page_title: John of Rila
section_title: Remains
hierarchical_section_title: John of Rila / Remains
caption_attribution_description: Ivan Rilski (John of Rila), fresco from Rila monastery, Bulgaria
context_page_description: Saint Ivan of Rila was the first Bulgarian hermit. He was revered as a saint while he was still alive. The legend surrounding him tells of wild animals that freely came up to him and birds that landed in his hands. His followers founded many churches in his honor, including the famous Rila Monastery. One of these churches, "St Ivan Rilski" was only discovered in 2008 in the town of Veliko Tarnovo. Today, he is honored as the patron saint of the Bulgarians and as one of the most important saints in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
context_section_description: Shortly after the saint's death, his remains, which were thought to have wonder-working powers, were transferred to Sofia during the reign of Peter I. 
  After Magyar King Béla III conquered Sofia in 1183, the remains were sent to the Hungarian capital Esztergom and remained there for four years before being returned to Sofia in 1187.
  In 1194, Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen I ordered the remains to be moved to his capital, Veliko Tarnovo. Surviving the Turkish conquest of the city in 1393, they were returned to the Rila Monastery in 1469 at the behest of Sultana Mara Branković, the widow of the late Murad II.
caption: Saint Ivan Rilski - fresco from the church in Rila monastery, Bulgaria.
exif: {"Image Make": "Sony Ericsson", "Image Model": "K750i", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "R1DB001     prgCXC125952_EU_1_CL 5.3", "Image DateTime": "2007:10:16 15:54:19", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "258", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "736", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5408", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:10:16 15:54:19", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:10:16 15:54:19", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1632", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1224", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "600", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Night", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}