The Rila monastery will be closed for visits two days before the Papal visit in Bulgaria, but will be opened the day before he comes to the monastery May 25 (www.popeinbulgaria.com). Even the monks from the monastery will be granted access only if they have special passes, issued for the occasion. All public places in a parameter of about 15 kilometers from the monastery will be closed, as well as those above it, located in proximity to the Partisan meadow, where the helicopter with the Pope will touch down. Only policemen and servicemen will be allowed to put up at the hotels in the monastery vicinity. At the monastery Pope John Paul II will visit only the Icon Hall, where he will be met by Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg. On his way to the hall he will pass on a wooden floor, covered with a red carpet.