Rila ( bg, Рила, ) is
a town in southwestern
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 ...
, the administrative centre of
Rila Municipality
Rila Municipality ( bg, Рила) is located in southeastern Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria. Its administrative centre is Rila, Bulgaria, Rila. The municipality covers an area of , of which 54.84% is forests and only 19.3% is arable.. , the populat ...
, in the southeastern part of
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 ...
.
The town lies in a mountainous region at the foot of the southwestern
Rila Mountains, from the
Rila Monastery
The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery "Sveti Ivan Rilski" ( bg, Рилски манастир „Свети Иван Рилски“), is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situate ...
, from
Dupnitsa
Dupnitsa, or Dupnica ( bg, Дупница (previously ), ), is a town in Western Bulgaria. It is at the foot of the highest mountains in the Balkan Peninsula – the Rila Mountains, and about south of the capital Sofia. Dupnitsa is the second l ...
and from
Kyustendil
Kyustendil ( bg, Кюстендил ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see.
The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, ...
. It is situated on the banks of the
Rilska River
The Rilska River ( bg, Рилска река, ''Rilska reka'', "Rila River") is a river in south-western Bulgaria, a left tributary of the Struma. The river is 51 km long and drains the western sections of the Rila mountain range.
Geogra ...
at the entrance of the
Rila Monastery Nature Park
Rila Monastery Nature Park ( bg, Природен парк „Рилски манастир“) is one of the largest nature parks in Bulgaria, spanning a territory of in the western part of the Rila mountain range at an altitude between . It is ...
. In antiquity, the area was inhabited by the
Thracians
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...
and
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
; it was known as ''Sportela'' and then as ''Roligera''. In the Middle Ages it was part of the
Bulgarian Empire. In the 14th century, the village was a feudal possession of the Rila Monastery and may have been mentioned in Tsar
Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria
Ivan Shishman ( bg, Иван Шишман) ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 June 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire.
In the wake of the death of Ivan Alex ...
's
Rila Charter as ''Driska''. Later on, it was mentioned as ''İrlie'' in Ottoman tax registers of 1576.
Towns in Bulgaria
Populated places in Kyustendil Province
{{Kyustendil-geo-stub