D panorama of the Rila monastery
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Flyer The Rila Monastery. ed. by Balkantourist , 1968
- ↑ a b Details about the Rila Monastery on 'Zone Bulgaria'; Retrieved February 11, 2010
- ↑ Jordan Ivanov: Свети Иван Рилски, Sofia, 1917, p. 74
Heritage: Boyana Church (1979) | Rock relief of the rider of Madara (1979) | Thracian tomb at Kazanlak (1979) | Ivanovo Rock Churches (1979) | Rila Monastery (1983) | Old town of Nessebar (1983) | Thracian tomb of Sveshtari (1983)
Natural heritage: Srebarna Biosphere Reserve (1983) | Pirin National Park (1983) | Old beech forests and primeval beech forests of the Carpathian Mountains and other regions of Europe (2017)
Coordinates: 42 ° 8 ′ 0 ″ N , 23 ° 20 ′ 25 ″ E