page_title: Rila
section_title: Tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Rila / Tourism
caption_attribution_description: English: Rila Monastery, Bulgaria Български: Рилски манастир
context_page_description: Rila is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an altitude of 2,925 m which makes Rila the sixth highest mountain range in Europe after the Caucasus, the Alps, Sierra Nevada, the Pyrenees and Mount Etna, and the highest one between the Alps and the Caucasus. It spans a territory of 2,629 km² with an average altitude of 1487 m. The mountain is believed to have been named after the river of the same name, which comes from the Old Bulgarian verb "рыти" meaning "to grub".
  Rila has abundant water resources. Some of the Balkans' longest and deepest rivers originate from Rila, including the Maritsa, Iskar and Mesta rivers. Bulgaria's main water divide separating the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea drainage systems follows the main ridge of Rila. The mountain range is dotted with almost 200 glacial lakes such as the renowned Seven Rila Lakes, and is rich in hot springs in the fault areas at the foothills, including the hottest spring in South-eastern Europe in Sapareva Banya.
context_section_description: Rila is a popular tourist destination for winter sports, spa tourism, recreation and cultural tourism. Borovets, situated on the northern slopes at 9 km from Samokov, is the oldest winter resort in Bulgaria and the largest one in Rila. It has 27 marked ski runs with a total length of 58 km equipped with 12 lifts facilities and provides conditions for alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, night skiing, biathlon, snowboard, etc.; it has hosted competitions in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup and the Biathlon World Championships 1993. The top elevation is 2,560 m while the lowest is 1,300 m. Over 36,000 foreign tourists have stayed in Borovets for the 2016/17 winter season spending an average of five nights. Other much smaller ski resorts include Panichishte with several ski runs, Semkovo with seven ski runs totaling 4 km, Bodrost with 5 km ski runs and Govedartsi with a single 1.7 km ski run. The Balmeken High Mountain Sports Complex is located at an altitude of 2,050 m in East Rila and is used for training, medical and biological research by athletes but also provides opportunities for family recreation.
  The mountain range was a favourite place of retreat for the Bulgarian monarchs Ferdinand I (r. 1887–1918) and his son Boris III (r. 1918–1943). The palace of Tsarska Bistritsa was constructed between 1898 and 1914 above Borovets in the traditional Bulgarian National Revival style with several edifices and a park. Its 170 kW hydroelectric generator installed in 1912 is still working unalter. Two other hunting lodges were constructed for the monarchs — Sitnyakovo and Saragyol. There are 17 mountains refuges with a total of 1938 beds. There are 198 km primary and 363 km secondary hiking trails in Rila National Park, including E4 European long distance path that traverses it from west to south and E8 European long distance path that traverses it from north-west to south. Rila National Park was visited by about 100,000 tourists annually for the period 2000–2014 reaching a peak of 268,000 in 2012, while with a little more than 1 million visitors Rila Monastery Nature Park is the second most visited one in the country, after Vitosha. In 2000 on the south-western slopes was established the Dancing Bears Park Belitsa that shelters all dancing bears from Bulgaria following the ban of that practice, as well as individuals from Albania and Serbia.
  The abundant mineral springs along the fault lines along the northern foothills of Rila favour health and spa tourism. The most significant spa resorts from west to east are Sapareva Banya with a total discharge of 33 l/sec and temperature of 33–101.4 °С, Belchinski Bani with a total discharge of 24 l/sec and temperature of 40–41.5 °С, Dolna Banya with a total discharge of 22 l/sec and temperature of 56.3 °С and the village of Kostenets with a total discharge of 12 l/sec and temperature of 46–73 °С.
  Rila has well developed cultural tourism and contains five of the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria — the Church of Theodore Tyro and Theodore Stratelates in the village of Dobarsko, the Rila Monastery and the Stob Earth Pyramids, the Seven Rila Lakes, the museum of history and the convent in the town of Samokov, and the summit of Musala. Rila Monastery is the most important architectural monument in the mountain range. It is situated at an altitude of 1,147 m and was declared a UNESCO's world heritage site in 1983. The Monastery is considered to be a cultural and spiritual centre of Bulgaria. With its architecture and frescos Rila Monastery represents a masterpiece of the creative genius of the Bulgarian people and has exerted considerable influence on architecture and aesthetics within the Balkan area. Established in the First Bulgarian Empire by the medieval Bulgarian hermit and saint John of Rila during the reign of emperor Peter I of Bulgaria (r. 927–969), the monastery developed into one of the main cradles of Bulgarian culture, literature and spirituality. In the 18th century it became one of the main hubs of the Bulgarian National Revival. The complex covers an area of 8,800 m² and consists of a 
caption: The main church of the Rila Monastery
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