"BOBOSHEVO" Boboshevo by Nhiki

BOBOSHEVO is my home town, the place that I was born 44 years ago! The town of Boboshevo is situated 80km to the south of Sofia and just 4km away from the main road that connects Sofia to the Greek border. The town lies in the lowest part of the southwestern ridge of the Rila mountain, in the fertile valley of the Struma river, where it meets with the Djerman River.

Thanks to its favorable location and mild climate, the area of Boboshevo has been populated since antiquity.

Today, Boboshevo is a quiet little town with picturesque houses, a few coffee shops and bars, and a majestic history waiting to be rediscovered.

The Boboshevo region is known also as the Bulgarian Jerusalem due to its role of a cultural centre during the 15-17th c. The region is rich in churches and monasteries, most of which date back to that period.

The most famous of these is the St. Dimitar Monastery, that lies in the lower eastern part of the Ruen mountain. St. Dimitar is one of the oldest monasteries in Bulgaria having existed since the First Bulgarian Empire (around the 10th century). It is an extremely precious representative of medieval architecture, possessing the highest value — a monument of national importance — according to the Bulgarian criteria of listing. The monastery was first built in the 10th c. After being destroyed during the Ottoman invasion in Bulgaria in the late 14th c. The church (as it now stands) was reconstructed in 1488. It has one nave, one round apse, and is covered by a semi-spheric vault. The wall paintings cover both the walls and the ceiling entirely, as well as the western facade. Dated to 1488 they are extremely valuable, which goes beyond national cultural boundaries and provokes the interest of many Balkan researchers, tourists and pilgrims.

The monastery is not only significant because of its age. It is treasured also because one of Bulgaria's greatest heroes, St Ivan Rilski, got his start there. St. Dimitar had hosted St Ivan Rilski during his early years of monkhood, before he moved to live as a hermit in a nearby cave and then founded the famous Rila monastery.

In 2002-2003, patriotic Bulgarians built another monastery in the region. It is located in the neighbourhood of the village Skrino and is named after St Ivan Rilski for his being born in the same village. A steep path starts from the monastery and leads up in the mountains to the cave where St Ivan Rilski used to live.
(on the picture is St. Ivan Rilsky Monastery in Scrino village)

http://www.bulgarian-monasteries.com

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