History of Bulgaria
Explorer1940 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Full attribution
Photo: Explorer1940, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Hrelyo’s Tower today. Cut-out detail; background removed.
From Ivan of Rila and a medieval tower to books, Revival murals and rebuilding after fire: how a community passes on its memory.
Part 1 · Ottoman period
After the fire
In 1833 a fire devastated Rila Monastery. Yet the stone tower built by Hrelyo remained. Today it stands beside a church with striped arches and painted walls. Their proximity can mislead: these buildings belong to different periods.
There is another surprise. According to Iliev’s historical account, the fire spared both the tower and the medieval stone church. The old church was later demolished to make way for a larger one. Fire changed this courtyard, but so did a human decision. The tower is the oldest surviving building here; the monastery as a whole has not remained untouched. What, then, continued to live?
Sources · 3
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church Hrelov Tower
- Explorer1940 File:Rila Monastery Tower of Hrelyo 02.jpg
Part 2 · Ottoman period
A hermit, then a community
The beginning is associated with Ivan of Rila, a tenth-century hermit. The galleries we see today were not his home. Texts transmitted his memory, and Lives of the saint combine accounts of his life with miracles. In one, a small loaf feeds nine hunters sent by Tsar Peter, with half left over. This is a hagiographic legend, not an independently confirmed event.
Another text, the Testament attributed to Ivan, instructs monks to live communally, work and welcome strangers. It survives through late copies, not a preserved autograph. The mural shows a later image of the saint, not a portrait painted during his lifetime. The hermit’s story became part of a community’s life.
Sources · 4
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church About the Monastery
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Rila Monastery (online presentation); compiler, translator and precise textual recension not credited The Life of st. John of Rila
- Biso File:Ivan Rilski - fresco from church in rila monastery-bulgaria.JPG
Part 3 · Ottoman period
Stone carrying a name
In the fourteenth century the patron Stefan Hrelyo Dragovol erected a defensive tower. The monastery’s overview gives 1334–1335, while its tower page gives 1335. The range and the individual year are compatible.
The stone building has five floors. On the top floor is the Transfiguration chapel with fourteenth-century murals. Defence and prayer share a roof. A brick building inscription, also shown in a separate close view, connects the tower with its patron. The front addition in the wider photograph is later: the whole visible silhouette is not medieval. Reading this place means distinguishing its layers, rather than assigning everything in the photograph to one date.
- 1 · Stone tower
- This is the medieval stone structure. The tower has five floors and served a defensive purpose.
- 2 · The chapel is above
- The top floor contains the Transfiguration chapel with fourteenth-century murals. The point marks the upper tower; its interior is not visible in this photograph.
- 3 · The later addition
- A later addition with columns and bells stands in front of the tower. It is not assigned the same date as the medieval masonry.
Sources · 6
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church Hrelov Tower
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church About the Monastery
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- ARD / проект ОБРИР, planning team headed by Петър Янков, Димитър Пеев, Венцислав Величков, Снежана Костадинова; commissioned by Ministry of Environment and Water Природен парк „Рилски манастир“. План за управление PDF
- Explorer1940 File:Rila Monastery Tower of Hrelyo 02.jpg
- Todor Bozhinov / Тодор Божинов File:Hrelyo's Tower Rila Monastery building inscription 1334.jpg
Part 4 · Ottoman period
The return from Tarnovo
Conditions at the monastery changed during the Ottoman period. Iliev describes abandonment around the middle of the fifteenth century, followed by renewal of the monastic community. In 1466 Rila made a mutual assistance agreement with the Athonite monastery of St Panteleimon.
In 1469, with Ottoman permission, Ivan of Rila’s relics were brought back from Tarnovo to Rila. Vladislav the Grammarian wrote about the transfer. The map links these two places without reconstructing the precise route.
Firmans of 1498 and 1519 confirmed monastic property rights but did not end the raids. Literary work continued alongside this insecurity. By the end of the seventeenth century there was a bookbinding workshop here: books needed binding as well as reading.
- Rila Monastery · Approximate location
- Tarnovo — modern Veliko Tarnovo · Approximate location
Sources · 5
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Patriarchate Рилски манастир „Св. Иоан Рилски“
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church About the Monastery
- Wikimedia contributors Rila Monastery: geographical record
- Wikimedia contributors Veliko Tarnovo: geographical record
Part 5 · Ottoman period
Activity: what survived
According to the story, what survived the fire of 1833?
Why is that?
The tower was not the sole surviving building. The old church was replaced with a larger one after the fire.
Correct · The tower and the medieval stone church.
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
Sources · 1
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
Part 6 · Ottoman period
Painting again
After the fire came new building work. UNESCO gives 1834–1862 for reconstruction of the complex. This is not the date of one individual building. The main church, dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin, and the residential wings shape the courtyard we see today.
Zahari Zograf helped paint part of the nave, the church’s main interior space. The BAS corpus gives 1842–1845; Yancheva’s scientific presentation dates nave murals by Dimitar and Zahari to 1844. Zahari did not paint all the murals in the monastery.
The photograph of the exterior gallery shows the Virgin and Child surrounded by other figures. We have not established the painter of this exact section. It illustrates the arrangement of a painted surface, without proving authorship.
- 1 · The centre of the composition
- The Virgin and Child occupy the centre. This is an observation of the photograph, not an attribution to a painter.
- 2 · Figures around the centre
- Other figures surround the central image. Individual scenes are not named without a verified catalogue.
- 3 · Painted border
- A band of lettering runs around the edge. No new transcription of the photographed text is proposed.
Sources · 6
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre Rila Monastery, World Heritage List no. 216
- Александър Куюмджиев; Емануел Мутафов; Иван Ванев; Иванка Гергова; Елена Попова; Елена Генова; Маргарита Куюмджиева; Майя Захариева; Мариела Стойкова; Мина Христемова; Светла Москова; Христо Андреев; Николай Клисаров; Катерина Дюлгерова; Невена Джуркова; Юлия Върбанова Корпус на стенописите от първата половина на ХІХ век в България. ISBN 978-954-8594-73-8 PDF
- Denitsa Yancheva, Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, BAS Multi-analytical study of solid materials: application of vibrational spectroscopy combined with X-Ray and electron microscopy methods PDF
- Pudelek (Marcin Szala) File:Rila Monastery (Рилски манастир) - fresco.JPG
- Daniel Dimitrov File:Klosterkirche des Rilaklosters.jpg
- Daniel Dimitrov File:Rila Monastery yard.jpg
Part 7 · Ottoman period
Activity: put events in order
Arrange the events from earliest to latest.
Why is that?
The tower is fourteenth-century; the relics returned in the fifteenth century. The fire preceded the new nineteenth-century murals.
Correct order
- Construction of Hrelyo’s Tower
- The relics return from Tarnovo
- The monastery fire
- Dimitar and Zahari paint the church
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church About the Monastery
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Denitsa Yancheva, Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, BAS Multi-analytical study of solid materials: application of vibrational spectroscopy combined with X-Ray and electron microscopy methods PDF
Sources · 3
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church About the Monastery
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Denitsa Yancheva, Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, BAS Multi-analytical study of solid materials: application of vibrational spectroscopy combined with X-Ray and electron microscopy methods PDF
Part 8 · Ottoman period
What stays alive
Continuity here does not mean that every wall survived. Our reading is more specific: people passed on monastic life, books and skills even while rebuilding the structures. The tower is medieval, while the main church dates from the nineteenth century.
The monastery museum holds manuscripts, early printed books and prints. Another selected mural photograph shows a story about Ivan of Rila, with the saint on a bier among gathered figures. The image belongs to his remembered life; it is not an eyewitness photograph.
In 1983 the monastery entered the World Heritage List under criterion vi. UNESCO interprets it as a symbol of the Bulgarian Revival. That recognition does not make all the buildings medieval. Their differences are part of their history.
Sources · 7
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre Rila Monastery, World Heritage List no. 216
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church Church History Museum
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church About the Monastery
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Daniel Dimitrov File:Rila Monastery yard.jpg
- Mark Ahsmann File:John of Rila Burial Fresco in the narthex of the Nativity of Mary Church in Rila Monastery by Mihail Anagnostos 1842.jpg
- Raggatt2000 File:Rila Monastery, August 2013.jpg
Part 9 · Ottoman period
Activity: match
Match each piece of evidence to its description in the story.
Why is that?
The tower combines defence and prayer. The Testament instructs monks; the firmans concern property; Zahari works on the nave murals.
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church Hrelov Tower
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Александър Куюмджиев; Емануел Мутафов; Иван Ванев; Иванка Гергова; Елена Попова; Елена Генова; Маргарита Куюмджиева; Майя Захариева; Мариела Стойкова; Мина Христемова; Светла Москова; Христо Андреев; Николай Клисаров; Катерина Дюлгерова; Невена Джуркова; Юлия Върбанова Корпус на стенописите от първата половина на ХІХ век в България. ISBN 978-954-8594-73-8 PDF
Sources · 3
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church Hrelov Tower
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Александър Куюмджиев; Емануел Мутафов; Иван Ванев; Иванка Гергова; Елена Попова; Елена Генова; Маргарита Куюмджиева; Майя Захариева; Мариела Стойкова; Мина Христемова; Светла Москова; Христо Андреев; Николай Клисаров; Катерина Дюлгерова; Невена Джуркова; Юлия Върбанова Корпус на стенописите от първата половина на ХІХ век в България. ISBN 978-954-8594-73-8 PDF
A new find for your collection
Continuity here does not mean that every wall survived. Our reading is more specific: people passed on monastic life, books and skills even while rebuilding the structures. The tower is medieval, while the main church dates from the nineteenth century.
People in this story
Sources
- Александър Куюмджиев; Емануел Мутафов; Иван Ванев; Иванка Гергова; Елена Попова; Елена Генова; Маргарита Куюмджиева; Майя Захариева; Мариела Стойкова; Мина Христемова; Светла Москова; Христо Андреев; Николай Клисаров; Катерина Дюлгерова; Невена Джуркова; Юлия Върбанова Корпус на стенописите от първата половина на ХІХ век в България. ISBN 978-954-8594-73-8 PDF
- Ilija Iliev (translation and introduction); John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero (editors), with Giles Constable 6. Rila: Testament of John of Rila
- Rila Monastery (online presentation); compiler, translator and precise textual recension not credited The Life of st. John of Rila
- ARD / проект ОБРИР, planning team headed by Петър Янков, Димитър Пеев, Венцислав Величков, Снежана Костадинова; commissioned by Ministry of Environment and Water Природен парк „Рилски манастир“. План за управление PDF
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church About the Monastery
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church Church History Museum
- Rila Monastery, Bulgarian Orthodox Church Hrelov Tower
- Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Patriarchate Рилски манастир „Св. Иоан Рилски“
- Raggatt2000 File:Rila Monastery, August 2013.jpg
- Mark Ahsmann File:John of Rila Burial Fresco in the narthex of the Nativity of Mary Church in Rila Monastery by Mihail Anagnostos 1842.jpg
- Daniel Dimitrov File:Klosterkirche des Rilaklosters.jpg
- Daniel Dimitrov File:Rila Monastery yard.jpg
- Pudelek (Marcin Szala) File:Rila Monastery (Рилски манастир) - fresco.JPG
- Todor Bozhinov / Тодор Божинов File:Hrelyo's Tower Rila Monastery building inscription 1334.jpg
- Biso File:Ivan Rilski - fresco from church in rila monastery-bulgaria.JPG
- Explorer1940 File:Rila Monastery Tower of Hrelyo 02.jpg
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre Rila Monastery, World Heritage List no. 216
- Wikimedia contributors Rila Monastery: geographical record
- Wikimedia contributors Veliko Tarnovo: geographical record
- Denitsa Yancheva, Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, BAS Multi-analytical study of solid materials: application of vibrational spectroscopy combined with X-Ray and electron microscopy methods PDF
Images
Explorer1940 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Full attribution
Photo: Explorer1940, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Hrelyo’s Tower today. Cut-out detail; background removed.
Explorer1940 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Full attribution
Photo: Explorer1940, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Hrelyo’s Tower today. Processed image.
Biso · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
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Photo: Biso, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Mural image of Ivan of Rila. Processed image.
Todor Bozhinov / Тодор Божинов · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Photo: Todor Bozhinov / Тодор Божинов, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Building inscription on Hrelyo’s Tower. Processed image.
Pudelek · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Photo: Pudelek (Marcin Szala), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Mural in the church gallery. Processed image.
Daniel Dimitrov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Photo: Daniel Dimitrov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Residential wings today. Processed image.
Geographic context, without historical borders
Tom Patterson · Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso · Public domain · Natural Earth
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Tom Patterson · Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso