Main Cities

Sofia - the capital of Bulgaria. Sofia is a dynamic Eastern European capital, distinguished by its unique combination of European and Communist-style architecture as well as many beautiful orthodox churches.

 

Plovdiv - second-largest city in Bulgaria, it is a very important economic, cultural and educational center.

 

Varna - is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv.

 

The culture and tradition of Bulgaria dates back to more than 1300 years. It is mixture of Christian and non-Christian traditions, there is also a huge influence from Turkey and Russia. Official holidays are Christmas, New Year, Easter, the 3rd March is the National Independence day, the 24th May is the day of Cyrillic alphabet since the Bulgarian brothers Cyril and Metody are considered for the creators of Cyrillic alphabet.

Kukeri is a Bulgarian tradition, which is celebrated to assure the arrival of Spring – it is spectaculars dance, performed by masked men. Bulgaria is famous with a dance, called Horo-his distinctive feature of Balkan folk music is the asymmetrical meter, built up around various combinations of 'quick' and 'slow' beats.

Some of the most typical Bulgarian crafts are tapestry, embroidery, pottery, iconography, woodcarving, rose-oil products and so on.

 

Famous Bulgarian people

• Elias Canetti - Bulgarian-born writer, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981.
• John Atanasoff - Inventer of the first electronic computer.
• Christo Yavashev - Internationally acclaimed modern artist.
• Gena Dimitrova - Opera singer.
• Histo Btoichkov - Football player.
• Silvie Vartan - Rock singer.
• Kaloyan Mahlianov - Sumo fighter.

Cuisine

The traditional Bulgarian cuisine is similar to the Mediterranean one , includes a lot of fresh vegetables, pork, white cheese, yogurt.

Shopska salad - sliced fresh vegetables and feta cheese. Shopska salad and a small cold rakia are very common entrée before the main course in Bulgaria.

Mekitsa - it is fried dough, which we eat with powder sugar, honey or cheese.

Tarator - a typical Bulgarian cold soup, made of yogurt and water, fresh cucumber, garlic , dill, could be served with sliced nuts.

 

Basic words in Bulgarian