Ruen monastery

The Ruen monastery is situated in the western part of Bulgaria, near the town of Kyustendil. It is one of the most recently established monasteries in Bulgaria. It was built in 2002. The church has an original architecture, nice wall paintings and a beautiful golden altar. A steep path from the monastery leads up to a cave, believed to have been the first shelter of the hermit John of Rila before he settled in the region of the present-day Rila monastery. Further up the hill one reaches a big cross perking ominously over the edge of a steep rock. According to the legend, the cross shows the place, from which a Bulgarian maiden jumped in despair in order to escape from her Ottoman persecutors.

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