The Rila Monastery has attracted a record-high number of visitors in 2017. The number of tourists and pilgrims to Bulgaria’s biggest monastery is expected to exceed 1 million by the end of the year, Rila Monastery’s abbot Evlogy, bishop of Adrianopole, told the Bulgarian National Radio. The number of foreign nationals and young people visiting this holy place has been constantly increasing, bishop Evlogy pointed out. The southern wing of the monastery will be renovated in several days and in few months the oldest part of the building (the eastern wing) will be restored and refreshed as well. The number of foreign visitors, mainly from EU countries such as Italy, Spain and France, has gone up. Many young people also show strong interest in the monastery, which means that Bulgaria’s cultural sites stir the interest of people at different age, bishop Evlogy went on to say.