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28
Feb
2021
Diverse Bulgaria – Part 2/4
Posted On 28.02.2021  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

Meet Bulgaria’s many ethnic minorities, from Turks to Russians and from Armenians to Jews   GYPSIES How many: 325,343 (2011 census) Where: Virtually everywhere, big communities in Sofia, Plovdiv, Sliven, Montana Language: Roma, Bulgarian, Turkish Religion: Islam, Eastern Orthodox, Evangelical denominations Who are they?   The first Gypsies appeared in […]

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19
Feb
2021
Diverse Bulgaria – Part 1/4
Posted On 19.02.2021  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

Exploring the monotonous streets of Bulgarian towns where the overwhelming majority of people are obviously Bulgarian, it may be hard to believe that multiculturalism existed in the Bulgarian lands a long time before the very term was coined in the West. Situated on what used to […]

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14
Feb
2021
14th february dilemma
Posted On 14.02.2021  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

The question “What to do on St Valentine’s Day?” can be frustrating. For those in a relationship, there is the what-to-buy-this-year horror, while for some singles there is the feeling of loneliness. The anti-globalists become incensed at the heart-shaped mania that is taking over the world […]

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31
Jan
2021
Cracking the mummers’code
Posted On 31.01.2021  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

The kukeri games are the successor of the antique Dionysus fêtes, festivities that celebrated the rebirth of nature in the spring. By putting on a mask, the kukeri make a symbolic connection with the spirits of their forefathers and assist them in providing fecundity to the […]

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24
Jan
2021
The time of mummers
Posted On 24.01.2021  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

For three consecutive days each year, Pernik is in the spotlight – as the host of Bulgaria’s foremost kukeri games. The antics of the kukeri, or mummers, are among Bulgaria’s most recognizable traditions, although you won’t come across them in everyday life. In olden times this […]

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15
Jan
2021
Malyovitsa Peak
Posted On 15.01.2021  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

The sublime seems woven into the very core of alpine mountains, and you will find it in abundance in the Rila and the Pirin, Bulgaria’s highest mountain ranges. Malyovitsa, the 2,729-metre high peak in the Rila, is the embodiment of natural drama. Its sharp rocky outline […]

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6
Jan
2021
Braving Epiphany
Posted On 06.01.2021  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

To be a man in Kalofer, a town of less than 3,000 inhabitants, is hard. Squeezed between the slopes of the Stara Planina mountains, Kalofer was supposedly founded by a legendary hothead brigand, Kalifer Voyvoda, and his men. There were so few women around that they […]

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30
Dec
2020
Best ski runs
Posted On 30.12.2020  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

Winter sports facilities in Bulgaria are enjoying a lot of investment interest. About half a billion euros have been put into hotels and holiday villages in Bansko alone. The Super Borovets project is expected to attract between 150 and 200 million euros by 2009 and there […]

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24
Dec
2020
Bulgarian Christmas
Posted On 24.12.2020  By Sirma Ivanova  And has No Comment

You’re an expat in Bulgaria this Christmas and you want to celebrate the winter holidays with the locals. But you are confused: Why are your usually easygoing neighbors banging on your door in the middle of the night or pouring grain over your head? Why does […]

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