The first steps are made under the cultural influence of Thracians, Proto-Bulgarians and Slavs (9th century). The national architecture quickly started shaping its own face. By the end of 10th century it has already freed itself from foreign influence and created its own appearence.

The Bulgarian architectural tradition namely blending to the environment, with stern and static forms is discernible today in the building of Boyana Church (suburbs of Sofia).

During the Second Bulgarian State (12th - 14th centuries) the enriched stylistic techniques were manifested in the Holy 40 Martyrs Church and in St Peter and Paul Church in Veliko Turnovo. Their peak is attained in the Nessebur churches of Pantocrator and Aleiturgetot.

The picturesqueness and mobility of the composition reached their perfection during the Bulgarian National Revival period (18th - 19th centuries) in great masterpieces such as Rila Monastery (the present day construction) and of course the Bulgarian National Renaissance houses.
Depending on the overall external appearence and decoration - wood-carving or murals - on the colouring of iron facings, the houses and architectural ensembles differ in the different regions.

Some places worth visiting:

Koprivshtitsa
The houses dated to the second half of the 19th century have exquisite painted facades and sunny verandahs, with carved ceilings and stylish European furnishings and rooms with harmoniously painted walls.

Tryavna
The houses, dated from the 19th century, are two-storey, covered with heavy stone tiles, with white timbered facade to the street, bay windows lacework eaves and spacious verandahs with high seats and settees.

Bozhentsi
Two-storey houses with white facades, dated from the 18th century, overgrown with ivy and laced with crane’s bill, heavy tiled roofs, decorative white chimneys, large roofed verandahs and yards steeped in verdure.

Kotel and Zheravna
Situated 14 km from each other, the houses are nearly the same. The stone-tiled roofs blend harmoniously with the surrounding mountain slopes. All the houses in Zheravna, without exception, look to the south. The ceiling and the doors are decorated with geometrical forms, stylized plants and animals. Austere houses with heavy gates that resemble minor fortresses are typical of Arbanassi, Melnik and Bansko.

Arbanassi
The village was the royal residence of the old capital city of Veliko Turnovo. The oldest stone buildings are richly decorated with carvings and wrought iron. They are recalling for the wealthy life of their former inhabitants.

Melnik
Large houses, dated back from 17th and 18th centuries. The lower ground floor is high, while the upper living quarters are overhanging the lower part and frequently have two rows of windows. The fireplaces continue into chimneys which are part both of the interior and the facade. The basement houses the cellar where the famous Melnik wine is aged.

Bansko
The town’s architecture resembles that of monasteries in many respects. The fortified house’s austere and inaccessible appearence is broken only by the spaceous verandah with carved columns and railings.

Nessebur
Houses with special charm, built during 18th - 19th centuries. They are of the Black Sea type, with stone basements, wooden staircases leading up to the living quarter with overhanging the lower round floor. They are faced with beams to protect the building from the humid salty air. Nessebur is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Old Plovdiv
Picturesquely situated on 3 hills, more ancient than Bulgaria itself, the city preserves the eternal values of its 6 millenia-long history like a huge pantheon. The town is one of the ancient crossroads between East and West with many landmarks remaining from Roman times.
The Bulgarian National Revival architecture (18th - 19th centuries) in the old town was created by Bulgarian master builders.
Along the steep cobblestone lanes, behind stone walls and iron-studded gates, rising silhouettes in warm colours, overhanging facades with many windows and striking details, shape the appearance of the Plovdiv symmetrical house.
Every house has its own style and atmosphere, its intimate world with carved ceilings and bright murals, with fine furniture from Venice, Vienna and London.

Veliko Turnovo
Veliko Turnovo has preserved the atmosphere of the Bulgarian National Revival times.
The old part embraces the architectural ensembles on Gurko street and in Samovodene marketplace. The distinct Turnovo building tradition is influenced by the terrain.

Stately buildings with bay windows and garrets are dug one above the other into the rocky hills.
The works of the self-taught master Nikola Ficheto are genuine architectural masterpieces. The old capital is part and parcel of the appearance of the modern city.

THE MYSTERY OF BULGARIA

Bulgaria’s strong traditions are reflected in its festivals and celebratory events. Marked by ritual songs, dances and costumes, they offer visitors perhaps the best glimpse into the country’s folkways and customs.

The traditions of the Thracians, Slavs and Bulgarians have been blended into a folklore and lifestyle variety that still amazes experts. The world has started talking about the Mystery of Bugarian songs and dances. A Bulgarian Rhodope folk song together with Bethoven’s Ninth Symphony travelling to the stars with Voyager spaceships is the Bulgarian message to alian civilisations! The world is discovering it again and again at major folklore and song contests in Italy, France, England, Ireland, etc. from which the Bulgarian music and dance ensembles invariably walk off with the first prizes.

The Bulgarian costumes and songs are very specific cultural phenomena which evolve during long historic development. The traditional folk costumes – casual, festive and ritual – differ from village to village.

The colourful folk fairs, singing contests and original folklore festivals in our country gather thousands of singers. musicians and dancers - performers of authentic folklore. Several generations of Bulgarians sing, play and dance there.

You will discover the key to the mystery, heart and soul of Bulgaria, if you attend one of the following folklore events:

The National Folk Festival in Koprivshtitsa held every 5 years in August - and the Eurofolk Festival in Koprivshtitsa - held every year in August;

The “Pirin sings” folklore festival - held every 2 years in August in the Predel locality (15 km from Bansko);

The “Rozhen Sings” National Fair and Singing Contest - held every year in August the large Rozhen col near Pamporovo winter resort;

The “Ilinden” - a big Rhodope festival of “cheverme” (Iamb roasted on a spit over an open fire) and the famous bagpipes. Held every year in early August near the village of Shiroka Luka;

The National Mummers Festival - held every five years in January in the town of Pernik;

The International Folk Festival in Bourgas - held every year in August;

The International Folk Festival in Veliko Turnovo - held every year in July and August.

Full of beauty, gaiety and a healthy love of life, the Bulgarian festivals and customs date hack to ancient times when man tried to appease the natural elements and trembled before their power.

The celebrations of Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Palm Sunday and Easter, the ritual mummers - KUKERI and fire-dancers - NESTINARI games have turned into a moral prescript and philosophy of fertility, health and prosperity.

Baba Marta - the most Bulgarian of all Bulgarian customs, not known anywhere else. The celebrations start every year on the 1st of March. People give one another as gifts MARTENITSA - tassels made of red and white threads, as a symbol of coming spring, health and happiness. They wear them pinned to their clothes until they first see a stork - the harbinger of spring.

The Rose Festival held every year in late May - early June, is both unique and incredibly colourful.

The entire Valley of Roses comes vibrantly alive. The rose-picking season starts at dawn, before sunrise and before the rose fragrance has had a chance to disappear. Young rose-pickers dressed in colourful national costumes make their way to the rose fields to the sounds of folk music.

This is the time of the Festival of Roses, dedicated to beauty, youth and hope. The festival is celebrated with carnivals, processions, folk songs and dances in the streets of Karlovo and Kazanluk.

As a long-standing tradition “King Seuth” and “Queen Rose” open it ceremoniously on the first day of the festival. And the carnival processions along the town streets mark its gala ending on the final day of the celebrations.

Gourmets all over the world have been attracted for ages by the temptations of Bulgarian cuisine. There are plenty of countries in the world boasting a varied and delicious cuisine, along with long-standing culinary traditions.

The methods used in Bulgarian cooking are not quite different from those used worldwide. You should try Bulgarian cuisine, for there are characteristic features which lend a specific taste and flavour to the dishes - namely those which have helped to make it popular far beyond the country’s borders.

Bulgarian cuisine skillfully combines and uses the “fruits of the earth” which have captured the Bulgarian sun. The thermal processing of products simmered slowly on low heat enables their nutritive qualities to be retained and makes the food taste much better.

The result is - mouthwatering dishes with SUPERB FLAVOUR AND TASTE.

The methods of preparation are different - for ages the Bulgarians have favoured stewing, roasting, boiling and… the earthenware dish. The roasting of food on charcoal embers is also widespread, leaving the meat deliciously, tender and succulent.

Bulgarian culinary is influenced both by the divercity of the nature and the clearly distinguished FOUR SEASONS.

The vegetables, fruits and spices are spread around the different seasons and are to be consumed fresh. In a similar manner, the use of meat also depends upon the season - lamb is more common in spring, light meat like chicken, veal and vegetarian meals are prevalent in summer. Pork meat prevales in winter. Fresh fish is consumed during the entire year.

Bulgarian culinary differs in geographical regions and abounds in delicious specialties and exotic dishes: Bansko-style kapama

(meat and vegetables stewed in an earthenware dish), Rhodope cheverme (lamb roasted on a spit over an open fire), Thracian katmi (special type of pancake) and Dobroudjanska banitsa (cheese pie), Danube fish soup and Sozopol-style mussels.

The cosy, typically Bulgarian folk-style restaurants will tempt you with Shopska salad and chilled grape brandy, stuffed vine leaves or peppers, kavarma the miller’s way, monastery-style hotchpotch, moussaka and kebab.

You can’t say “no” to the juicy-grilled kebabcheta, piquant kavarma baked in an earthenware

dish, delicious vegetarian dishes, the banitsa which simply melts in your mouth and the famous bulgarian kiselo mlyako (yoghurt).

The smell of oven-fresh bread rolls is mixed with the fragrance of savoury. Thinly sliced loukanka (flat dry sausage) from Smyadovo, pastarma, white and yellow cheese are temptingly arranged on ceramic plates.

Bulgarian cuisine has 3 very special food item varieties which are unique and have been a part of it back through the earliest of Thracian times:

SIRENE - a brined white cheese, produced from sheep, cow or buffalo milk, and is both used on the table and as an essential part of other foods - from Shopska salad to Banitsa.

KISELO MLYAKO (yoghurt) - sour milk, produced also from sheep, cow or buffalo milk, is a particular variety produced by the Lactobacterium Bulgaricum bacteria and grows no place else in the world. It has found an important part in many Bulgarian foods.

Bulgarians are also fond of AYRIAN - a beverage of water mixed with yoghurt. Bulgarians eat yoghurt in some form practically every day throughout their life.

CHUBRITSA - this plant, which botanists claim to be a species of the herb Satureia hortensis appears to grow particularly well upon Bulgarian soil.

It also shares certain characteristics with Oregano (Origanum vulgare). The dried leaves are crushed and sprinked on top of soups in the last few minutes of cooking or ground into a fine powder and used on bread like butter.

A part of the identity of Bulgarian cuisine is the art of wine-making because GOOD FOOD GOES DOWN WELL WITH CHOICE BEVERAGES.

The white wines - dry and sweet - are characterised by a tingling taste and a delicate aroma. Well-known labels include Misket, Traminer, Dimyat and Riesling. The red wines - from pink to dark red are full-bodied with a bouquet acquired in the process of maturing. The most popular red wines include Mavrud, Gamza, Merlot and Cabernet.

Aperitifs occupy a special place among Bulgarian drinks. The typical national drink (rakia) is a fiery brandy ritually consumed with a variety of appetizers (meze). It’s worth to try the “hot” plumb brandy from Troyan and the mellow aged grape brandy from Songurlare.

And finally, a cup of steaming coffee served with sweet jam, pancakes with honey and walnuts or baklava. Desserts tend to be overly sweet pastries and cream-filled cakes, but crepe-like pancakes (palachinki) filled with figs (smokini) are a good alternative.

The temptations are many - the choice is yours! GOOD APPETITE!

OTHER COOKERY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS:

SHOPSKA SALAD - a tasty mix of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions (and occasionally roasted peppers) topped by sirene (white brined sheep cheese).
BANITSA - thin sheets of dough spread alternately with mixture of eggs and white brined cheese (sometimes leeks or spinach), and butter.
KAPAMA - stew prepared in earthenware dish, containing meat, game, chicken and pickled cabbage.
KEBAB - stew made of meat cut into small pieces.
KEBABCHE - minced meat with seasonings, formed into rolls and grilled.
MOUSSAKA - dish made of minced meat and vegetables.
SURMI - mixture of rice and seasoning, or minced meat and seasonings, rolled in cabbage leaves or in vine leaves.

Viticulture and wine producing in the lands of present-day Bulgaria are an ageold tradition. Excavations from ancient settlements show grape seeds and berries dating back to 6,000 BC!

In Thracian times our geographical region was famous as a place where vines were planted and wine produced. The widespread cult of Dionysus found an expression in the depiction of vines, grapes, wine-cellars and ceremonies. Homer mentioned the area’s wines in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.

During the Roman times viticulture spread to the entire Balkan Peninsula. After Slavs and Bulgarians settled and founded the Bulgarian state in 681, they inherited the millennial experience accumulated in the sphere of viticulture and wine-making.

The amazing thing is that the same area may claim property to the first vine protection decree in 2nd century AD as well as to the first prohibitionist laws implemented in history by the Bulgarian Khan Krum during his reign in 8th century AD.

During the Middle Ages a large part of the land was the property of the monasteries, devoted chiefly to vine-growing. The wine aged in a cool monastery cellars was famous throughout the country. Many foreign travellers who visited Bulgaria between the 11th and 19th centuries highly praised the country’s wines.

Nowadays Bulgaria is one of the world largest wine producers together with France, Italy, Spain and Greece.

The Bulgarian red and white wines such as Mavrud, Melnik, Gumza, Dimiat, Pamid, Muskat, and Misket are well known to connoisseurs.

In general, South Bulgaria is known for its red wines, North Bulgaria - for its white wines.
Traditionally, Bulgaria boasts 5 wine-growing regions, specialized in the production of typical wines:

NORTHERN REGION

High quality wines are produced from a number of different grapes, red as well as white. The reds are made from the local Gamza as well as from the noble Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot varieties. Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc are the most prominent whites. This region is home to the fine wineries of Suhindol, Rousse and Shoumen. The whites from this region are well known in Europe, the USA and Japan.

EASTERN REGION

The wines from the Eastern region are made mostly from white grapes. Almost all renowned white grape varieties may be found along with the native Misket and Dimiat. Varna and Pomorie are the leading wineries of this region. They are greatly appreciated by Europeans, Americans and Japanese.

SUB-BALKAN REGION

These deep valleys have unique microclimates. The famous in Bulgaria Sungurlare Misket comes from here as well as the excellent Sungurlare Eau de Vie. White wines from different grapes are local specialty. Slavjantzi is a popular winery from this region.

SOUTHERN REGION

This region boasts almost Mediterranean climatic conditions - particularly good for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot production. The best Bulgarian variety grape - Mavrud grows in the Thracian Valley and nowhere else in the world.

It is only in Bulgaria, that the wine of the ancient Thracians is still produced and drunk - the full-bodied red Mavrud. Reds coming from this region are superb. Assenovgrad is the winery to note. The wines are well known in UK, Japan, the Scandinavian countries, Holland, Poland, Russia, etc.

SOUTH-WESTERN REGION

The Struma Valley runs along it and brings strong Mediterranean influence in terms of climate. Fine Cabernets are produced here. The specific local sort “Wide Melnik Vine” can grow only here and if carried to another place, it withers and fades away. Melnik wine conquered yet in 13 century the dining tables of the aristocracy from Venice, Genoa, Marseille, Barcelona, Paris, Liverpool.

This is an aromatic and hefty wine that ages very well and has its connoisseurs in many European countries but most of all in Scandinavian countries, Switzerland and England. Damianitza is the winery to note. Another interesting local variety is Keratzuda, a rose type produced only in the appellation of Kresna.

If you are not a veteran wine-traveller but love wine, you’ll find a wine-country expedition a rewarding adventure.

If you’re among those who are curious about wine, but not committed, a wine trip might be all it takes to start you on the path to serious appreciation.

For visitors that are serious about wine, our tours offer wine tasting of a variety of wines from different regions.

Customs
Kukeri
The masquerade games and customs in Bulgaria have an ancient origin and could be observed as inherent to the ancient heathendom. With their strange clothes made of fur, cut shirts or women’s clothes, sewn up of bands, a mixture of national costumes and animal masks and horrifying faces, with continuous ringing bells of different in size and sound, these masquerade games and customs with their lively dancing ritual steps reflect the eternal fight between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil. On the last Sunday before Lent, masked kukeri perform ritualistic processional dances to ward off evil spirits and ensure fertility at the onset of the growing season.

Customs
Baba Marta - Martenitsa
On the first of March we celebrate the beginning of spring. The day is called Baba Marta (or Grandma Marta in English). On that day you give a special present called a “martenitsa” to all the people you love. A “martenitsa” is small, two coloured and made of thread - white and red. Usually they (the martenitsas) look like a girl and a boy together. When someone gives you a martenitsa you should wear it either on your neck or pinned on your shirt until you see a stork. After that you can hang it on a blossoming tree for fertility.

Customs
Nestinarstvo (fire-dancing)
Nestinarstvo (Fire-dancing) is one of the most mysterious phenomena in Bulgarian history and folklore. May 21- the day of Saints Constantine and Elena -Nestinarstvo, or fire dancing; practitioners walk barefoot on hot coals in small rural villages in the Strandzha mountains (or increasingly in tourist resorts) in this pagan event marking the arrival of summer. It is believed that the ritual is descended from Dionysian rites practised by ancient Thracians. The mistress of the house got up long before sunrise to bake a fresh round loaf, decorated on top with different symbolical images and magic signs designed to ensure rich crops. She would also cook a chicken stuffed with rice, and fill up a buklitsa (a wooden wine bottle) with wine.

Specific cultural phenomena
The national costumes are very specific cultural phenomena which evolved over long historical development. They have long been a determinant of Bulgarian folk culture which gives a visual idea of the ethnic specificity and ethnographic variety of the Bulgarian people. The traditional costumes are exclusively home made products, born out of the women’s taste and creativity. Men’s participation in this process was insignificant. The traditional materials for clothing textiles were: flax, hemp, wool, silk and cotton. Leather had comparatively small application, used for typical Bulgarian footwear caller tsurvouli (a kind of sandals), and furs were used for kalpatsi (men’s fur caps). The composition of the Bulgarian national costumes is a complex one. It depended on the specific labour conditions and way of living.

The Bulgarian national costumes - a cultural phenomenon
The Bulgarian national costumes together with the language and song tradition had a long historical development which has turned them into a cultural phenomenon. The national costumes materialise the ethnic specificity and ethnographic diversity of the Bulgarian people. The traditional costumes were created by women’s taste and imagination. Usually men did not take part in this process. The most widely used materials were flax, hemp, wool, silk and cotton. Leather was seldom used, mainly for making the typical Bulgarian footwear called tzurvouli (moccasins). Men’s caps called kalpatsi were made of furs.

Types of costumes
Depending on the combination of the different articles of clothing, both men’s and women’s costumes are divided into several types. Top garments which determine the outer shape of the costumes are taken by the Bulgarian ethnography as a basis for classification.

Women’s national costumes
Women’s national costumes are divided into four groups depending on their cut and the way of wearing the top garments: with two aprons, with one apron, of the soukman type and the sayana. Depending on their cut and the colour of the cloth men’s costumes are divided into two groups – white and black.

Origin
Bulgarian poetic folk art originates in ancient times and has a centuries-old history. The first preserved records of the existence of folk singers and songs derive from the 9th and 10th centuries. Most of the folk songs date from the 17th century. Folk songs are an expression of the Bulgarian way of life through the ages, resulting from the historical and social fate of the country, from its experience and popular customs. Bulgarians enrich the folk songs with their best qualities - diligence, honesty, steadiness, loyalty, wit and love of freedom. The songs grow from the inner needs of the creators to give expression of their thoughts and experience. They are sung on sad and joyful days - in the fields, in the meadows, on working-bees, playing the Bulgarian ring dance, called HORO, in the gathering places of the rebels - called HAIDOUTI. Their creators are the folk singers - people with poetical and musical talent. The songs as well as the fairy tales, riddles, proverbs and sayings are a product of joint creative work. As the folk songs were spread by word of mouth they changed and had many versions. Since the books were not easily accessible to the working people, folklore and songs were the source of their experience, wisdom and knowledge. According to their subject Bulgarian folk songs are ritual songs, labour songs, customs songs, historical, heroic and songs about the Haidouti.

Ritual folk songs
These songs are connected with the family and calendar celebrations. According to the holiday, on which they are sung they are Lazarus songs, Christmas songs, Easter songs and songs dedicated to Saint George. With the ritual songs people express their wish for health, fruitfulness, rain etc. These songs are usually cheerful and have a holiday mood.

Labour folk songs
They are the oldest. They were created in the process of labour. Labour songs are songs sung by the craftsmen, harvesters,shepherds and people working for their living abroad. These songs are usually lyrical and they glorify diligence.

Customs folk songs
These songs express emotions and thoughts, caused by various occurrences and events from family life. Customs songs are divided into love songs, wedding and family songs. The most numerous are wedding songs. Customs folk songs reveal the concepts of the Bulgarian for family life and personal relationships.

Heroic folk songs
They are connected with the historical fate of the Bulgarian people. They were created between the 14th and 16th centuries. Most of them reflect the first years of the Osmanli yoke. They are based on various sayings and legends about historical persons. Especially popular are Momchil and Krali Marko. Heroic songs are an expression of the patriotism and philanthropy of Bulgarians.

Historical and haidouti folk songs
They reflect important events from the life of Bulgarians and reveal their historical destiny. The heroes are historical persons and common people. These songs are mostly connected with the Osmanli yoke.

Bulgarian wines and wine production

History
The Thracian tribes worshipped the god Dyonissios as the patron of wine. With the establishment of the Bulgarian state in 681 AD the Bulgarians inherited the experience and the traditions of the local population in the cultivation of grapes and wine-producing. The winery that was found in the region of Preslav dating from the 7th to 10th century AD is a testimony to that.

Wine industry
Today, grape growing and wine production play an important role in the Bulgarian economy. The wine industry contributes to the steady development of rural regions and infertile areas, maintains the ecological balance, and encourages the appropriate and efficient use of the country’s resources.

Favourable conditions
There are numerous types of grapes and wines. The great number of sunny days in the southern parts of the country favours the red wine species, and in the North the white wine ones.

Prominent varieties
Red Wines: Cabernet Sauvignon from Svishtov, Sliven, Yambol, and Oryahovitsa; Mavrud from Assenovgrad and Perushtitsa; Merlot from Stambolovo and Sakar; Gamsa from Pleven, Suhindol and Novo Selo; Wine from Melnik.

Prominent varieties
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 Bourgas . Muskat from Pomorie and Varna