"St lukes hermitage" Top 5 Page for this destination Rilski Manastir Off The Beaten Path Tip by ger4444

From the Rila monastery there is along the road that goes to the Kiril meadow, a trail that goes to the st. Lukes hermitage. Following the road to the meadow, at about 4 km ther is a trail on your left hand that goes to this place. The trail takes some 3 km to the st. lukes hermitage. And then follow the signs (in cyrilic, but there are pictures of st Ivan to follow)
The hermitage is build somewhere in the 18 th. Century and has a very serene or, since lying in the woods, a quasi-mystical athmosphere: The whole place has something special: i think it is the nature, the trees, the light...(I thought the whole place had something of the Cure s a Forrest clip)
There is a large courtyard (maybe that is the gothic thing about the place then) and a church. When you walk along the trail you can continue your way to the St. Ivan Cave: yes: the place where st. John, the founder of the monasary, lived. A legend thing: whomever is able to pass the hole in the roof of the cave is not a sinner. Well, in that case there are not many sinners in the world since anyone can get trough the hole!