The trans-European highway E-79 (Sofia - Thessalonica - Athens) passes 10 km away from Rila town.
Economy and business
The prevailing industrial sectors are trade, tourism and light industry. The agriculture is specialized in tobacco production. Inconsiderable is the share of orchards, vegetables and grapes growing. The forests fund is 197,948,730 sq. m, of which the afforested area is 197,948,000 sq. m. Farming land is 155,498,000 sq. m, of which arable land is 21,125,000 sq. m, pastures and common land - 134,373,000 sq. m.
Natural sights and monuments of culture
28 mountain and high-mountain lakes exist in the Municipality; the largest of them are circus lakes and are of glacial origin. Kalin Dam Lake is at 2,379 m altitude above sea level - it is the highest-located manmade water reservoir in Bulgaria and on the Balkan Peninsula. The Rilomanastirska Gora (the forest of Rila monastery) reserve is of area 36.76 sq.km; the average age of most of the trees species, such as pine, beech and fur, is over 160 years, and the age of some of the tree species is up to 300 years. Another protected area is Rila Monastery Natural Park - 273.70 sq.km of forests and high-mountain pastures, which are the habitats of: Imperial eagle, otter, European souslik, brown squirrel, Balkan skylark, southern white-backed woodpecker. Some of the most valuable in Europe and unique in the world massifs of Tsar Boris's fir-tree and Rila oak exist in the reserve. Babinska Mahala architectural complex includes 27 monuments of culture - houses (privately owned), a monastery school of 1830 and the St. Archangel Michael church of 12 - 13 c. The Rila Monastery was established in 10 c. by St. Ivan Rilski. UNESCO has declared it a monument of world culture. On an area of 8,000 sq. m open to visitors are the main church, the historical museum, the ethnographic exhibition, the art gallery, the tower of Hrelyo, the "magernitsa" (monastery kitchen) and the four churches next to the Monastery, which contain valuable murals dating back to the early 19 c. A masterpiece of woodcarving art is the Raphael's Crest, which took Rafael 12 years of work to make it. The museum keeps also the tombstone of Hrelyo. The monastery library holds 134 manuscripts of 15 - 16 c., incunabular books and documents, among which is a royal decree issued by Tsar Ivan Shishman, sultan firmans (decrees), and others.