Boboshevo ( bg, Бобошево ) is a town in Western

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. It is located in

Kyustendil Province Kyustendil Province ( bg, Област Кюстендил, trl ''Oblast Kyustendil'') is a province in southwestern Bulgaria, extending over an area of (constituting 2.7% of the total territory of the Republic of Bulgaria), and with a populat ...

and is close to the towns of Kocherinovo and Rila. The town of Boboshevo is situated around to the south of

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

and from Bulgaria's prime skiing destination,

Bansko Bansko ( bg, Банско ) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Pirin Mountains at an elevation of 1200m above sea level. It is a ski resort. Legends There are several legends about who founded Bansko. According to o ...

. Approximately 4 km away from Boboshevo is the main road that connects Sofia with the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

border. Boboshevo lies in the lowest part of the southwestern ridge of the Rila Mountains, in the fertile valley of the Struma River (where it meets with the German River). Thanks to its favourable location and mild climate, the area of Boboshevo has been populated since antiquity. The Boboshevo region is known also as the 'Bulgarian Jerusalem' along with the region of

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

due to its role of a cultural centre during the 15th to the 17th century. 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, which lies in the lower eastern part of the Ruen Mountain. It is an extremely precious representative of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

architecture, possessing the highest value — a monument of national importance — according to the Bulgarian criteria of listing. The church (as it now stands) was constructed during the last quarter of the 15th century. It has one

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, one round

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

, and is covered by a semi-spheric

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

. The wall paintings cover both the walls and the ceiling entirely, as well as the western façade. They are dated to 1488 and are extremely valuable, which goes beyond national cultural boundaries and provokes the interest of many Balkan researchers, tourists and pilgrims. St Dimitar is one of the oldest monasteries in Bulgaria having existed since the First Bulgarian Empire, around the 10th century. After being destroyed during the Ottoman invasion in Bulgaria in the late 14th century, it was reconstructed in 1488. The monastery is not only significant because of its age. It is treasured also because one of Bulgaria's greatest heroes and the country's patron saint, St Ivan Rilski, got his start there. St. Dimitar hosted St Ivan Rilski during his early years of monkhood, before he moved to live as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

in a nearby cave and then founded the famous Rila monastery. In 2002–2003, another monastery was built 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. Located nearby in the neighbourhood of the Slatino village, an Eneolithic settlement with valuable objects of the early 5th millennium BC was uncovered during excavations. In addition to more than 500 ceramic objects, qualified as true masterpieces of fine art, there is a unique finding of an oven model with a lunar calendar painted on its bottom. The calendar is the oldest of its kind found anywhere in Europe. Today, Boboshevo is a quiet little town with picturesque houses, a few coffee shops and bars.

Population

Landmarks

* Church of St Theodore * Church of St Demetrius * Church of St Elijah * Church of St Athanasius * Church of the Holy Mother of God * Ruen Monastery

Gallery

File:Boboshevo.4.JPG, Boboshevo's trade street File:Sv.Iliya.Boboshevo.1.JPG, Church of St Elijah File:Sv.Dimitar.Boboshevo.1.JPG, Church of St Demetrius File:Sv.Atanasiy.Boboshevo.1.JPG, Church of St Athanasius {{Authority control Populated places in Kyustendil Province