To mark the 550^th anniversary of the return of the relics of St. Yoan of Rila from Veliko Turnovo to Rila Monastery, in July a group of tourists will follow the route along which the saint’s relics were once carried.

The idea for such an adventure was inspired by El Camino, the route to Santiago de Compostela. The idea for the Bulgarian version belongs to two men from Veliko Turnovo – Evgeny Koev, a schoolteacher, and Pascal Piperkov, a mathematician. The route will be marked and will pass through 60 towns and villages, 19 municipalities and 5 dioceses. The most difficult section, Evgeny Koev and Pascal Piperkov say, is the last portion of the journey between Vratsa and Sofia, where the route passes along the crest of the Iskar Gorge.