A presentation of Bulgaria by Lili Tsoneva

2. • Bulgaria is a small and really beautiful country in
southern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the
north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and
Turkey to the south and the Black Sea to the east.
east

3. • Bulgaria was established in 681 AD but
remains of inhabitants were found in 44,000
BC. The First Bulgarian Kingdom ended in
1018 AD and then, in 1185 AD started the
Second Bulgarian Kingdom.
• Bulgaria is a republic now. Its capital and
largest city is Sofia.
Sofia is situated in the foot of Tsarevets is a medieval stronghold
Vitosha mountain from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom

4. St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral
The National Palace of Culture - Sofia

5. • The climate in Bulgaria is temperate. In hot
summer you can go to coastal resorts like Golden
Sands, Sunny beach, Nessebar and Albena. In
winter there is lots of snow in the mountains.
Winter tourist centres, such as Borovets, Bansko,
Pamporovo and Vitosha are picturesque and
popular ski resorts.

9. Traditions
 Bulgarians have venerable
traditions-Baba Marta,
Kukeri, Nestinarstvo, etc.
 Bulgarians may wear the
martenitsa - an adornment
made of white and red yarn
and worn on the wrist or
pinned on the clothes —
from March 1 until the end of
the month. The white thread
represents peace and
tranquility, while the red one
stands for the cycles of life.

10. • Many legends and myths abound of how the martenitsa's
colours arose. One of them is the story of Khan Koubrat, the
founder of Bulgaria, who was nearing the end of his life. He
knew this and asked his sons to vow to keep the various Bulgar
tribes together to defend the country. However, soon after Khan
Koubrat's death, their land was invaded by the Khazars. They
took over the capital and kidnapped Khan Koubrat's daughter,
Houba. Of the five sons, one, Bayan, joined with the Khazars in
an attempt to stay with his sister. Another, Kotrag, moved
northwards and the other three, Asparoukh, Kouber and Altsek,
looked south for land away from their enemies. These three had
arranged that if they found land then they would send a bird with
thread tied to its leg to Bayan and Houba. Eventually, the
imprisoned pair received the bird and tried to set off secretly,
but the Khazars soon found out and followed them. Bayan and
Houba didn't know the soldiers were so close and were about to
return the bird with the white thread attached when Bayan was
wounded with an arrow, fired by the Khazars. Dripping blood
onto the white thread, Bayan still managed to release the bird
and they painfully continued their journey to find their brothers.
When they finally met their siblings, Bayan was nearly dead.
Asparoukh welcomed the dying man, tore pieces of
bloodstained white cloth into small strips and gave them to his
soldiers to honour brave Bayan.

11. • "A legend, first attested in the
20th century, says that the
Bulgar Khan Asparukh wanted
to send a message to Bulgars
across the Danube. He tied his
letter with a white string to the
leg of a white pigeon. The
Byzantines saw the pigeon
flying and shot it with an
arrow. The message was
delivered but the white string
was stained with the red of the
pigeon's blood. The Bulgars
then started to wear this
thread."

12.  The Bulgarian Easter traditions are a variation of traditional
Orthodox Easter traditions. Here in Bulgaria, egg cracking is good
for more than just eating the egg. Easter is characterised by certain
food and rituals. In Bulgaria, Kozunak, the traditional, braided,
sweet bread, is a necessary item on the Easter table everywhere .
An hour before midnight on Saturday, all churches begin the
Easter liturgy. Families and friends go together to church,
carrying the coloured eggs with them. They then walk around the
church three times with candles in hand, led by the priest. The
candles are carried back home.

13.  The ancient Bulgarian ritual of kukeri,
performed by costumed men, seeks to
scare away evil spirits and bring good
harvest and health to the community.
The costumes, made of animal furs and
fleeces, cover the whole of the body. A
mask, adorned with horns and
decoration, covers the head of each
kuker, who also must have bells
attached to his waist.

14.  Another characteristic custom called nestinarstvo
or firedancing, distinguishes the Strandzha region.
This ancient custom involves dancing into fire or
over live embers. Women dance into the fire with
their bare feet without suffering any injury or pain.

15.  Our traditional dress is Bulgarian folk costumes consist
of pants, shirts, and vests for men, and dresses and
aprons for women. The aprons, dresses, and shirts are
usually embroidered in regional colors and folk motifs.
Red features heavily in Bulgarian folk dress, but black,
green, and white are also a part of traditional clothing
from Bulgaria's various regions.

16.  Bulgarian music uses a wide range of instruments. Some
folk instruments are Bulgarian tambura, Bulgarian
gadulka, bagpipe, etc. In different folklore regions of
Bulgaria different types of instruments are used.

17. Bulgarian nature
The symbol of Bulgaria is rose. The Rose
valley in Bulgaria is famous for its rose-
growing industry which have been
cultivated there for centuries, and which
produces 85% of the world's rose oil.
Cave

18. Cave Syeva Dupka

20. Varna and National High School of Humanitarian
Sciences and Arts "Konstantin Preslavski"
• We are from Varna. It is a harbour city. Varna is
one of the biggest cities in Bulgaria. Our school is
High School of Humanitarian Sciences and Arts
"Konstantin Preslavski“.

22. Thank you! 