BULGARIA’S CHARM AND ATTRACTIVENESS

24 House Daily (5 March 2003)

You may think the good old Europe is so familiar to you that it can hardly surprise you with something new. But…

Do you know which the oldest country in Southeast Europe is?
This is Bulgaria. It was founded in 681 and is the oldest Slavonic country.

You use the Latin alphabet. And do you know what alphabet the Russian president Vladimir Putin uses?
If you think it is the Russian one, you will make a mistake. Truly, the Russians and many other nationalities use an alphabet specially created for them. However, the origins of this alphabet come from Bulgaria.
According to the legend, the letters were a gift from God, delivered to Bulgaria via the phenomenal talent of the brothers Cyril and Metodius in 855/62. They died as saints and were canonized by the Roman-Catholic Church.

Where was the oldest civilization discovered?
If you say in Bulgaria, this time you won’t make a mistake. The oldest processed gold in the world was discovered near the popular Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Varna and dated back to V century B.C. In Bulgaria was found the world’s oldest bone incrustation.

Do you know what the so popular around the world name Sofia means?
Sofia means wisdom. This is the name of the Bulgarian capital. If you stay in Sheraton Hotel in the centre of Sofia, you will be able to view the oldest basilica in Bulgaria ‘St. Sofia’ just from the window. In the presidency yard is the oldest rotunda of the country – ‘St. Georgi’.

On the whole, wherever you go in Sofia, you are capturing the living history. Going in the subways, for example, you are stepping on Roman paths, dating around 2000 years back, massive, polished by the ancient people’s feet stabstones.

Everybody knows what the Renascence is and where its origins come from. But is there a place around the world where the first indicators of this epoch appeared a century earlier?
This place is extremely close to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. A Bulgaria nobleman in VIII century built a family church in the near village of Boyana. The images in this church strongly resemble the old Italian masters’ pictures from XIV century but are created a century earlier.

Do you know how Bulgaria falls into the zone of the historic darkness?
In XIV century the Ottoman peoples invaded in Europe. The Bulgarian Kingdom could not stop them but quite delayed them and made them weaker. The Ottomans reached Vienna but gradually they stepped back and stayed only in Eastern Europe.
What would have happened to Europe, if the Bulgarians hadn’t strongly resisted the Ottomans? Bulgaria stayed 500 years in an Ottoman yoke. Do you know anything about some other people who resisted the misery for so many years and didn’t give up from its language, religion and national self-awareness?
Have you heard something about Starosel?
The answer would probably be ‘NO’. That’s because it is a recently discovered by the archeologists ancient religious complex dating back to around IV-VI century B.C. During this period in the Eastern European parts used to live Thracians. They feasted when a relative of theirs died because they believed that he would go to a better world. And they mourned when a baby was born.
The Danish queen Margarete II already visited the perfectly preserved ancient churches and as an archeologist by education she evaluated them as significant.

If you want to see and feel the oldest European history, come to Bulgaria. Don’t forget your bathing suite during summer and your ski equipment during winter. You will certainly need them and will be happy with your choice.

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