Sofia – Plovdiv – Rila Monastery - Sofia 6 days / 5 nights Depart date: Price 494 €

Sofia – Plovdiv – Rila Monastery - Sofia
6 days/ 5 nights
1-st day: Arrival in Sofia. Transfer to the hotel. City tour of Sofia /it may be on the next day, according to the landing time/. Dinner. Overnight in Sofia.
2-nd day: Breakfast. Leisure time. Dinner. Overnight in Sofia.
3-rd day: Breakfast. Departure for Plovdiv. City tour of Plovdiv. More ancient than Bulgaria itself, this singular city preserves vivid memories of its turbulent and dramatic fate. In 342 B.C. Philip 11 of Macedon conquered the Thracian town of Evmolpia leaving, it his name - Philippopolis. At the start of our millennium the Romans conquered Thrace and called the city Trimontium. During the 19th century Bulgarian master builders erected the National Revival city of Plovdiv (the Old Town) with steep cobbled lanes, lovely houses with large bay windows and slender columns, latticed eaves and heavy oak gates, quiet green yards and rippling marble fountains. Every house here has its own style and atmosphere. Situated on three hills in the Thracian Plain, encircled by the slow running waters of the Maritza river, Bulgaria's second largest city today, Plovdiv has a 24 centuries long history and is one of the ancient crossroads between East and West. Landmarks remaining from Roman times include the Philip- popolis Amphitheatre and the restored 2nd century Antique Theatre. The marble-tiled Forum, the Ethnogrphic museum, the art galleries, churches and the street of folk arts and crafts are major landmarks of Old Plovdid. The Old Plovdiv on Trimontzium hill is famous fot its National Revival architecture (from 18th-19th c.). Many of the houses are now museums: the Ethnographic Museum, the Museum of the National Revival and the National Liberation struggles, the Alphonse de Lamartine museum house. Return to Sofia. Dinner. Overnight in Plovdiv.
4-th day: Breakfast. Leisure time. Dinner. Overnight in Plovdiv.
5-th day: Breakfast. Departure and visit of the Rila Monastery. Rila Monastery was founded in the l0th century by the Bulgarian monk St. John of Rila and was rebuilt in the l3th -l4th century. From that time are the fortress tower -1334, the bishop's throne, richly carved doors and some manuscripts, icon-paintings and church plates. In the l5th century, when Bulgaria fell to the Ottoman Turks, the monastery was abandoned for a short time but in the second half of the same century it was restored to a new life. Later it was for several times plundered and ravaged. Its thorough renovation began in the early l9th century. It was then that the residential wings and the church of the Holy Virgin were raised. The Rila Monastery has been listed as a world monument of culture. In it there is a well-appointed museum. Departure for Sofia. Leisure time in Sofia. Optional - Dinner in a typical folk restaurant. Dinner. Overnight in Sofia.
6-th day: Breakfast. Transfer to Sofia airport.

• Transport with a bus

• English speaking guide

• Entry taxes of the museums

• For SNGL – 100 EUR