WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

by Stamen Manolov; photography by Anthony Georgieff

One of the most moving Bulgarian holidays is the midnight celebration of the Orthodox Easter

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By far surpassing Christmas, which in the local tradition is mostly a family dinner feast in the middle of a cold, dark winter, Easter is in spring. It indicates both the rebirth of nature and the rejuvenated crave for life, with religious symbolism, though strictly adhered to, playing the second fiddle. The Orthodox Easter rarely coincides with the Western one, owing to a very complicated metathetical, astronomical and clerical argument that dates back to the early Middle Ages. In 2026, it comes relatively early, on the 12th of April.

Without a doubt, some of the best places to observe the Bulgarian Easter is at an Orthodox monastery, of which there are several hundreds and which this journal has visited and reported on through the years. Of those one of the lesser ones, situated on the northern slopes of the Balkan mountain range and just up the road from this country's oldest theme park, is a very good choice.

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where in bulgaria.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Made in 1949, it shows Moscow as the greatest and most important European city (sorry, London), omits to mention the existence of Dublin, but points out to a "world-famous" location called Magnitogorsk in what at the time was the Soviet Union.
where in bulgaria are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Whereas in the West it signifies the introduction of Baby Jesus to the magi, in the East it celebrates Christ's baptism by St John in the Jordan river and the simultaneous appearance of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
where in bulgari are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
To reach it you have climbed and climbed and climbed for hours on end, starting from a mountain chalet called Bezbog, or Godless.
where in bulgaria are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
The city was cosmopolitan and rather rundown, part Danubian and part post-Ottoman – a place where one could drink a huge Viennese coffee in a brightly lit coffee shop that served both Mitteleuropean cakes and pretzels, and Middle Eastern kataifi and baklava
where in bulgaria are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
A look into its history will reveal why. Though it has medieval origins, after the 1878 liberation from the Ottomans the village was populated by ethnic Bulgarian immigrants from the Banat, now in Romania, Hungary and Serbia.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Situated in the heart of what is probably Bulgaria's best farming land, it has a rich history of which... almost no material heritage remains.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
In Antiquity and onwards the area developed as a thriving centre for mining lead, iron, silver, gold and copper. As it happened, one of the first Bulgarian rebellions against the Ottomans originated here, in the 17th century.
where in bulgaria are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Cultivating the rose bushes is difficult enough, but the real challenge comes with picking up the buds: it can be done only within a few weeks in May and early June, and only very early in the morning.
where in bulgaria are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Besides the fortress, it sports plenty of Ottoman-era heritage, including a well-preserved city wall, a post office, a cross-shaped barracks and perhaps the most eccentric mosque this side of the Bosporous.
where in bulgaria are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
A successful negotiation of the cobbled streets, which can become treacherously slippery in wet weather, will open up a new world for you, both out- and indoors.
where in bulgaria are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Men and women in bathing suits partake, come rain or shine, of some hot mineral springs that flow freely through the yellowish mud. A very un-orthodox church with bold, non-Christian-like murals stands nearby.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Come Yuletide, and the streets swarm with adult men dressed in what appears to be a combination between early 20th century gendarme uniforms and traditionally embroidered white shirts.