BULGARIA

Project “Promoting the bilateral relations and analyzing the Icelandic model for prevention”Contract № BG 01-002/12.06.2015

Supported by the Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level for Bulgaria under the EEA FM and NFM 2009-2014

Sofia is…….

….the largest city in Bulgaria -1 200 000 people live in it; …. the economic, educational and cultural center of the country’ …..an ancient city with a rich history;

The city was founded by the Thracians. The population of the country is around 7 265 000 people

Historical facts: Bulgaria was founded in 681. It is one of the oldest countries in

Europe. Pliska was the first Bulgarian capital. National day: The 3rd of March is the day on which we celebrate

the Liberation from Ottoman rule and it is Bulgarian national day.

Republic of Bulgaria

Bulgaria has an actual yellow brick road. A gift given to the capital city of Sofia in the early 1900’s by the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a wedding gift to Tsar Ferninand I, the yellow brick road can be found in Sofia’s center directly in front of all the major administrative buildings. Take caution in the rain though as the bricks can get quite slippery!

Did you know that Bulgaria… ….ranks first in the world in the production

of lavender. a country in which, if you nod vertically you

want to say "no" and in the rest of Europe is "yes", but if you shake your head horizontally that means you want to say "yes."

produces the best yogurt in the world, because only in our country it is possible to find the unique bacterium Lactobacillus bulgaricus, which is used to make it.

Have an old ritual called Nestinarstvo. It involves a barefooted dance on embers.

…not captured battle flag.

Bulgarian cities Plovdiv is the second biggest city in Bulgaria and it had

been chosen to be European capital of culture in 2019. The oldest traces of settlement of today's Plovdiv dating from about 6000 BC and Plovdiv is the 6th oldest city in Europe.

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo had been a capital during the second

Bulgarian kingdom.

Burgas Burgas is the second biggest city on the Bulgarian the

Black Sea coast.

There are more than 4500 caves in Bulgaria. For many of them there are unique legends. Almost all have been tested and are open to tourists. One of the most popular cave animals are troglobites. In the world have been found 121 species, and in Bulgaria you could find 95 of them

Vitosha Nature Park is the first park in Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula. The Nature Park is located near the capital city - Sofia.

The Wonderful Bridges The Wonderful bridges are rock phenomenon, located in the Western

Rhodopes at 1,450 m altitude.

The Valley of the Roses The Valley of Roses is area in Bulgaria, situated south of the Balkan

Mountains and north of Sarnena Central Forest. The valley is famous for its rose cultivation for industrial purpose and is one of the symbols of Bulgaria. In there for centuries Bulgaria cultivate Rosa damascena. From it, by distillation and other processes, we obtain rose oil, which is widely used in the pharmaceutical, perfumery and others. Bulgarian rose oil has won gold medals at exhibitions in Paris, London, Philadelphia, Antwerp, Milan….

The 7 Rila Lakes Seven Lakes is a group of glacial lakes located in the Rila Mountains. This is

the most visited by tourist’s lake group in Bulgaria and one of the hundred national tourist sites. The first three lakes – The Tear, The Eye and The Kidney - drain each separately in The Gemini, from which the water passes through The Trefoil, The Fish and The Lower Lake.

Bulgarian nature

There are islands in Bulgaria! In addition to various islands found on the rivers flowing through Bulgaria, there are 5 islands found off the Bulgarian coast in the Black Sea. Most are uninhabited, although as of 2014 the island of St. Anastasia is open for visitors and tourst

Nearly one third of Bulgaria is covered in forests and this shouldn’t be too surprising given the fact that there are over 40 mountains on its territory. Needless to say, they are all great for skiing and mount aineering. The highest point is Musala peak at Rila mountain - 2925 m.

Cyrillic -In 865 the brothers Cyril and Methodius created the Bulgarian alphabet. It is assumed that it is based on their other Slavic alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet, but with the added characteristic letters corresponding to phonetic language features, it becomes unique. The greatest contribution to the spread of Cyrillic alphabet, disciple of Cyril and Methodius, has Kliment Ohridski.

The first of March - The tradition dictates that on 1 March each year Bulgarians decorate themselves with Pijo and Penda for health and against the evil eye. They call them - Martenici. In its classic form Martenitsata represent twisted white and red thread. Colors have a strict sense: red - blood and life, and white - purity and happiness.

Yordanov day - This festival has different names in different areas of the country, some of them are Holy Cross, or Voditsi Vodokrashti. The holiday is so called because on that day everyone who wants to be healthy during the year are taking bathes or at least wash themselves in the river. On this day, wherever there is water, the local church makes a ritual which consist in throwing the cross. After the removal of the cross form the water in the church they serve liturgy called Great ceremony. That is it how they updated the holy water in the temples.

Mummers/ Kukeri custom - Bulgarian mummers are carnival figures - men, disguised as animals or typical characters (grandmother, grandfather, king publican), always with masks on their heads, often with bells belt and coats with fur outside. The mummers dance in the streets to scare evil spirits and banish the cold and they performed symbolic ritual for health and fertility.

Bulgarian culture and traditions

The Madara Horseman Dating back to the VII century, "Madara Horseman" is the oldest rock relief in Europe. Madara Horseman is a medieval bas-relief

carved on a cliff near the present village of Madara in north-eastern Bulgaria, a UNESCO monument of world cultural heritage.

The oldest processed gold in the world The Necropolis near Varna are gold objects produced 6,000 years ago and they are recognized form the historical science to be the

oldest processed gold in the world. In Varna they keep the oldest gold on Earth. It was found in the Varna Necropolis. They believed that the findings of the "Varna Gold" is the oldest technological processed gold in Europe and worldwide.

The Chiprovski carpets are handmade carpets, with two identical faces. It is part of the Bulgarian national heritage, traditions and crafts. Its name comes from the town of Chiprovtsi, where in the XVII century they started to weave them. This unique and typical Bulgarian craft flourished during the Renaissance. Its main colors are yellow, brown, red, blue and green. The carpets are woven from natural materials - cotton and wool and dominated by geometric figures like motives.

Rakiq - Traditional Bulgarian alcohol.

Mineral water In Bulgaria you could find all kind of our mineral waters in the planet. The healing qualities of the Bulgarian mineral springs were known from antiquity.

Near to the mineral springs in Bulgaria there are fellowed health centers from centuries like: Hisar - ancient Augusta, Kyustendil – Pautalia, Burgas Mineral Baths - Aquae potassium, Sapareva bathroom – Germanea, the bathrooms of Sliven -Tanzos and Sofia - Ulpia Serdica. More than 600 hydromineral sources in Bulgaria are with flow 270 million liters per day. The majority of them are warm or hot, rising from the depth, which guarantees the purity and their healing properties.

The Shopska salad The Shopska salad is a Bulgarian national dish. It represents a salad of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, raw or preferably roasted peppers, onions, fresh

parsley and grated or crumbled feta cheese. The dressing is from vegetable oil (or olive oil) and eventually - wine or cider vinegar.

Bread with colored salt By old Bulgarian custom every dear and expected guest at the home of the owners should be welcome with warm bread, served with colorful salt.

Bulgarian traditional cuisine

Bulgaria is the third country sent food into space after the United States and the Soviet Union and the first in creating a space greenhouses. Bulgarian space food is the work of scientists from the Institute of Cryobiology and lyophilization, which develop advanced biotechnology for cold curing and drying of biological materials in a vacuum.

Bulgarian folk song into space Bulgarian folk song "Izlel is Delio haidytin" sung by Valya Balkan,

is selected for the musical message from Earth to outer space. Since 1977 she traveled on the "Voyager" 1.

Old Bulgarian calendar Several millennia BC the old Bulgarians create one of the most

accurate systems for measuring the length of Earth's year. The old calendar is recognized by UNESCO as the most accurate calendar in the world.

The first woman participant in the combat flight For the first time in the world a woman is involved in combat flight

during the Balkan war – this women is Raina Kassabova. During the Balkan War (1912-1913) Kassabova is 15 years old and is a volunteer at the field hospital near Edirne.

Bulgarian achievements and curious facts

There is solid historical evidence that wine has been produced on the territory of what is now modern-day Bulgaria ever since the Stone Age. Today the country has earned the reputation of a world-class wine producer.

The only nations in the world that use the bagpipe as an instrument are Scotland, Ireland and Bulgaria. Bulgarians take pride in their gaida, a bag typically made of sheep or goat hide connected to a three-section pipe, a shorter pipe, and a blowpipe. The Bulgarian bagpipe is called the kaba gaida, which is larger and with a lower pitch than the gaidas of other southeastern European countries. In May 2012, 333 Bulgarian bagpipe players played a 9-minute medley of folk songs, setting a world record in bagpipe performance recognized by the Guinness Book of Records.

"Name Days" are celebrated in addition to birthdays in Bulgaria. As a matter of fact, most Bulgarians value their ‘Name Day’ more than their birthday. A Name Day, or "Saints Day" is celebrated by people named after a particular Saint.

Thank you for your attention!

Reporter: Mariya Yurukova

/01 – 02 October 2015/ City of Reykjavik

Promoting the bilateral relations and analyzing the Icelandic model for prevention

www.spoc-s.comhttp://eeagrants .org/