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As early as 7000 years B.C., 3000 years before the Egyptians, traders from this land, now known as Bulgaria, had crossed up and down the Mediterranean. This long and winding history gave a source of not only great national pride but also an inspiration for a new national spirit. Much has perished through all these millennia, but even more has remained - a rich spiritual world which will shower you with the colours, rhythms and melodious songs of living Bulgarian folklore, the unfading beauty of Bulgarian arts and crafts, the gaiety and vivacity of Bulgarian festivals and customs, the piquant taste of Bulgarian cuisine and the delicate fragrance of Bulgarian wines.
Plovdiv region and the city, villages and towns therein, with its remnants of the Byzantine, Roman and Ottoman civilizations, count among their wealth an unusually diverse culture, parts of which have remained unchanged for centuries. In this section of Plovdiv Guide, we offer you a trip through the land which has been so richly endowed by God with elegant beauty and invite you to discover its traditions, customs and rituals.
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A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · All · |
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January . February . March . April . May . June . July . August . September . October . November . December |
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 | | Name day of everyone named Ivan, Vanyo, Vanya, Yoan/Ioan, Yoanna/Ioanna, Yonko/Yonka, Yoto, Ivaylo, Ivo, Ivona, Kaloyan, Jan/Jean, and Janna (whose names all have the basic meaning of `God`s blessing`. The traditional concept of St.Ivan (John) as the patron saint of “bestmanship” or “brotherhood” in general, determines the widely popular visits by the newly-wed couple to their best man’s family. more > |
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 | | Name day of everyone named Iliya, Iliana, Iliyan, Ilko, Ilka. St. Elias is one of the traditional feasts celebrated to preserve from hail or thunder. According to the traditional beliefs, St. Elias is the lord of thunders. The legends describe him as moving up in the skies in his gold chariot drawn by strong horses, looking to kill the dragon eating the wheat fields. more > |
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 | | Name day of everyone named Ignat (from the Latin, the name means ‘fire’), Ognyan, Ognyana. This feastday marks the beginning of the folk New Year. On the evening before, the mistress of the house prepares the table for Ignazhden – meatless dishes and a big bun, divided into pieces in the morning by the “crawler” (i.e. the first guest to the house). Then she takes with a spoon some of the boiled wheat and corn (chinichka), tastes some of it, and the rest she throws over the fire for the chicken to fly freely and the wheat to grow high. more > |
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The information on the customs, traditional feasts and church holidays in this current section of the PlovdivGuide has been taken from various sources: books, encyclopedias, guide-books, web sites. Most of the information on lives of saints has been taken from Orthodox Church and Catholic Church websites.
- Traditional Bulgarian Calendar – illustrated book, Editor-in-chief: Ass.Prof. margarita Vassileva; Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Encyclopedia , Vion Publishing House, Plovdiv 2003
- Bulgarian Feasts in Legends and Stories (in BG) – a book by Nikolay Nikov, Bulgarian Bestseller Publishing House, 2003
- Holidays of the Bulgarians in Myths and Legends
- Folklore Calendar of the Bulgarians– 2004
- Margarita online magazine (in BG)
- Feasts and Saints of the Church Year , Orthodox Church in America ,
- Saints and Feasts of the Orthodox Church , Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia,
- Greek Orthodox Icons , Orthodox Store
- Russian Icons
- Catholic Encyclopedia
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