| Rila Monastery Nature Park | |
|---|---|
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
 A view of the nature park | |
  | |
| Location | Rila Municipality, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria |
| Nearest city | Rila |
| Coordinates | 42°08′52″N 23°37′38″E / 42.147911°N 23.627185°E |
| Area | 252.532 km2 |
| Established | 1992 |
| Visitors | 1 002 204 (in 2008) |
| Governing body | Ministry of Environment and Water |
Rila Monastery Nature Park (Bulgarian: Природен парк „Рилски манастир“) is one of the largest nature parks in Bulgaria, spanning a territory of 252.535 km2 (97.504 sq mi) in the western part of the Rila mountain range at an altitude between 750 and 2,713 metres (2,461 and 8,901 ft). It is in Rila Municipality, Kyustendil Province and includes forests, mountain meadows, alpine areas, and 28 glacial lakes. With a little more than 1 million visitors, it is the second-most visited nature park in the country, after Vitosha Nature Park.[1]
It was established in 1992 as part of the newly founded Rila National Park. In 2000 some territory of the national park was reassigned to the Rila Monastery and was recategorized as a nature park because by law all lands in national parks are exclusively state-owned. Most of the park is owned by the monastery. The park includes one nature reserve, Rila Monastery Forest, with an area of 36.65 km2 (14.15 sq mi), or 14% of its total territory.[2]
The park falls entirely within the Rodope montane mixed forests terrestrial ecoregion of the Palearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome. There are approximately 1400 species of vascular plants, 282 species of mosses and 130 species of freshwater algae. The fauna is represented by 52 species of mammals, 122 species of birds, 12 species of reptiles, 11 species of amphibians and 5 species of fish, as well as 2600 species of invertebrates. The endemic Rila oak (Quercus protoroburoides) inhabits only the Rilska River valley within the park's boundaries and is of special conservation significance.
The park is named after Rila Monastery, a cultural and spiritual centre of Bulgaria, founded during the First Bulgarian Empire by the 10th century ascetic and saint John of Rila. It was designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
- ^ "Rila Monastery Nature Park: Publications. Basic Information". Trans-Border Network. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ^ "Rila Monastery Nature Park: Basic Information". Trans-Border Network. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2015.