St. John of Rila in Chicago, (Bulgarian: Църква Свети Иван Рилски, romanized: 'Tsurkva Sveti Ivan Rilski') is a historic church of the Orthodox Church of America located in Chicago, Illinois.
[1] After winning the highly competitive auction, the first services at the new beautiful church were celebrated on February 7, 1999.
[2] Today, St. John of Rila is an extremely important center for Bulgarians in Chicago because of the specificity of national churches in America to function not only as a place of worship, but also as an important social center devoted to maintaining the language, culture and tradition of the Bulgarian diaspora through Sunday schools and social gatherings.
Originally constructed in 1928, this beautiful brick and limestone church building has approximately 3,979 square feet (369.7 m2) above grade area, including a 552-square-foot (51.3 m2) balcony, overlooking the main church floor which seats approximately 216 people.
[2] The original interior has been adapted to conform to Eastern Orthodox liturgical requirements, and a traditional hand carved iconostasis has been installed.