General :: Copy Directory (Local) From Terminal And Show Progress Bar?

I am new both here and in Linux. As the subject says, I would like to learn how to copy a directory (not a file) from terminal with progress bar showing. The copy is local, i.e., not to another computer. My distro is CentOS 5.5. I know that if I do it with nautilus I would see the progress, but I want to learn how to do it from the terminal. I know that PV command can show a progress bar, but from what I saw, it works well for files, but not for directories (recursive).

Is it possible to use PV for directories? If yes, could you please show me the syntax? I also saw that some people mentioned that rsync can also show a progress bar, I tried to do it, but it didn't work out - perhaps I got the syntax wrong. If rsync can really be used to copy directories with progress bar, show me the syntax? Any other ideas on how to do it? I would like ideas that do not involve using any script, i.e., just something that I can do using the regular commands.