Stob is a village in southwest Bulgaria, administratively part of Kocherinovo Municipality, Kyustendil Province. Located at the foot of the Rila mountains and not far from the Rila Monastery, Stob was first mentioned in the 7th century and has been in continuous or near-continuous existence since then. Stob is notable for the Stob Earth Pyramids, a natural rock phenomenon in the vicinity of the village.

Rila is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkan Peninsula and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an elevation of 2,925 m which makes Rila the sixth highest mountain range in Europe after the Caucasus, the Alps, Sierra Nevada, the Pyrenees and Mount Etna, and the highest one between the Alps and the Caucasus. It spans a territory of 2,629 km2 with an average elevation of 1487 m. The mountain is believed to have been named after the river of the same name, which comes from the Old Bulgarian verb "рыти" meaning "to grub".