Every October 19, Bulgaria celebrates the day of its patron saint, Sveti Ivan Rilski (Ivan of Rila). Naturally, the first Bulgarian hermit, and founder of the grandest monastery in Bulgaria, Rila Monastery, was honoured with the name of a street in the country's capital.

Sveti Ivan Rilski Street runs from Georgi Sofiiski Street to Hristo Botev Boulevard in the central part of Sofia.

Born in the village of Skrino, near the town of Dupnitsa in Southwestern Bulgaria, Ivan was a shepherd until the age of 25 when he took the monastic vows. The young man, however, did not stay long in the cloister, he instead became devoted to living in complete seclusion, prayers, fasting and privation.

People, though, did not accept his way of life and on a number of occasions drove him away from the places he had chosen to retire. At last, he found complete isolation in the austere surroundings of the Rila mountains. There he spent 12 years in a cave until he was found by a group of bandits.

The hermit then took shelter in the hollow of an enormous oak tree. He could not stay on his own for long, however. Soon the rumours about a virtuous man who lived inside a tree spread around the neighbouring villages, and local Christians began travelling to his home seeking help. Ivan then began performing miracles - he exorcised evil spirits, and healed illnesses and infirmities, at least according to historical sources left from that time.

Gradually, more and more people came to the hermit to seek help and healing. This disturbed his meditation, so he left the hollow and settled on a high rock where he spent seven years and four months.

Ivan's fame spread fast across the country. Even Russian Tsar Petar I, who was making a visit to Sofia, travelled 120km to meet the pious old man. The hermit did not let the royalty approach, though, but made a bow from a distance, which the tsar returned. Ivan also returned all the gold Petar I brought for him.

This event made Ivan even more popular and revered. Soon he was joined by his disciples who began building their own shelters around the place he had retired. This is how the famous Bulgarian monastery was established.

Ivan Rilski died in 946 at the age of 70. Soon after his death, Petar I was visiting Sofia again and by his order the saint's relics were transferred to that town. The case containing these relics was said to have wonder-working powers.

According to a popular story, during a war in 1183, the Hungarian king Bela II conquered Sofia and sent the saint's relics to his country. The local Catholic archbishop, however, argued he knew nothing of such a saint. So Ivan Rilski punished him by striking him dumb. The archbishop recovered his speech only when he bowed down before the case with the relics and asked forgiveness. Awe-stricken by this miracle, in 1187, the Hungarians brought back the saint's relics to Sofia.

In 1194, Bulgarian Tsar Assen ordered that the relics be moved to the capital city at the time, Veliko Turnovo. They miraculously survived the devastation of the city after its seizure by the Turks in 1393. By the permission of the Ottoman sultan Murad II, the relics were sent back to the Rila Monastery in 1469.

The Rila Monastery itself is the biggest monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated at an altitude of 1,100m in the northwestern part of the Rila Mountain between the rivers Rilska and Droushlyavitsa, 120km south of Sofia. Initially it was situated 4km east of its present place, in the Belite Kilii location, but it later moved. In its dormitories, there are more than 300 cells, four chapels, guest-rooms and a cookhouse. There is also a museum with a rich library.

The Rila Monastery is a patriarchal monastery. Since 1983, it has been included on the list of Monuments of World Culture and Natural Heritage compiled by UNESCO.