The Villa
There are places you do not have to travel far to escape from everything.
Just about an hour from Sofia, in a small village in the foothills of Rila, the noise of the city is left somewhere behind. The air smells different, the evenings are quieter, and instead of the neighbouring apartment block, all that remains before your eyes is the mountain and the sky.
That is where Villa Badino is.
Close to the old Church of St. Demetrius, the villa is a place for those days when there is nowhere you need to hurry. For mornings that can begin slowly. For long evenings around the table. For the people you have wanted for so long simply to stay with and talk.
Not a hotel, but a house in the foothills of Rila where you can feel at home.
A village with eight centuries of stories
Badino is a small Rila village with a history much greater than its size.
Its name is associated with the time of Tsar Ivan Shishman and the Rila Charter of 1378, in which the settlement appears among the lands granted to the Rila Monastery. The story of the village's cross-shaped layout and of the Church of St. Demetrius, built at its heart, has been preserved to this day. Public local sources describe the church as a wooden, two-storey, three-nave building whose construction began in 1881.
And, as befits a place with such a past, Badino has a secret of its own.
An old legend tells that somewhere here a great golden treasure belonging to Tsar Ivan Shishman was hidden. Many have searched for it. Whether it is true, no one knows.
Perhaps it is better that way.
In the evening, beside the glowing embers of the barbecue, it somehow becomes easier to believe that old stories may contain a grain of truth.
Rila before your eyes
From Villa Badino, the view opens towards the northwestern hills of Rila.
Here the mountain is not scenery that you have to make a special trip to see. It is simply present — in the cool morning air, in the changing light throughout the day, and in the silence that settles in the evening.
And if you still feel like going somewhere, there is no need to start the car.
Only a few hundred metres from the villa, nature has sculpted curious earth formations that the locals call the Badino Pyramids. A short walk is enough to discover yet another face of the mountain.
Then again, sometimes there is no need to go anywhere at all.
You can simply stay.
Step into the warm outdoor jacuzzi when the air above Rila turns pleasantly cool.
Spend a lazy afternoon by the pool.
Let the warmth of the sauna do what the entire working week could not.
Light the barbecue, put something delicious on the table, and discover that somehow the evening has quietly become longer than usual.
Or simply sit outside.
No programme. No schedule. Nothing you have to do.
A place for the people you want to be with
Villa Badino was not created to achieve the anonymous feeling of a large hotel.
Two people who need a few quiet days can come here. A family that has not spent enough time together for far too long. Friends who keep promising to get together. Or an entire group that wants the house to belong only to them for a few days.
You can choose the accommodation that suits you or reserve the entire villa.
Because in the foothills of Rila, true luxury is not measured by the number of stars, but by the time stolen back for yourself, the silence, and the right people around you.