BULGARIA: GENERAL INFORMATION
OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Bulgaria
TERRITORY: 111 000 square km.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: South-eastern Europe in the north-eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. To the North it borders with Rumania; to the West, with Republic of Macedonia and Yugoslavia; to the East, with the Black Sea and to the South, with Greece and Turkey
CAPITAL: Sofia ( 1 141 000 inhabitants)
POPULATION: 8 428 006 inhabitants
RELIGION: 86,6% East-Orthodox Christianity; 13 % muslims. The Bulgarian Church is autonomous and it is ruled by the Patriarch
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Bulgarian
ALPHABET: Cyrillic
CURRENCY UNIT: BGL (Lev)
GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary Republic
MAIN CITIES: Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse
OFFICIAL HOLIDAYS:
January 1st : New Year
March 3rd : Day of the Liberation from the Ottoman domination
Easter: Two days - Sunday and Mondays as determined for the respective year for celebrating Pascha (East-Orthodox Easter is usually one week after the Catholic one)
May 1st : International Labour Day
May 6th : St. George’s Day
May 24th: Day of the Bulgarian Culture and Slavonic Letters
September 6th : Bulgaria’s unification- National Holiday
September 22nd : Bulgaria’s independence
December 25th and 26th : Nativity of Christ
CLIMATE: Temperate continental climate with four seasons. In the south an impact of the Mediterranean climate is felt. The average annual air temperature is 10.5єC (51 F). In January the average temperature is 0єC. In summer seldom is over 30єC.
RELIEF: With variety of natural forms: the mountains occupy half of this country’s territory. Mountains and valleys reach the level of the Black Sea Coast.
CULTURE
Bulgaria has 36 culture reserves, 160 monasteries, some 40 000 monuments of history, 7 of which on the UNESCO world heritage list.
There are several monuments from various historic eras: prehistoric finds, Thracian tombs, artefacts from the Hellenic age, Roman and Byzantine castles, historic monuments from the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdoms, from the National Revival period, as well as entire towns and villages which have preserved their authentic looks.
The oldest gold in Europe was found in a necropolis in Varna. Famed all over the world are: the Valchitran gold treasure (the Bronze age), the Panagyurishte, the Vratsa, the Lukovit and the Letnitsa gold treasures (dating around 4 c. BC) and the Rogozen royal silver treasure.
Bulgaria is scattered with several monasteries and churches. Some of the most visited are: the Rila, the Bachkovo, the Rozhenski, the Troyan, the Zemenski, the Preobrazhenski (Transfiguration) and the Aladja monasteries. Also arousing big interest are the hundreds of churches which have preserved unique samples of the Bulgarian iconography, zograph (icon-painting), wood-carving schools and old manuscripts.
FOLKLORE AND CUSTOMS
Sourvakars.- Boys going from house to house wishing people a Happy New Year slapping them ritually with an ornamented twig for health and prosperity
Martyr Triffon Zarezan (Pruner).- Vine-dresses’ day -first pruning of the vines
Saturday of Lazarus.- Dancing to the accompaniment of ritual songs for the Day - a ritual dedicated to the fields, pastures, forests and young girls: Lazarki, performed for health, happiness and fertility
Rose Day.-Celebrates the start of rose-picking
Nestinars.- A ritual bare-feet dance on live coal (fire dancing).
Major folk festivals:
International Folk Festival, Bourgas, in the second half of August. Annual
Festival of the Rose, Kazanlak. In early June. Annual
Folk Festival in the town of Koprivshtitza, a true holiday of Bulgarian folklore at which singers and musicians gather and perform authentic Bulgarian folk and pop music, held every fifth year
International Festival of the Koukers (mummers) and masquerade games-held every other year in the town of Pernik
CUISINE
Salads and hors d’euvres:
Shoska salata.- Bulgarian national salad of fresh vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley) and finely grated white-brined sheep-milk cheese
Kyopolu.- Roasted and ground aubergine with garlic and walnuts
Chushki-byurek.- Peppers stuffed with white-brined cheese and fry -panned in egg
Shoppi cheese.- White-brined cheese with tomatoes and peppers baked in earthenware
Soups:
Tarator.- Refreshing cold summer-time soup of yoghurt and cucumbers
Monastic bean soup.- Soup of white beans
Green soup.- Soup of sour dock, parsley, parsnip and dock
Kourban.-Soup of mutton and vegetables
Dishes:
Kavarma.- Water-mill styled- bits of meat cooked with onion
Gyuvetch Sredna Gora mountain.-Hotchpotch of various vegetables baked with meat
Broiled veal.- Veal roll
Sarmi.- Rolls of dock or cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and minced meat
Rhodope cheverme.-Lamb baked on a brochette
Stuffed peppers with minced meat.
Shishcheta.-Brochettes
Kyufteta and kebapcheta.- Minced meat balls or fingers-shaped.
Desserts:
Sheep yooghurt
Dairy banitsa.- Bakery product with white-brined sheep-milk cheese.
Katma.- Hot-cakes with honey and walnuts
Bulgarian wines:
Bulgarian wine tradition dates back to the era of Thracians. There are several types of vines and vine plantations. The great number of sunny days in the southern parts of the country favours the red wine vine species, while in the North -white wine ones.
Red wines:
Cabernet Sauvignon from Svistov, Sliven, Yambol and Oryahovitsa
Mavrud from Assenovgrad and Perushtitsa
Merlot from Satmbolovo and Sakar
Gamsa from Pleven, Suhindol and Novo Sello
Melnik from the city of Melnik
White wines:
Traminer Khan Krum from Preslav and Shoumen
Aligote from Lyaskovets
Misket from Straldja
Sauvignon Blanc from Targovishte
Chardonnay from Rousse and Slavyantsi
Rose from Burgas
Muskat from Pomorie and Varna
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