The monastery is believed to have been founded by a hermit, John of Rila, in the 10th century, during the reign of the Bulgarian Tzar Peter (927-968). St John of Rila, whose mummified relics are exhibited for pilgrims in the main church, in fact lived in a cave about half-an-hour walk away from the present-day monastery complex. The monastery itself is considered to have been built by his scholars, who came to the place to be taught by him.

in the 12-14th centuries and its upsurge was broken only by the arrival of the Ottomans in the end of the 14th century, which was followed by raids and destruction of the complex in the mid-15th century.

The turn of the 15th century saw the revival of the establishment. This was done with the assistance of the Russian orthodox church, which gave donations to visiting monks in the form of books, money, and church accessories in the second half of the 15th century. The national Renaissance period of the 18th and 19th centuries gave a further impetus to the recovery of the monastery. At that time, the complex was reconstructed and rennovated with donations of wealthy Bulgarians from all over the country.

Once in the complex, it is worth visiting the monastery’s museum, which hosts a unique work of art, namely The Raphael’s Cross. The cross is made of a whole piece of wood (81cm x 43cm) and is named after its creator. The monk used fine chisels, small knives and magnifying lens to carve 104 religious scenes and 650 small figures into the cross. The cross was finished in 1802 after the monk worked on it for no less than 12 years, losing his sight upon completion.