Eastern Europe Trip - Page 7 |
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 From
Melnik, I took a minivan and a bus to Rila Monastery. It was
Christmas Eve and I thought what better place to go for Christmas than a
monastery. The Brother who was in charge of taking money and
assigning rooms didn't seem too Christian to me though.
They have a museum of relics and various crafts that the monks have put years and lives into. The room was big, with a shower but pretty sparsely furnished. I can't remember if I slept with my sweater on or not. The woman who worked at the gift shop to the left of the picture above was very, very nice and made going here worthwhile. |
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 The
outside of the church has a covered walkway that is completely covered in
religious paintings. |
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 This
is typical of the icons to be seen inside this and other Bulgarian
Orthodox Churches. The parts that are metal are raised out from the
flat painting and are not painted. |
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 Out
the back gate of the monastery you can walk up into the national park
there. It was cold and beautiful. |
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