WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

Tue, 04/26/2011 - 09:41

Under Communism, this was a "closed" town and access to it was prohibited as it was perilously close to the border with capitalist Greece.

where in bulgaria are you 55-56.jpg
© Anthony Georgieff

In a way, its remoteness and inaccessibility did something positive for it: the town eschewed the fate that befell similar Bulgarian settlements that were either rendered derelict as a result of the collapse of planned economy or were rapidly turned into concrete tourist complexes of the sort seen on the Black Sea coast.

Now it advertises itself as the only Bulgarian "private open-air ethnographic museum." A nearby ostrich farm is a major attraction for kids, and a newly-opened border crossing with Greece makes the journey from southern Bulgaria to the Aegean invitingly short.

Where in Bulgaria are you?

Issue 55-56

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