The Park is the home of some of the oldest natural forests on the Balkans. The average age of the trees is 100 years, but there are some trees as old as 300 years. The Park is the only place on earth where forest massifs of Rila oaks and King Boris’ firs are located, and is the home of the oldest pristine Macedonian pine forests in the world. The Park is the biggest water provider in Bulgaria, and it is the most significant freshwater source for parts of the Thracian Plain as well as the country’s south-western region. The dendrological route starts from the beautiful Bachkovo Cheshma area about a kilometer above the Rila Monastery on the way to Kirilova Polyana. There, the visitor can see about 35 tree and bush species, designated in Latin, as the trees are put in Bulgarian and English plaques, from which you can get information about the specifics of each tree or shrub species. The same route was followed by people many centuries ago, assumingly in the 10th century already, when piligrims and followers to the St. Ivan Rilski, the founder of the Rila monastery walked on the same path. Many of the trees on the route are about 150 years old with typical beech / Fagus sp. /, Quercus petraea /, Asian moss / Fraxinus excelsior /, Lilia / Tilia sp./ etc. The vegetation is represented by hazel / Corylus avellana, Crataegus monogyna, Rasuna idaeus, Rosa canina, and more than 9 species. But of course this is not all! Walking on the route, one can visit the churches “Pokrov Bogorodichen” and “St. Luke, as well as the grave of the St. Ivan Rilski.
INNOVIMENTOR (Balkan-Mediterranean)
