Boboshevo ( ) is a town in Western

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. It is located in

Kyustendil Province Kyustendil Province () 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 population of 106 131. It borders the provinces of Sofia, Pernik, and ...

and is close to the towns of

Kocherinovo Kocherinovo (, ) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Kyustendil Province. It is the administrative centre of Kocherinovo Municipality, which lies in the southern part of Kyustendil Province. As of 2013 it had 2,255 inhabitants. Kocherino ...

and

Rila Rila (, ) is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Mountains, Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an e ...

. The town of Boboshevo is situated about to the south of

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

and from Bulgaria's prime skiing destination,

Bansko Bansko ( ) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located in Blagoevgrad Oblast near the city of Razlog. Once mainly a stockbreeding and travelling merchant community, the town is now an international centre for winter and summer tourism. More rec ...

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

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

border. Boboshevo lies in the lowest part of the southwestern ridge of the

Rila Mountains Rila (, ) is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkan Peninsula, and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an elevation of 2,925 m whi ...

, in the fertile valley of the

Struma River The Struma or Strymonas (, ; , ) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymon (, ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, in Greece and the remaining in North Macedonia and Serbia. It takes its source from the Vitosha ...

(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 ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

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 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

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

, 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 (enclosur ...

. 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 The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

researchers, tourists and pilgrims. St Dimitar is one of the oldest monasteries in Bulgaria having existed since the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

, 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 Saint John of Rila, also known as Ivan of Rila (; – 18 August 946), was the first Bulgarian hermit. He was revered as a saint while he was still alive. The legend surrounding him tells of wild animals that freely came up to him and birds that ...

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 Chr ...

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 Skrino () is a village in the municipality of Boboshevo, Kyustendil Province, western Bulgaria. As of 2013 it has 66 inhabitants. Geography The village is located in the Ruen mountain, the northernmost part of the Vlahina mountain range. H ...

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 The Church of St Theodore in Nesebar, Bulgaria, was built in the 13th century, and the north and western façades survive from this era. The other walls and the roof were built later. It is a single nave church with a narthex and apse. The church ...

* Church of St Demetrius * Church of St Elijah * Church of St Athanasius * Church of the Holy Mother of God *

Ruen Monastery The Ruen Monastery St John of Rila ({{langx, bg, Руенски манастир Свети Иван Рилски) is a Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox monastery part of the Dupnitsa vicarage of the Sofia eparchy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. It is ...

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