WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

Wed, 06/28/2023 - 22:05

It may be not be particularly large, but this church took years to build in the late 19th century and was consecrated as late as 1914

where in bulgaria are you.jpg

Referred to by everyone as just "The Russian Church," its initial purpose was to serve the Russian emigres in town. It was erected on Russian land and its maintenance was given to the Russian legation nearby. When the Bolsheviks took power in 1917, two things happened. Firstly, the Soviet diplomatic corps neglected it and, second, the number of White Russian emigres increased manyfold. Understandably, The Kremlin did not like that. In the 1930s, when Stalin had already ascended to power, he granted use of the other Russian churches in Bulgaria, namely at Shipka and Yambol, to the Bulgarian nation provided they would be governed by Bulgarian dioceses and no Russian emigre would be given any position of authority. This one, however, remained the property of the Russian embassy, and since 1953 has been governed directly by Moscow.

A GUIDE TO THE STRANDZHA

Email your answers to editorial@vagabond.bg and you can win a copy of A GUIDE TO THE STRANDZHA

HTB2

Issue 201

Commenting on www.vagabond.bg

Vagabond Media Ltd requires you to submit a valid email to comment on www.vagabond.bg to secure that you are not a bot or a spammer. Learn more on how the company manages your personal information on our Privacy Policy. By filling the comment form you declare that you will not use www.vagabond.bg for the purpose of violating the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. When commenting on www.vagabond.bg please observe some simple rules. You must avoid sexually explicit language and racist, vulgar, religiously intolerant or obscene comments aiming to insult Vagabond Media Ltd, other companies, countries, nationalities, confessions or authors of postings and/or other comments. Do not post spam. Write in English. Unsolicited commercial messages, obscene postings and personal attacks will be removed without notice. The comments will be moderated and may take some time to appear on www.vagabond.bg.

0 comments

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

Discover More

where-in-bulgaria_0.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
A tiny church is perched on a steep rock overlooking the narrow gorge of the Chepelarska River.

where-in-bulgaria_1.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Communism collapsed in 1989, however, and since then the grounded man-made UFO has ran to seed.

where in bulgaria_0.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
It has several millennia of history, but some of the most fascinating locations to visit date only to the 19th century.

where in bulgaria_1.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
They have probably visited the sanctuaries at Begliktash by the Black Sea and Belintash in the Rhodope. Tatul, the supposed resting place of Orpheus, is probably high on their list.

where in bulgaria_4.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
The mountains contain everything you imagined about the Balkans, and more.

where in bulgaria_5.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
One such place, just a few miles away from the Sofia-Burgas motorway, astounds with its truly surreal colours that evoke Death Valley in California.

where in bulgaria are you 147.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
It has retained plenty of its quaint charm, but at the same time is one of the few Bulgarian small cities that has eschewed the pitfalls of post-Communism. In fact, its economy after 1989 has done remarkably well.

where in bulgaria are you 146.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
The roads it used to connect have long been defunct and in fact are impossible to identify. But the bridge is still there. Owing to its subtle, sometimes even ominous charm it has gained a nickname, The Devil's Bridge.