Storyline: Bulgaria with Alex
It is a strange combination for a one-day visit, but that’s exactly what we did in June 2018, accompanied by Alex’s sister and brother-in-law. One can easily spend a day in the grounds of Rila Monastery, which Alex and I did years ago. We have also previously been to Melnik, with a few stops on the way, so I didn’t have a good sense of the driving time for this two-stop itinerary. Once in the car, our driver suggested to go first to Melnik and stop by the Monastery on our way back. It made sense from his perspective because he’d cover the long distance driving first. And so we did.
Melnik, once a much bigger city and now the smallest town in Bulgaria, with population just over 300, is sheltered by the cliffs of sandstone pyramids in the foothills of the Southwestern Pirin Mountains. Although it has a rich history, it is in the heart of one of the best Bulgarian wine regions and is mainly visited for its cave wineries and a nearby monastery.
One can easily spend two nights there tasting the food and wine, visiting historic landmarks and museums, hiking the surroundings and enjoying the multitude of small cafes and restaurants. Melnik has a specific Mediterranean microclimate with hot and dry summers and mild winters, great for vines.
Our first visit in 2004 was quite interesting and unusual. At that time Bulgaria was just trying on its newly-gained capitalist “freedom” clothes. It was a bit on the wild side. Our friend Milan had managed to buy us tickets for only 13 leva each, which was about $7 CAD, for a day-long bus tour with a few stops, lunch included. A cheerful young lady met us at the bus and once everyone was on board, she began chirping her script over the too-loud PA system. She was telling us about the tour and a surprise waiting for us.
Milan had secured us front seats, which was good for my motion sickness but not that good for Alex’s ears (“Will she never shut up?” he asked after 10 min). She filled the time while the bus was negotiating the busy Sofia streets and eventually settled in her seat just in time for us to enjoy the mountain views.
Our first stop was by the village Rupite, some 20 km south-west of Melnik. It is famed among Bulgarians for being the birthplace of legendary clairvoyant Baba Vanga, the Nostradamus of the Balkans. There now was her tomb and the church Sveta (St.) Petka Bulgarska, built at her behest. Even today, Bulgarians swear by her predictions. I guess for lack of other permitted creed than communism one can understand the belief in shamans, prophets and mystics. The area is near an extinct volcano and hosts thermal springs (temperature at the springs is 74°C), which are considered to have healing properties (after they cool a bit – A). We visited the tomb, the church and wandered around the hot springs. Then it was lunch time and our surprise.
We stopped at a roadside restaurant and had our lunch served. The surprise was a presentation we had to listen to during the lunch. In the early days of wild capitalism every possible charlatan was trying their tricks on the gullible population.
This one, we were told, was a German company selling magnetic blankets. The story went like this – if you live above the 2nd floor in an apartment building you have lost your connection with the earth’s magnetic fields… didn’t listen to much of it, but they were claiming that there were some very negative and damaging effects on one’s body. However, one could be saved by these magnetic blankets. Ah… they were not yet available in Bulgaria, but if you purchased some, they’d would be delivered to you in 2 years. (Not even close to the timeshare presentations for a ski resort at one time popular in the West.) But you had to pay today!
I tried to leave the room, but my every attempt was caught by the chirping lady from the bus, who made sure no one left during the presentation… I tried to negotiate for Alex to leave because he does not understand Bulgarian, but she’d get into trouble with her bosses she said. And I remember there were 2 or 3 people who “bought” the blankets that were not cheap for the salary standard then. The cost was more than my parents’ combined monthly pension.
After all the sales pitch was done, we were finally driven to Melnik and had the afternoon for ourselves.
Alex was flabbergasted by its beauty, especially after my now estranged brother had proclaimed that “Melnik e nishto” (Melnik is nothing), a word that Alex remembered well. And often when he refers to nothing he says “Melnik”.
Back to 2018. We arrived at around 10am, a bit early for wine tasting. Why didn’t I think of this when agreed to start with Melnik? But an early wine start it was.
We wandered through the streets, hiked up by the ruins of the Boyar house to the cave tavern “Pri Shestaka” and had wine samples with meze.
Just before noon we hiked the small hill to St. Nicolas Monastery and the Monastery “Virgin Bogoroditsa Spileotisa” and then decided to try one of the many restaurants in town.
Well this kind of left us with not enough time for Rila Monastery.
Alex had visited the Monastery in 2004, when Krasi, my friend from university years, drove us there. We had a day for it. It was stunningly beautiful. Didn’t take photos from the kitchen (too dark), but the big cauldrons used to cook for all the monks were impressive. Unfortunately, all was closed when we arrived there in 2018.
We had rushed after lunch from Melnik and managed to get into the Monastery grounds, just before closing. Most of its attractions and museums were already closed, so all left was the church with the amazing frescos. We hastily poked around until they completely closed.
My idea of having a romantic dinner by the river on our way downhill as we’ve done before was not met with enthusiasm. We had finished lunch around 2pm and no one was hungry. Besides we still had over two hours drive back to Sofia.
The Monastery of St. Ivan Rilski (St. John of Rila) or simply Rila Monastery, UNESCO world heritage centre, was founded in the 10th century by, yes you guessed it, the hermit St. Ivan Rilski. Presumably the first building was near the hermit’s cave. The site as it stands today was re-erected in the 13th-14th centuries.
After the fall of Sofia to the Ottomans, Rila Monastery managed to survive due to the fact that it remained within the possession of a vassal subject to the Sultan. It was one of the most important spiritual and literary centres during the Ottoman era.
The original buildings were damaged by a fire in the 19h century. They were renovated a year later. The frescos and murals in the church are by famous Bulgarian masters from the national revival period.
The residential part of the Monastery has about 300 rooms, a huge kitchen with the aforementioned cauldrons, library, abbot’s room and four chapels. These days one can stay in the dormitories, but booking can only be done through the brotherhood of the monastery by phone, which we suspect will require using Bulgarian.
However, the Monastery owns Tsarev Vrah hotel, just 50m away from the grounds of the Monastery and booking can be done online via Booking.com or other online booking sites. If you love hiking this is an excellent place to explore. After the tour buses and crowds leave, you’ll enjoy the tranquility and majestic views of Rila mountain’s peaks above.
It is now one of the most visited attractions in Bulgaria.
Alex: A revisit after 14 years to Rila Monastery and the village and white cliffs of Melnik (where vintners have been making wine in caves for over 200 years) was interesting and highly desired. I was happy to be able to share these incredible places with my sister and brother-in-law. And since I was so insistent on including them in the itinerary, I was more than a little relieved when we were first able to have a nice short hike in the hills around Melnik and enjoy some stunning views on one of the rare sunny days, at least for this trip. Then while exploring the Monastery, Jim caught my eye and mouthed a big WOW. It really is a magical place.
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