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PAGE THREE
To
the east of the monastery is the old Hermitage of the Assumption of St John of
Rila. In 1811 Toma Vishanov, a painter from Bansko, decorated it with wall
paintings depicting scenes from the saint's life.
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Three
kilometers east of the Rila Monastery is the St Luke's Hermitage. Round a big
courtyard is the school of Neophit of Rila (1843), the Church of St Luke
(1798-1799), built on donations from Ivan Kalpakchi - a craftsman from Stara
Zagora who later became Monk Ignatius. The walls and vaults of the church are
decorated with scenes from the Church Feasts and Passions, the Zodiac, Christ
the Almighty, the portrait of Monk Ignatius and the Last Judgement monumental
composition, displaying 35 scenes and many separate human figures. The second
church - the Shroud of the Virgin (1805), was built by master-builder Mihail
from the town of Rila. It is a one-nave stone structure with an apse. The walls
and the vault were adorned with murals in 1811 by Toma Vishanov. Prominent among
these are the portrait of Deputy-Abbot Theodosius - a church-donor, the Trials
of the Soul composition telling about man's sins and virtues through the
expressiveness of pictorial art, and the Virgin's Seven Virtues. |
painted the building in 1834-1835 with the help of Monk
Sebastian and his disciple Raphael from the Rila Monastery. They were portrayed
on the western wall of the naos. The Virgin - Queen of Heaven with the Newborn
Christ Enthroned and the Last Judgement are truly remarkable compositions. Monk
Zahari painted the icons in 1789.
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The
Rila Monastery treasures some of the most impressive icon paintings created in
the 14th-19th centuries as a special favor for the cloister. The portrait of the
monastery's patron - St John of Rila, was most frequently painted. Among a
diversity of depicted subjects distinguished for their artistry of the highest
order are the icons of St Arsenius (14th-15th centuries), the Assumption, the
Candlemas, St George Enthroned (15th-16th centuries), John the Precursor,
Archangel Michael, Christ Enthroned (17th century), St John of Rila with Lives
(17th-18th centuries), St John of Rila and John the Precursor (1796), St John of
Rila and His Nephew Luke, the icon paintings at the Pchelino Chapels (1791), the
Holy Archangels (1786), and the Orlitsa Convent. A great source of interest are
the six icons painted by Monk Zahari in 1789, richly plated with gold: Christ
the Almighty, the Holy Virgin, St George, St John the Baptist, the Assumption
and St John of Rila. |
During
the Ottoman rule (15th-19th centuries), the Rila Monastery turned into a center
of spiritual, cultural and literary self-preservation and revival of the
Bulgarian spirit and nationality. It was a place where old relics were kept and
new works of art were created, and copies of mediaeval Bulgarian authors,
representing mainly the Turnovo and Mount Athos schools, were made. These were
the Roman Panegyric (1479) of Vladislav the Grammarian, the eulogies of Mardari
of Rila (1483 and 1509), the Hexameron of John the Chrysostom (1480), canons and
lives of St John of Rila (end of the 15th century). In the 15th century D.
Kantakuzine and the Rila Narrative by Vladislav the Grammarian wrote a laudatory
life of St John of Rila. During the 16th-17th centuries new works continued to
be created at the Rila Monastery and new copies to be made, while during the
National Revival Period (18th-19th centuries) schools and centers of learning
were established where Joseph Bradati was a teacher, and Neophit of Rila and
Theophan of Rila were pupils. In 1839-1848 Hieromonk Neophit of Rila became
twice the monastery's abbot. He also taught at the monastery school, which
trained teachers and clergymen to serve the needs of the whole country. Neophit
of Rila was the first ever teacher at the Gabrovo High School, founder of the
Bulgarian secular education.
After the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish invaders, the Rila Monastery acquired new rights and made headway in its cultural and economic development. In 1976 it was declared a national historical reserve, and in 1983 it was included into the UNESCO list of the world cultural and historical heritage.
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For more details please contact:
boykor@kolumbus.fi
phone & fax +358 9 794 381; +358 40 590 7008