In this place was the birthplace of Father Neofit Rilski, with the secular name Nikola pop Petrov Katoshov, born in 1793, lived in the village of Banya until 1801

Neophyte Rilsky is a Bulgarian monk (abbot of the Rila Monastery), artist, teacher, linguist, one of the main educators and figures in the liberation movement of the first half of the 19th century.

While teaching in Gabrovo, Neophyte became famous for his translation of the New Testament and the Catechism into New Bulgarian, and he created a Bulgarian grammar and primer (1835).

Since Bulgaria was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, funds for the publication of Bulgarian textbooks had to be found independently.