A photo-documentary exhibition on the 40th anniversary of the inclusion of the Rila Monastery in the UNESCO World Heritage List was opened in Paris, BTA learned from Prof. Rumyana Preshlenova, Director of the Institute of Balkan Studies with the Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBST-BAS).

The exhibition “The Heart of Bulgaria. Exhibition for UNESCO” opened on April 24 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

It was prepared by a team of the IBST-BAS under the leadership of Prof. Preshlenova, implementing the Development of Bulgarian Studies Abroad National Programme, funded by the Ministry of Education and Science.

The official opening of the exhibition was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps in Paris, officials of the UNESCO Secretariat and the World Heritage Centre, citizens, and guests of the French capital.

The exhibition is held under the patronage of the Bulgarian National Commission for UNESCO with the kind cooperation of the Rila Monastery, the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Bulgaria to UNESCO and the State Cultural Institute under the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The photos, taken by Rila Monastery photographer Dobrin Kashavelov, present masterpieces from the Rila Monastery, the oldest institution in the Bulgarian state, which has preserved and maintained the Bulgarian spirit throughout the centuries.

The monastery, whose significance goes far beyond the Balkans, has been a cultural centre and treasury of Orthodoxy for more than a thousand years. (PNA)