The National Art Gallery of Bulgaria presents an exhibition of The Complete Collection of 74 bronze sculptures by the French impressionist Edgar Degas in September 2010.

The exhibition will be open on 2 September 2010 in the National Art Gallery, Sofia for two months.

The collection, owned by the US private “M.T. Abraham Center for visual arts”, comes to Bulgaria after its almost five-month stay in Greece.

The art critic and former head of the National Art Gallery, Boris Danailov, is the curator of the exhibition.

“The owners of the collection were given up the rights to its display to a museum in Athens and we had to negotiate with it. It took us almost two years to negotiate but as a result, we can enjoy the masterpieces of Degas,” Danailov told the Bulgarian daily news paper “Sega”.

He has also pointed out that the sculptures have been insured at a very high price and that they will be displayed under an increased security.

The most expensive exhibit of the French impressionist Edgar Degas from the collection presented in September in the National Art Gallery in Sofia is the sculpture named Little Dancer, Aged Fourteenth.

This sculpture reached a price of USD 19 million at the Sotheby’s auction house in 2009.

Edgar Degas worked in various artistic media: oils and pastels, etchings and photography, painting on monotype plates and sculptures in wax, as well as writing poetry.

He exhibited only one sculpture in his lifetime: “The Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen” – a realistic wax sculpture which he dressed in real clothes.

This unusual work was presented at the 1881 sixth Impressionist exhibition in Paris, arousing much curiosity and criticism.

It is well documented that every Degas bronze was cast after the artist’s death by recently discovered plasters.

Edgar Degas focused his sculptures on five main themes, presented in the complete collection as five chapters: dancers in motion, dancers behind the scenes, bathers, portraits and horses.

The visit of the delegation and the Executive Director of American Jewish Committee, was in favor of tours of Bulgaria both from American tourists and the Jewish tourists from the state of Israel.

Shalom, the organization of the Jews in Bulgaria, announced the news.

The delegation arrived to take part in the Summer University of the European union of Jewish students, which took place in Eastern Europe for the first time.

David Harris was conferred the biggest award of the Bulgarian Jewish community, named Shofar, for his contribution to the development of the relation between the organization of the Jews in Bulgaria Shalom and the American Jewish Committee.

On the side of the Bulgarians Georgi Parvanov, the President of Bulgarian, awarded David Harris a Madara Rider order on 24 of August 2010, for his contribution to the development of the Bulgarian - US ties.

The tourists of tours in Bulgaria enriched their cultural experience in the cultural tours on crafts in Bulgaria and bought original clay pots, copper vessels, wooden works, colorful rugs and many others works of craftsmen of Bulgaria.

The objects in the fair represented all ethnographic regions of Bulgaria in the permanent National exhibition center of crafts and arts in Oreshak.

Over 200 craftsmen and traders of works of craftsmen participated in the fair of traditional crafts in Oreshak in August 2010

. Traditionally, the culmination of the fair is Sunday's great Orthodox Christian holiday Dormition of the Holy Mother of God (called by Catholics the Assumption of Mary).

That day is also the temple holiday of the glorious Troyan Monastery in Oreshak and many people traditionally flock to it.

The publication points out that a 10-day hotel accommodation in Bulgaria costs EUR 70, but if one is prepared to search more, they can find a 10-day stay for the mere EUR 40. The other plus noted in the article is the price of beer in Bulgaria – less than EUR 1, but it points out cigarettes are a little bit more expensive due to Bulgaria’s EU Membership.

In comparison, Monte Negro offers accommodations from EUR 60 for 10-day stay in a hotel room to EUR 400 for an apartment and beer is sold for EUR 1.5.

Albania, however, has been this summer’s hit with 1.5 million tourists. The top destination of Macedonia FYR – the Ohrid Lake - is trying to earn its yearly profits in just two months and services for tourists are of poor quality, the publication concludes.

The great folk songs festival in Koprivshtitza took place from 6 August till 8 of August 2010.

It is said that 13,000 singers, dancers and performers from Bulgaria and abroad showed the authentic old songs and dances of Bulgaria on seven separate stages in Voivodenetz, Koprivshtitza and on two stages in the center of Koprivshtitza.

More than 200,000 tourists of tours in Bulgaria and general public viewed the performers.

The hotel Doubletree by Hilton Varna will be the first property of the world-class hotel brand Hilton on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The converted Doubletree by Hilton Varna is located in the Golden Sands near Bulgaria’s major Black Sea city of Varna.

It has been announced at a news conference in the Golden Sands resorts that Hilton Worldwide has signed a franchise agreement with Helios Hotels EAD, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tetrareal AD, for a new Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Varna, Bulgaria.

“It is the first Doubletree hotel in Bulgaria and the first Hilton-brand property in Bulgaria outside of the capital Sofia. Hilton is consistently voted the strongest hotel brand by awareness in Europe and worldwide, and I am convinced that, with Bulgaria continuing to offer the best value for money in the European holiday destinations, this will be an instant success,” commented Dr. George Veltchev, the chairman of the board of Tetrareal AD.

Doubletree is one of Hilton Worldwide’s ten market leading brands.

With a growing collection of accommodations in more than 230 gateway cities, metropolitan areas and vacation destinations worldwide, Doubletree by Hilton hotels and resorts are designed to cater for business and leisure travelers.

Archaeologists investigating the Sveti Ivan (Saint John) island off Sozopol found on July 28 the exquisite reliquary – a relic urn, built in the altar of an ancient church bearing the name of Saint John the Baptist. This is the oldest church on the island and it dates back to 5th century BC .

At the opening ceremony, the archaeologists stated that the reliquary included parts of an arm, heel, tooth and a facial bone.

The Bulgarian Minister without Portfolio, Bozhidar Dimitrov, who was present at the opening ceremony, has stated loudly that from now on, Sozopol will be the new Jerusalem.

“The Sozopol church “Saint George” currently owns a piece of the Holy Cross, donated by Boyko Borisov, the Prime minister of Bulgaria. Also, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has also given us the relics of Saint Andrew. These are essential Christian relics of the oldest saints,” Dimitrov said, adding that besides popular sea tourism, Sozopol could also develop pilgrimage tourism.

“The Pilgrimage tourism is very popular worldwide and it provides 30 per cent of the revenues from the tourism industry,” he said.

The Archaeologists investigating the island named Sveti Ivan (Saint John) off Sozopol have found an exquisite reliquary – a relic urn – built in the altar of an ancient church bearing the name of Saint John the Baptist.

The reliquary has the shape of a sarcophagus and is dated end of 4 century AD . It was discovered by the team of Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov. The reliquary is sealed with red plaster and has never been opened.

The church's name, as well as the fact that it had a special emperor's statute issued, has hinted to archeologists that it might actually contain Saint John's relics.

Saint John the Baptist -called also the Forerunner -is an imposing figure in the Christian New Testament. He was the last to prophecize the coming of Jesus Christ - and the one to baptize the young Jesus in the river Jordan. The great prophet died a martyr's death beheaded by king Herod at the request of his daughter Salome.

Saint John the Baptist is especially venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. Over the centuries, there have been controversies about where his relics are located.

The town of Sozopol is one of the most ancient on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, dating from the Bronze age. It was colonized by Greeks, headed by philosopher Anaximander, around 610 BC. Sozopol became an early Christian centre with its own bishop. For most of the Middle Ages, it was part of the Byzantine empire.

The residence is located on the Kozi Gramadi mount, close to the resort town of Hissar in central Bulgaria, at about 1,200 m above sea level.

“The residence of the Odrysian kings is a monument unrivaled in scope in Southeastern Europe. I am convinced there is no other fortress-sanctuary dating back to the 4th-5th century BC which is so well-preserved,” said Dr. Ivan Hristov, head of the archaeological team and the Deputy Director of the Bulgarian National History Museum.

The construction of the residence near Hissar is believed to have been started by the Thracian ruler Cotys I (384 BC - 359 BC), and it was developed of the Odrysian kings Amatokos II (359 BC - 351 BC) and Teres II (351 BC - 342 BC).

The latter is the last Thracian king who fought against Philip II of Macedon (359 BC - 336 BC).

“Philip II of Macedon most likely also visited this fortress. It is about him that Demosthenes says that he spent 11 nightmarish months in the winter of 342 BC fighting the Thracians who inhabited the mountains,” explained Dr. Hristov. The fortress-residence of the Thracian kings is located on a plot of 4,000 square meters, not far from the village of Starosel, which is the site of the largest tombs of Ancient Thracian rulers.

The archeologists have already excavated two of the towers of the citadel, whose remains are about 2 m high. The archaeologists’ guess is that the treasure of the Odrysian kingdom was also located in the newly uncovered residence but Philip II of Macedon most likely stole the gold kept there.

The Odrysian Kingdom was a union of Thracian tribes that existed between 5th and the 3rd century BC. The last Thracian states were conquered by Romans in 46 AD.

The most famous Thracian man in human history is Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator who led a rebellion of gladiators and slaves against Rome in 73-71 BC.

Holiday hotspots in Turkey and Cyprus are also cheaper for a UK family of four than a stay on the Sussex coast in Brighton, the survey found.

While a week in the Bulgarian capital Sofia would cost a family of four GBP 1,221, a seven-night break in Brighton would set them back GBP 2,209.

John Howells, head of travel money at Tesco Bank, said holiday costs have been impacted by the euro exchange rate.

"With the average cost of a holiday for one week coming in at GBP 2,076, a 2 per cent increase on last year, it is essential holidaymakers are not just looking into the cost of travel but also the expenses they are likely to incur once they are there.

"For instance, car hire and accommodation make up 71 per cent of weekly spend and have risen 6 per cent on last year."

A number of Romanian scientists found paintings and drawings of old history in the cave of Koliboya in the Bichor Mountain, in Apuseni Park in the North West Romania in June 2010.

These cave paintings and drawings of old history were dated back as 35,000 years old from the Palmolive time of garvet and oriniax culture.

The cave paintings and drawings of old history were of animals such as horse, bull, bear and rhinoceros.

A primitive sculpture of a body of woman was also found there.

The tourists of combined tours of Romania and Bulgaria can expect to know more about these very old paintings and drawings in a cave in Romania.

The history museums of Nova Zagora, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv and Yambol, where were the richest Thracian findings of the archeologists in Bulgaria, proudly presented over 200 artefacts of gold, silver, iron and clay. These objects are arms, helmets, swords, gems, jewels and vessels.

It is said that the mighty tribe of Odris used to live between Stara planina and the Rhodopes Mountain in Bulgaria. They used to make an old state similar to empire called from the old Greeks basilea for five hundred years.

Herodotus, the famous Greek historian named as the father of history science, for the first time mentioned the Thracian tribe of Odris in 5 century BC by saying the war action of Darius I The Great, the king of Persia in 6 century BC. Darius I The Great passed through the lands of the Thracian tribe of Odris in his wars.

Thucydides, a Greek historian 460 – 395 BC, wrote that the Thracian tribe of Odris had aristocracy rulers and princes as the greatest rulers were Sitalces 444 – 424 BC, Kotys I 384 – 360 BC and Seuthes III 330 – 297 BC. All these rulers were great warriors.

The Ambassador says that Russia has been asking for a renunciation of the Bulgarian visas for its citizens but the Bulgarian authorities keep turning down these requests with the motive that Bulgaria is aspiring to join the Schengen Agreement. He has pointed out that at the same time neighboring states such as Turkey have practically waived their visas for Russian tourists.

Bulgaria must be more flexible in the visa relations with Russia because it can only profit from that, especially in a time of economic crisis. The Russian tourists are not greedy, and they bring a lot of money with them, which Bulgaria will need. The issue is important for Bulgaria, first and foremost,” explained His Excellency.

About 300,000 Russian tourists visit Bulgaria annually but according to Isakov their number can be 4-5 times larger. “Bulgaria has been and will be a preferred destination because your nation is close to us, your language is close to ours, and the distance is short – a two-hour flight. You don’t have to invent the wheel – just look at what your neighbors are doing,” recommended the Russian Ambassador.

On the other side Bulgaria is a country member of EU and there are lots of procedures of issuing visas of citizens of no EU country.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria took part in the old ritual of rose picking in the morning in the rose plants field near Kazanlak with young people in old dresses, dances and live music and in the barbeque grill buffet lunch in Balgaran picnic restaurant with typical dishes from Bulgarian food and show of dances of Kukeri mask men.

Some tourists see the show of majorettes and the Queen of the rose in the central street of Kazanlak.

Georgi Parvanov, the President of Bulgaria also visited the Fest of rose in Kazanlak in 2010.

All tourists of tours of Bulgaria took home unforgettable smell of the Bulgarian oil rose, food and dances from Bulgaria of the Fest of rose in Kazanlak, Bulgaria.

A lot of politics, journalists, scientists, religious people clergymen, famous persons both from Bulgaria and Israel took part in the concert.

All people in the hall sang the Bulgarian songs those were performed by the orchestra of the army of Bulgaria.

Mrs. Tzipi Livni, the leader of the opposition in the Parliament of Israel, gave a speech in which she remembered the role of Bulgaria in saving Jews in the World war the second.

Mr. Ginyo Ganev, the ombudsman of Bulgaria, delivered a speech saying that Bulgaria was the only European country hat saved all its Jews from Nazis in the World war the second but this fact had not been mentioned as it had to be in the national museum of the Holocaust named Yad Vashem.

Mr. Emil Stoyanov, a member of the European Parliament from Bulgaria, a member of the delegation for contacts and links with the state of Israel in the European Parliament, participated in this big concert of the Bulgarian Jews in Israel.

This concert was in favor to make stronger the links in culture between Bulgaria and Israel including tours of Bulgaria and tours of Israel.

Founded in the early 12th century, throughout its history of many centuries it had repeatedly been destroyed and ravaged by the Turks. On its present-day site it was built in 1845.

The big monastery church is from 1861. During the April 1876 Uprising, the monastery was damaged by fire and destruction. It was rebuilt in 1889. In the years of Ottoman rule it had been one of the major book depositories and literary centres in the Bulgarian lands.

The Dryanovo Monastery was among the spiritual strongholds of the Bulgarian people, where they found refuge in the obscure years of Ottoman domination. Here in this monastery, Vassil Levski and Matei Preobrazhenski, the two great patriots, established the headquarters for the preparation of the people’s revolt in the Turnovo revolutionary district. When the April Uprising broke out in the spring of 1876, one of the most heroic pages of the Bulgarian people’s struggle for national liberation was written in the Dryanovo Monastery.

For nine days and nights, about 200 rebels, members of a rebel detachment, led by Priest Hariton, popular teacher Bacho Kiro and military commander Petur Parmakov, encircled by hordes of irregulars and regular Turkish troops, defended themselves in the monastery.

On May 1, by an unlucky chance a barrel of explosives burst and Priest Hariton was burnt and lost his sight. The attacks continued.

On the suggestion to surrender, the rebels answered by a letter, written by Bach Kiro: “Pasha, we demand from the government to recognize our rights as a people and until that happens, we shall not surrender alive into the hands of you torturers; we have decided to die and we shall keep our pledge! And you will be responsible to Europe for your tyrannies…”

After fierce battles, the monastery was destroyed and put to fire, the detachment was crushed, Priest Hariton died together with most of the insurgents. Some 47 people survived, among which also Bacho Kiro. Captured after some time, he took all the guilt on himself; he was condemned to death and hanged in Turnovo.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria visit the Dryanovo Monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael.

Bulgaria looses a huge number of well spending tourists from Russia due to tighten visa issuing order. So far Bulgaria cannot make a flexible way of issuing visas for Russians similar as Romania and Greece which are also members of the EU.

The Russian tourists generally find Bulgaria as a nice excursion place due to similar language, cheap prices of tours in Bulgaria and hospitable attitude of the Bulgarians.

The Bulgarians have to be hospitable persons due to the history. Bulgaria is a country on crossroads. Many foreigners invaded by force in the country and left their habits in Bulgaria.

Tsvetana Kyoseva, the associate professor of history, who is the director of the National museum of history, reported to the National radio of Bulgaria. She said that in more than 90 per cent of the cases, the jewels were created on Bulgarian territory, except for the antique jewels that date back mainly to the period of the Roman rule in Thrace from the 1st and 2nd century AD. The jewels were influenced by the ancient Roman and Greek art and it is possible that they were made in Greece and Rome.

It is interesting to mention that back in the antiquity and the middle ages, gold was not a symbol of wealth, but of privileged status, and only the wife and the children of the ruler had the right to wear gold jewels.

Silver adornments were worn by the wives of war leaders, and the wives of men from the lower social strata wore jewels made of silver and copper alloys.

The National art gallery in Sofia offer seeing for free in The Night of museums some paintings of famous Bulgarian artists such as Zachary Zograf, Vladimir Dimitrov - the Master, Zlatio Boyadjiev, Detchko Uzunov and other. The entrance in the National art gallery is free only from 18:00 till 24:00 o’clock.

The entrance is free of charge also in the big exhibition of some orthodox icons in the crypt of Alexander Nevski Church in Sofia, Bulgaria from 18:00 till 20:00. The crypt of Alexander Nevski Church exhibits newly restored 14 master works icons and the newest object in the crypt icon museum – the icon Virgin Mary with young boy and saints of famous Zachary Zograf. The exhibition in the crypt named The Icons from the Rhodopes Mountain offers some icons typical for this region of Bulgaria.

The National history museum in Boyana, Sofia offer fashion show of old medieval dresses, performers of live music and more on 15 of May 2010.

Other museums around Bulgaria also celebrate by various events the Night of Museums.

The exhibition presents unique jewels for head, body and hands. All these objects were made of gold, copper and bronze from early years BC till today.

All they were found in the land of Bulgaria.

The tourists of tours in Bulgaria can see this exhibition of the National history museum including some objects those are shown for the very first time.

The World Tourism Organization of the United Nations is the leading international organization in tourism that is estimated as the biggest industry in the world. There are 161 countries and territories members of The United Nations World Tourism Organization and more than 390 associated members.

The European Commission of United Nations World Tourism Organization has 45 member countries. The Commission backs making strategies in the changes of the market, getting ready and implementation of programs and new products in the tourism.

Bulgaria joined The United Nations World Tourism Organization in 1976.

Bulgaria was elected as a member of the Executive Committee and the Program Committee of the organization on its 18 General Assembly from 5 till 8 of October 2009 in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan.

Taleb Rifai, from Jordan, The Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Traicho Traichov, the Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism of Bulgaria and representatives of the European countries participated in the session in Sofia.

The participants in the session of the European Commission of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) discussed the economic crisis in the tourism and accepted the data of 4 per cent decrease in the tourism in 2009 in the world.

They forecasted 4 per cent increase in 2010.

The UNWTO organization created a special council on recovery of tourism of monitoring of the market, exchange of information and good practices and data.

It was built in the 14th century, during the reign of king Ivan-Alexander, originally 500 m south from its current location. After Bulgaria fell under the Ottoman yoke, it was burnt and destroyed. It was restored in 1825.

The oldest buildings in it are the underground chapel Saint Andrey Purvozvani and the main monastery church Saint Preobrazhenie Gospodne. Its construction started in 1834 by Dimitar Sofianliata, and was finished in 1861 by N. Fichev, who also built the small church “Blagoveshtenie”.

The main church was painted by the icon-painter Zaharii Zograf. The most remarkable piece of mural is " The Wheel of Life ". The woodcarved iconostasis and its related icons have similarly impressive characteristics.

The Preobrazhenski Monastery had played an important role in the struggles of the Bulgarian people for national independence. The Apostle of Freedom Vassil Levski had often found refuge among its walls.

The monastery is active even today.

The tourists of tours in Bulgaria enjoy travel in 2010.

Some of them are second and third generation Bulgarian Jews.

Moshe Aloni, the lawyer, is the chair man of the association Bulgarian - Israeli Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv.

It was registered under the law of Israel as no government association.

They aim of the newly established Bulgarian - Israeli Cultural Institute is to develop further relationship in culture between Bulgaria and Israel.

The other countries where Europeans can go a long way with their euro for a memorable holiday are Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Croatia, Turkey, Egypt and Hungary.

Meanwhile travel analysts expect that in 2010 the global tourist industry will return to its pre-crisis levels with growing interest towards the event tourism.

The tourists of tours in Bulgaria enjoy travel in 2010.

The monastery complex includes the main church, some house buildings, and fortress walls, forming a beautiful architectural ensemble.

The church is decorated with numerous mural paintings, candlesticks, crosses, fretwork. Some of the icons are extremely valuable monuments of Bulgarian fine arts.

On the facade of the church, picturesque scenes have been painted. Its white belfry is a unique sight. According to archeologists, the monastery was built somewhere between IX and XII century.

Historians believe it was established during the ruling of Alexi Slav – a Bulgarian local ruler, who ruled in the Rodopi lands. It has been burnt and destroyed many times, but has always been restored again. Nowadays, the monastery is maintained by its inhabitants, and is operating. It is a valuable cultural monument.

One of Bulgaria’s greatest revolutionaries – Yane Sandanski, spent the last years of his life in it. His grave is located near the church St. St. Cyril and Methodius, not far from the Rozhen Monastery.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria visit the Rozhen monastery.

Grijorii built up the monastery in his own feudal lands, and according to Georgian traditions, dedicated it to the woman-mother, thus naming it The Petrichki Monastery (after the name of the nearby fortress).

In 1206 Tsar Kaloyan conquered the Rhodope Mountains and the Bachkovo Monastery was included within the boundaries of the Bulgarian State. After 1344 Tsar Ivan Alexander consolidated the Bulgarian ruling over the Rhodopes, and the monastery became an important medieval centre of religion and learning.

After the Ottomans conquered Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Patriarch Evtimii of Turnovo was exiled to the monastery and created the Bachkovo School of Education there.

The monastery library preserves many valuable incunabula and old manuscripts. Its most remarkable asset, however, are the unique paintings, which could be seen everywhere in the churches and the Ossuary, The figure of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander is discernible on the 11th and 14th century murals, in the Refectory (1601), in the "Assumption of the Holy Virgin" main church (1604), and in "The Holy Trinity and St. Nicholas" church (1840), which contains some of the first murals painted by the eminent National Revival artist Zachary Zograph.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria visit the Bachkovo Monastery.

Detlev Hohne, the manager for Romania and Bulgaria of the big German tour operator TUI, told Deutsche Welle on 16 of March 2010.

He considers tourism development in Romania to be seven to eight years behind Bulgaria. "Bulgaria made significant progress during the privatising process, but unfortunately Romania fails to attract foreign investors. I include here the international hotel networks, which lack in Romania. Regarding tourism development, Romania is 7-8 years behind Bulgaria", Höhne said.

The representative of TUI adds that Romania has got all natural necessary conditions for a good tourist destination, but it does not promote its tourism offer successfully. "Romania's got everything that might interest a foreign tourist.

For Germans in particular, Transylvania’s cities are attractive - Sibiu, Brasov - which look absolutely wonderful.

AIR Berlin flies to the Romanian seaside. But Sibiu was designated European Cultural Capital in 2007 and Romania didn't use not even such an event enough to promote its tourism offer.

We would have liked to see more action in 2007 from this point of view", Höhne said.

Another Romanian tourism disadvantage, according to Höhne, is the summer season, too short for the investors wanting to take up a business for at least six months.

"The cooperation is difficult because the summer season in Romania begins only in June. Our summer offer, "Sunny Beach" programme, is three to four weeks shorter for Romania than for the Bulgarian resort. This three months and something period is way too short to attract foreign investors, which are interested to keep their business for the entire year or at least for six months. Unfortunately, this is not possible at the Romanian seaside", TUI manager concluded.

The combined tours of Romania and Bulgaria are preferred tours for those tourists who like to see both countries in one combined trip.

On March 10 the Bulgarians commemorated the saving of 67,000 Bulgarian Jews from deportation from Nazi death camps.

The members of Bulgaria’s National Assembly paid tribute to the victims of Holocaust and crimes against humankind with a minute’s silence.

Tsetska Tsacheva, the Chairperson of the Parliament said upon opening the plenary sitting of the Parliament of Bulgaria on 10 of March 2010. She reminded that the saving action was joined by people from all social strata.

The saving of Bulgarian Jews is a powerful example of the triumph of humaneness unseen anywhere else in Europe, the Chairperson of the Parliament further said.

The tourists of Jewish Heritage tours in Sofia see the Synagogue of Sofia and the Jewish History museum in the synagogue.

It is located in a picturesque region in Plana Planina mountain, about 4 km southeast from the Village of Kokalyane, and some 6 km northeast from the village of Jeleznitza. Originally, it is dated back to the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.

According to legends and historical data, it was built in the 11th century, during the ruling of King Samuil. During the Ottoman Yoke, the cloister was set on fire twice. It was completely restored following Bulgaria’s Liberation, and the new church was built in 1896 I nthe place of the old one, which was destroyed in 1858.

A famous relic, the so-called Urvich Collection, consisting of laudatory words for Archangels Michael and Gavriil (including the one written by the famous man of letters, Kliment of Ohrid) was found in the Kokalyane monastery. In 1969, the monastery was declared a monument of culture.

Few tourists of tours in Bulgaria visit the Kokalyane monastery of Saint Archangel Michael in Bulgaria.

The Zhemen monastery is situated about 70 kms in west south direction from the city of Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, to Pernik and Kiustendil towns. It is one of the oldest, dated 11 century, and most precious Bulgarian monuments of art and culture.

The monastery church, which was restored in 14, 18 and 19 centuries, consists of a cross-domed building, all of it made of freestone. Its almost cubic shape makes it a remarkable monument of Bulgarian Medieval architecture. It is unique for Bulgaria. Along with its incredible architecture, the Zemen monastery is also famous for its precious ancient mural paintings, made back in 1354.

The Zemen monastery consists of two connected buildings, a small bell tower and church in the middle of a big yard. Certainly the temple deserves the greatest attention from all komleks. This monastery is one of the few surviving monuments of medieval Bulgarian architecture, construction and mural painting.

Church is not effective and represents an empty room with dome, built of stone. Interest are the altar, which is actually a massive stone plate and the floor of variegated marble and stone pieces, collected donations from local people in construction.

Most telling, however, make the wall drawings, which cover all the internal walls of the temple and represent infinite overflow of images and scenes from the Bible. Most are from the 14th century and the image of Saint Anne is the only surviving from the creation of the temple. There are established and later images of Saint John of Rila and Saint Clement of Ohrid, the ruler Deian and his wife Deya.

There is information that the monastery is open from 9:30 till 17:00 every day, entrance fee 3 BGN, no monks there, phone ++359 (0) 77412029 Bulgarian speaking old couple that takes care of the monastery.

Not many tourists of tours in Bulgaria visit The Zemen Saint John the Baptist Theologian monastery in Bulgaria.

This archaeological ensemble is typical for its rich stratigraphy, with the earliest discovered strata dating to the Iron Age. The fortification, which was built in antiquity, had been continuously developed and reconstructed through the Middle Ages: documents from the 13th and 14th centuries mention it under the name of Hyperperikon. The Fortress is located on a broad and high rocky hill, with the citadel erected on the summit.

The site of the castle is immediately below, and the substructure is located on the lower flat terrace. In the valley, beneath the Fortress, the remains of a mediaeval monastery were discovered, which, according to existing data, had been an important religious-worship and military centre.

The latest archaeological excavations at Perperikon revealed a site almost literally described by the ancient authors as the Temple of Dionysus in Mount Rhodope.

A huge hall was carved into the rock and apparently left roofless, judging by the absence of holes for any roof beams in the surrounding rock walls. At the very centre of this open space, a magnificent round altar was sculpted from the rock. Northeast of the altar, an almost square platform must have served some ceremonial purpose. Fragments of smaller, clay alters were found at the foot of the central one.

Some tour operators in Bulgaria make tours to Perperikon. The tourists have to climb on the high rocky hill of Perperikon by foot for about 20 minutes.

They are a favourite place to visit of tours in Bulgaria. Some 23 kilometers southwest of Rousse there is a unique archeological reserve - the Rock-hewn churches of Ivanovo. Located at a height of 6 to 8 metres, the compound was founded in the 12th century and was inhabited by monks till the 17th century.

Chronicles and the preserved church murals show that the community of hermits also created a blossoming literary center during the 13th - 14th century.

The illustrations are colorful and realistic and represent popular scenes from the New Testament showing the last days of the life of Jesus. In the Covered-up church one can see the church-donor's portrait - most likely the czar Ivan Asen II. They say that Theodora (the first wife of czar Ivan-Alexandur), who adopted her name in religion Theofana is depicted at the so called Ruined church.

The church-donor's portrait of Ivan-Alexandur with the model of the church in his hands can be found in the main church Holy Virgin of the complex.

The Ivanovo churches contain some of the best frescoes of Bulgarian religious art. The rock monasteries have been evaluated as an important stage in the development of European culture and recorded on the UNESCO List of World Cultural Heritage.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria visit the Rock-hewn churches of Ivanovo which are sites of UNESCO List of World Cultural Heritage in Bulgaria.

The Katarzina estates vineyards enjoy untouched from the civilization land of the border area.

Katarzyna Estate owns 365 ha of vineyards situated in one of the best vine-growing regions of Bulgaria.

Katarzyna Estate is situated in the region with the highest degree of sun shinning in Bulgaria.

The tourists of wine tours of Bulgaria visit the winery of Katarzina in Mezek, Bulgaria and the tourists taste the Mezzek wine.

The Mezek Fortress is situated near the town of Svilengrad, at the south east part of Bulgaria.

The Mezek Fortress, area of 65,000 square meters, is claimed to be the best preserved medieval castles in Bulgaria. It dates to the 11 century.

The Mezek Fortress has nine towers, five of which lie at the south wall.

The Mezek Fortress was built out of stone, with two decorative lines of bricks on the outside.

The Mezek Fortress suffered destruction around 1900, when stones from the fortress were used for the construction of Ottoman barracks in Svilengrad.

The village of Mezek was part of the Ottoman Empire then.

Near Mezek under Sheynovets peak was discovered a second Thracian domed tomb. The little porch and the domed space were preserved, but the floor was completely broken by treasure hunters in the Thracian tomb of Sheynovets.

Few tourists of tours of Bulgaria visit the Mezek Fortress of 11 century.

The Thracian tomb of Mezek dates to the 4 century BC. It is a large, elongated tomb.

It is considered to be the biggest and one of the most interesting and impressive beehive tombs of Mycenaean type in Thrace.

It is fully preserved in its original mode.

The Thracian tomb of Mezek is known for its distinctive architecture as it consists of one round and two rectangular chambers with a stone bed and urns.

It is situated under a mound of 30 meters of diameter. The numbers of burials of noble Thracians in the tomb were no less than four.

The ancient items of gold, silver, bronze, iron, glass and pottery those were discovered in the Thracian tomb of Mezek tomb were displayed in the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia and museums in Haskovo and Istanbul. Many treasure hunters were selling at collections in Turkey. One of the most interesting findings in it was a bronze statue of a wild boar, dated back to the middle of the second half of 4 century BC. The statue was in natural size. The figure of the boar is not a museum exhibit in Bulgaria, but in Istanbul, as a local man treasure hunter had no market for it within the framework of Bulgaria.

Few tourists of tours of Bulgaria visit the Thracian tomb in Mezek, Bulgaria.

The tourists of tours to Bulgaria can read these recommendations and see images of Bulgaria and the best places to visit. According to Scotsman Bulgaria is best kept tourist secret in Europe in the past. But now Bulgaria, which is a member of the European Union in 2007, comes to light.

Skiing in Bulgaria is cheaper than in the Alps and the Black Sea coast offers both traditional and specially built resorts and some of the best beaches in Europe, Scotsman said.

Scotsman reported that although Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria, was not the cleanest and well organaised city there were lots of pubs and coffees bars in Sofia.

The top ten travel destinations for tours in 2010 are as follow: first Kyoto Japan, Morocco, South Africa the host of the World football cup in June 2010, Bulgaria, Istanbul the city cultural capital of Europe in 2010, Nepal, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Suriname, and Iceland.

The tourists enjoy travel to these places in 2010.

The mask kukeri carnival has taken place since 1966 and it has been with international participants since 1985.

The carnival of masked rituals will take place January 29 through 31, 2010.

The masked kukeri men will march on the central streets of Pernik from 10:00 in the morning on 30 and 31 January, 2010. The town expects over 5,600 amateur masked performers.

As many as 14 masked groups from Italy, France, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Turkey, Slovenia and Belgium will account for the international interest in the festival.

The games and masks of kukeri dancers are popular in many places in Bulgaria.

There are different masks and dances in different places of Bulgaria.

The masks are of animals, old man, old lady, tsar, tax collector, and the dancers are only men.

One says that noise of bells of kukeri banishes evil spirits, and masking is tantamount to transferring to death.

The games of kukeri, now in Maslenitsa, are for the transition from winter to spring, for good health and fertility and from death to life.

Maslenitsa or Cheesefare week is the day Sunday just 40 days before the Pascha Easter day at the east orthodox religion calendar.

Maslenitsa is the Sunday of forgiveness on which the Great Lent begins and usually younger people beg forgiveness from old people.

The tourists of escorted tours of Bulgaria visit the mask kukeri carnival Surva in Pernik 2010.

It was built back in II – III century and represents an original combination of a typical Thracian beehive tomb and a Roman mausoleum. Some historians believe it served as mausoleum of a rich Anhiali family.

It is located among gardens some 500 meters north of the camping area named Europe.

It reaches 8 meters in height and 60 meters in diameter. A corridor leads to a vast round premises, in the center of which a hollow pillar is rising, opening in its upper end like a mushroom passing into the walls; therefore some people call the tomb The Hollow Mound.

The monument is open for visitors in the summer season.

Few tours of Bulgaria offer visiting the Thracian tomb of Pomorie near the coast of the Black Sea.

Iceland, London, and Thailand are the top three in the ranking in Lonely Planet’s Best In Travel 2010 guide, which contains the world's hottest travel trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the year ahead.

The tourists of tours in Bulgaria have best-value excursions in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria is the only mainland European country in the best-value ranking.

South Africa, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Bulgaria, Kenya and Las Vegas in Nevada are the other destinations in the top 10.

According to the Lonely Planet guidebook, the top 10 countries overall for travelers are El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Portugal, Suriname and the United States.

The top 10 cities are Abu Dhabi, Charleston (South Carolina), Cork (Ireland), Cuenca (Ecuador), Istanbul, Kyoto (Japan), Lecce (Italy), Sarajevo, Singapore and Vancouver (Canada).

Welcome to Bulgaria !

The Thracian tomb of Krun II was discovered in the Saraf mound near Krun, Kazanlak, Bulgaria in 1995 and it was dated of 4 century BC.

It was one of the 16 Thracian tombs and sanctuaries in the Valley of Thracian Kings near Kazanlak, Bulgaria.

The Thracian tomb of Krun II was one of the first Thracian tombs where the Thracians used bricks and roughcast paintings to build it. It was also one of the first Thracian tombs where the Thracians used colorful rows and friezes. There were seven layers of frescoes in the Thracian tomb of Krun II.

This Thracian tomb was restored in 2008 and 2009 by the financial aid of 33,000 dollars of the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) of the State Department of the USA.

The tour operators in Bulgaria offer tours to Bulgaria to see the Thracian tomb of Krun II at the Rose Valley of Bulgaria, near Kazanlak.

A grand Thracian temple came to light in the Chetinyova Mogila mound, where religious ceremonies had been performed, most probably associated with the cult for the Mother-Goddess and her son – the Sun, and with Orpheus.

Highly interesting is also the temple in the Horizont mound. This is the only temple, unearthed so far in Thrace with a colonnade (10 columns were found). The temples and the rich tombs around are testimony of the high standards of Thracian architecture under the mounds and of the artistic achievements of Thracian culture.

The tour operators in Bulgaria offer tours to Bulgaria to see the Thracian tombs around Starosel, Bulgaria.

In August 2000, a sensational discovery occurred near the village of Starosel, in central Bulgaria.

Archaeologists found the enormous temple/grave of what is believed to be a Thracian ruler, possibly Sitakes I, the first king of a combined Thracian empire.

The site, 100 miles east of Sofia, has been dated as from the fourth or fifth century BC. The grave and its surroundings are thought by archaeologists to have been an important religious site for Thracians dating from the stone age.

The two-chamber tomb is approached by stairs and a corridor. It is surrounded by a 263-yard long wall made out of some 4,000 stone blocks and was hidden under a 20-meter high mound of earth. The stone blocks of the surrounding wall/facade were largely undisturbed because they were fastened on the other side with iron clamps, which had lead poured over them. To the south it is crossed by a parade staircase flanked by two smaller staircases, climbing to an 11-yard roofless doorway with 5.5-yard high walls leading to the facade. The round stone wall symbolises the Sun, while the temple itself stands for the goddess of Earth who lived in a cave, according to Thracian beliefs. The interior consists of a rectangular entrance and a round vaulted main hall, whose ceiling is supported by 10 Doric semi-pillars, each carved with 10 vertical flutes.

The inner walls are covered by ornate stone plates. The dome is decorated with a stone frieze in red, black, green and blue colours. Within, archeologists found a magnificent trove of relics, including a large gold funerary wreath, other gold jewelry, bronze shields, helmets and swords, and two sets of silver decorations for horses. The grave and its surroundings are also thought to have been an important religious site for Thracians.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria can visit Thracian cult place of Starosel, Bulgaria.

It is located 2 km south from Shipka and is dated back to the 4th century B.C.

It consists of a chamber that bears a close resemblance to a sarcophagus, one round and three rectangular halls. The cellar of the tomb is very interesting – combination of relief and art decoration. It is famed for the paintings in the cupola - a combination of relief and paintings, where you can see portraits, animal figures and plant ornaments.

There are total of seven Thracian tombs in Shipka, located on a territory, considered to by the Valley of Thracian kings.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria can visit the Thracian tomb in the Ostrousha.

See a photo of a fresco of a noble woman from the Thracian tomb of Ostrusha from www.wikipedia.org.

Initially, the archeologists thought the head belonged to a statue of Zeus, but later on, after studying it for some time, they concluded it most probably belonged to a Thracian ruler or a God, and was buried there as a sacrifice.

There are a total of seven Thracian tombs in Shipka, near the Rose Valley of Bulgaria, located on a territory, considered to by the Valley of Thracian kings.

The tour operators in Bulgaria offer tours of Bulgaria to see the original of the Thracian bronze head, of the Golyama Kosmatka Thracian Tomb, at the Museum of Archelogy at Sofia and a replica of it at the local museum of history in Kazanlak.

Bulgarian archeologists have found probably the biggest and oldest Thracian tomb found so far in the Thracian mound of Golyama Kosmatka near Shipka near the Rose Valley, Bulgaria.

Thracian golden treasure of the funeral of a Thracian ruler was found there.

The Thracian golden treasure has been dated 5 century BC.

Among the pieces of the Thracian golden treasure there were 19 golden items, one of which was a unique Thracian golden wreath decorated with oak leaves and acorns.

The tour operators in Bulgaria offer tours of Bulgaria to see the Thracian golden wreath decorated with oak leaves only at the museum of history in Kazanlak.

A completely preserved funeral set of objects of a Thracian aristocrat was found in it this 26 meter long three chamber tomb with a corridor.

A ritual bed of an unidentified Thracian ruler and a unique golden treasure were also discovered inside the tomb.

The exponents of the Thracian golden treasure were probably more than 2400 years old. Among them, there were 19 golden items, one of which was a unique golden wreath decorated with oak leaves and acorns.

A golden brooch, knee-pads, a helmet, a spear, a silver vessel and three wine amphoras, one of them carrying a producer mark, were also found.

A bit earlier, only a couple of meters away from the discovery, a bronze head had been found, as probably it belonged to a Thracian ruler or a God that was buried here probably as a sacrifice.

There are a total of seven Thracian tombs in Shipka, located on a territory, considered to by the Valley of Thracian kings, near the Rose Valley of Bulgaria.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria, including Japanese tourists in Bulgaria, can visit and see the Golyama Kosmatka Thracian Tomb, Bulgaria.

The Thracian Tomb of Alexandrovo is a unique example of the domed Thracian tombs. Its construction and wall painting decoration was dated from 4 century B.C. It is situated under a mound of 60 m diameter and around 15 m high.

The type of construction is stone one with a dry joint. Particular decision represents the long dromos, covered with stone plates, and the low entrances to the antechamber and the chamber. All the premises were entirely decorated with wall paintings.

From the wall-paintings in the antechamber separate fragments remained, but the decoration of the round chamber is very well preserved. On the precise hewed stone construction a double layered lime plaster is impasted and smoothed up. The decoration of the round chamber is the richest one. Of great interest is the very well preserved upper figural frieze.

The painting represents four realistic and dynamically decided scenes of boar and deer hunting.

Prince Akishino of Japan opened a replica of the Thracian tomb at Alexandrovo, Bulgaria on 15 of May 2009.

The replica of the Thracian tomb at Alexandrovo was built with the financial aid of Japan.

The tourists of tours of Bulgaria, including Japanese tourists in Bulgaria, can visit and see the replica of the Thracian tomb at Alexandrovo, Bulgaria.

The Thracian tomb, Kazanlak is a must to visit in tours of Bulgaria. Kazanlak is a live small town and Pallace hotel in Kazanlak offers high quality services and welcome attitude to tourist of tours of Bulgaria.

The Thracian tomb, Kazanlak, was discovered in 1944, as this tomb dates from the Hellenistic period, around the end of the 4th century B.C.

It is located in the romantic Valley of Roses, near the town of Kazanlak, and comprises three rooms built of brick – a lobby, a corridor and a dome. Scene of war are shown a central theme, on both sides of which one may see two warriors with their battle attire and weapons.

The focal point is the main composition, which describes feast as a foreground to the military and political activities of the deceased. It is there that one may see a married couple of obvious eminence, painted with great skill and care. Numerous figures of wildly galloping horses and battle carts add to the depth of the scene. The dromos and funerary chamber are decorated with frescoes, representing in particular a funeral banquet.

The wall paintings by an unknown artist, mainly in red, black, white and green, show a genuine talent which is relatively free of the Greek influence. The Kazanluk Thracian tomb is one of the 9 cultural and historical sites in Bulgaria included in the UNESCO list of historical and architectural monuments of global importance. It is also the only monument, completely preserved from the Early Hellenistic Period (4 - 3 century B.C.) .

Few tours of Bulgaria offer visiting Sveshtari Thracian Tomb of Bulgaria. The reasons are bad infrastructure, bumpy beaten roads with holes and lack of decent quality hotels near by.

The Thracian tomb was discovered in 1982 during excavations of a sepulchral mound.

Sveshtari Thracian Tomb dates back to first half of the 3 century BC .

It consists of three chambers - an entrance chamber and two antechambers, covered by a mound. The central camera of the vault is rich in decoration - it is designed as a facade of a temple with the image of a horseman, being bestowed with a golden wreath by a goddess, and a religious procession; on three of the walls - a high relief with 10 stone statues of clad women figures.

The funeral rites, the building technique, the architectural design and the decoration, distinguished for Hellenistic models, provide evidence that a Thracian ruler has been buried there. The Sveshtari Tomb was included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO in 1985.

Few tours of Bulgaria offer visiting Pliska old capital of Bulgaria. The reasons are bad infrastructure, bumpy beaten roads with holes and few stone base of old buildings in Pliska.

Pliska was the capital of Bulgaria between 681 and 893 A.D.

According to a Bulgarian chronicle, it was founded by Khan Asparukh.

It is called Pliskusa by Georgios Kedrenos and Anna Comnena.

It had an area of 23 square kilometers and was surrounded by a moat and earthwork ramparts. The walls of the inner fortress were 2.6 meters thick and about 12 meters high. Pliska was sacked by the Byzantine army in 811, but the invaders were soon driven out by Khan Krum. Khan Omurtag brought in artisans and craftsmen to improve the city.

In 886, Boris I founded the Pliska Literary School after 893 Preslav Literary School, which was headed by Naum of Preslav. In 892, the city became the scene of a pagan revolt led by King Vladimir. After the crushing of the revolt, Vladimir was dethroned and the third son of Boris I, Simeon, was installed into power. One of the first steps of the new ruler was to move the capital to Preslav, a fortified town in the vicinity of Pliska, probably because of the steadily strong pagan influence in the old capital. The importance of Pliska gradually waned throughout the 10th century with the concentration of power and resources in Preslav. The city was destroyed during the assaults of the Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire between 969 and 972 and was not rebuilt again. The ruins of the city of Pliska lie 3 km north of the modern village of Pliska.

The site of the city is currently a National Archaeological Reserve. Ruins of the Great and the Small Palace, the strong stone fortifications and the Great Basilica (c. 875), one of the largest Christian places of worship of its time, used both as a royal church and as a national patriarchal cathedral, can be seen in the reserve.

Seventy-six elements were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO UN on 30 September 2009.

These 76 inscriptions were decided by the 24 Member States of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage, holding its 4th session in Abu Dhabi.

Among them there were 22 elements from China, 13 elements from Japan, the tango dance from Argentina and Uruguay, and from Bulgaria - Nestinarstvo, messages from the past: the Panagyr of Saints Constantine and Helena in the village of Bulgari - The Nestinarstvo fire-dancing rite is the climax of the annual Panagyr ritual on the feast days of Saints Constantine and Helena (3 and 4 June) in the village of Bulgari, in the Mount Strandzha region of south-east Bulgaria. The old ritual is held to ensure the well-being and fertility of the village.

Some tourists of tours of Bulgaria and mass practised sea holidays at the Black sea side cost see fire-dancing in Bulgaria.

Its name acquired the prefix Great after it became the capital of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, during the reign of Tsar Simeon (893-927) - although it began to eclipse the original capital, Pliska, at an earlier date. According to records of that time, Preslav was the most populous town in the Balkans in 10 century.

It was with extensive suburbs surrounding a walled inner town containing large buildings of stone on both sides, decorated with wood. In the town there was also a palace, a royal School of Translators, the Patriarchate and other churches ornamented with stones, wood and paintings, marble and copper, silver and gold.

Great Preslav's downfall began when it was captured by the Svetoslav, Kievian prince, causing the Byzantine Empire to respond by razing the town in 972, and although it later revived as the palace was occupied as late as the Asenid dynasty, Preslav never regained its former size and was subsequently surpassed by Veliko Turnovo. Eventually it was destroyed and burned down by the Turks in 14 century, who used the remains to construct their own buildings.

Few tours of Bulgaria offer visiting Preslav old capital of Bulgaria. The reasons are bad infrastructure, bumpy beaten roads with holes and seeing few stone base of old buildings in Preslav.

On 15 October, 2009 the nomination will be submitted to the approval of the General Conference of 193 Member States the organization of UNESCO. Once confirmed, she will be the first woman Director-General of UNESCO.

Irina Bokova is Bulgaria's Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO.

A career diplomat and politician, a member of the Socialist party of Bulgaria, Irina Bokova studied at the State Institute of International Relations in Moscow, Russia and at the School of Public Affairs of the University of Maryland (USA).

She served as Deputy Foreign Minister (1995-97) and Foreign Minister (1996-97).

Eight other candidates contested the job of UNESCO Director-General.

UNESCO is the organization of UN for education, science and culture for 64 years.

Some tours of Bulgaria offer visiting the Trapezitsa and Tzarevets hills in Veliko Tarnovo.

It is a natural fortification, surrounded on three sides by the river. In the past, the high walls of the fortification were rising on the steep rocks. There are two theories about the origin of the name Trapezitsa.

One of them says that the name origins from the word trapeza or table in Bulgarian. According to the second one, its roots are to be found in the word trapetz or trapezium in Bulgarian, because the plateau was trapezium-shaped. When excavations were made in the region from 1884 till 1900, specialists discovered the foundations of 17 churches, which were richly decorated with different murals and multi-colored mosaics. Previous research works have shown that most of the murals were made by masters from the Tarnovo Painting School. The inscriptions were in Bulgarian language, but only separate words of them have been preserved.

History has it that back in 1195, Assen I moved the relics of Saint Ivan Rilski from Sredets, nowadays Sofia, to Veliko Turnovo, where they were placed in a special church in Trapezitsa. The relics were preserved in Veliko Tarnovo until 1469, when they were moved to the Rila Monastery.

The synagogue in Sofia is the symbol of Bulgarian Judaism.

The synagogue in Sofia is the third largest in Europe, next to the synagogues in Budapest and Amsterdam.

The synagogue in Sofia is the largest Sephardic (Spanish-Jewish) synagogue in Europe.

The synagogue in Sofia is one of the most beautiful architectural monuments in Sofia, the synagogue accommodates 1,300 worshippers.

Tourists of tours in Bulgaria can visit the synagogue in Sofia by a in advance special order.

The Omurtag's Tarnovo Inscription is an inscription in Greek language, engraved on a column of dark syenite found in the Saint Forty Martyrs Church in Tarnovo.

Some tours of Bulgaria offer visiting the famouse inscription of Khan Omurtag on a column.

The inscription was known since 1858 when Hristo Daskalov from Tryavna managed to visit the church (which was converted to a mosque at that time) and to make a replica of the inscription.

Along with the Chatalar Inscription, the Tarnovo inscrition testifies for the active construction during the reign of Khan Omurtag (814-831).

It is assumed that the inscription was made on 822.

The historians are uncertain about the original location of the inscription (probably Pliska) and the location of the new home on the Danube, for which the inscription was created - Silistra, the village of Malak Preslavets or the island of Păcuiul lui Soare.

Original inscription in Greek language is Κα[ν]α συβιγη Ωμο<μο>ρταγ ις τον παλεον υκον αυτου μενο(ν) επυησεν υπερφυμον υκο(ν) ις τον Δανουβην κ(ε) αναμεσα τον δυο υκο(ν) τον πανφυμο(ν) καταμετρησας ις τιν μεσην επυισα τουμβαν κε απο τιν αυτη(ν) μεσην της τουμβας εος την αυλι(ν) μου την αρχεα(ν) ισιν οργηε μυριαδες β' κ(ε) επι τον Δανουβιν ισην οργιες μυριαδες β'. το δε αυτο τουβι(ν) εστιν πανφυμο(ν) κ(ε) μετρισα(ν)τες τιν γιν επυισα τα γραματα ταυτα. ο ανθροπος κ(ε) καλα ζον αποθνισκι κε αλος γενατε κε ινα ο εσχατον γηνομενος ταυτα θεορον υπομνησκετε τον πυισαντα αυτο. το δε ονομα του αρχοντος εστην Ωμορταγ καν(ν)α συβιγη•ο Θ(εο)ς αξηοσι αυτον ζισε ετη ρ'. Translation in English language "Kana subigi Omurtag, living in his old home, made a glorious home on the Danube and in the middle between the two most glorious homes, after he measured,, he made a tumulus. From the very centre of the tumulus to my old palace there are 20,000 raztega and to the Danube there are 20,000 raztega. The tumulus itself is most glorious and after they measured the land I made that inscription. Even if a man lives well, he dies and another one comes into existence. Let the one who comes later upon seeing this inscription remember the one who had made it. And the name is Omurtag, Kana subigi. Let God make him live 100 years."

See a photo of Khan Omurtag inscription on a column in Saint Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.

The rider rock relief of Madara, dated 710 AD, was chosen as the symbol of Bulgaria in 2008 in a formal poll. 25 per cent of over 1 million Bulgarians voted in favour of the Madara rider to become a symbol of Bulgaria.

The Madara rider, as the symbol of Bulgaria, has to be put on the Euro banknotes of EU after a decision of the European bank after Bulgaria is in the Euro zone or Euro currency.

The Madara rider is a site of UNESCO World Heritage List in Bulgaria since 1979.

The rock relief depicts a horseman 23 meters above ground level in an almost vertical high cliff.

The horseman, is thrusting a spear into a lying lion. An eagle is flying in front of the horseman and a dog is running after him.

The dating backs the theory that the Madara rider rock relief was created during the rule of Tervel, Khan of Bulgarians, and it can be a portrayal of the khan himself. It is believed that the Madara rider was a work of the old Bulgarians, a nomadic tribe of warriors which settled in northeastern Bulgaria at the end of the 7th century AD and after merging with the local Slavs and people of Thrace and in this way giving origin of the state of Bulgaria.

Many tours of Bulgaria offer visiting the Madara rider rock relief dated 710 AD that is a site of UNESCO World Heritage List in Bulgaria.

The relief depicts a majestic horseman 23 meters above ground level in an almost vertical 100 meters high cliff.

The horseman, facing right, is thrusting a spear into a lion lying at his horse's feet. An eagle is flying in front of the horseman and a dog is running after him. The scene symbolically depicts a military triumph.

The monument is dated back to circa 710 AD and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List in Bulgaria since 1979. The dating means the monument was created during the rule of Bulgar Khan Tervel, and supports the thesis that it is a portrayal of the khan himself and a work of the Bulgars, a nomadic tribe of warriors which settled in northeastern Bulgaria at the end of the 7th century AD and after merging with the local Slavs gave origin to the modern Bulgarians. Other theories connect the relief with the ancient Thracians, claiming it portrays a Thracian god.

Three partially preserved texts in Medieval Greek, carved in the rock, can be found around the image of the rider. They bear important information regarding the history of Bulgaria in the period. According to Professor Veselin Beshevliev and his book Protobulgarians, the oldest inscription is the work of Khan Tervel (695-721 AD), thus the relief has also been created during his rule. The other inscriptions refer to the Khan Krum (796-814 AD) and Khan Omurtag (814-831 AD) and were most likely carved on their order.

Huge parts of tours of Bulgaria offer visiting Arbanassi.

Arbanassi is a village in Veliko Tarnovo municipality in central northern Bulgaria, set on a high plateau between the larger towns of Veliko Tarnovo, four kilometres away, and Gorna Oryahovitsa. It is known for the rich history and large number of historical monuments, such as 17th and 18th century churches and examples of Bulgarian National Revival architecture, which have turned it into a popular tourist destination for tours of Bulgaria. As of 2005, Arbanasi has a population of 291.

It is accepted by some scholars that the village was populated by Bulgarian noblemaen boyars that came from the westernmost parts of the Second Bulgarian Empire after Ivan Asen II's important victory over the Byzantines near Klokotnitsa on 9 March 1230. The earliest written document that marks the beginning of Arbanasi's history is a royal decree by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent from 1538, according to which the sultan offered the lands of the modern localities of Arbanasi, Lyaskovets, Gorna Oryahovitsa and Dolna Oryahovitsa to his son-in-law Grand Vizier Rustem Pasha as a gift.

There is considerably richer documentary material, such as correspondence and chronicler's notes on religious books, preserved from the 17th and 18th century, that evidences that Arbanasi reached its economic blossoming between the second half of the 17th and the end of the 18th century. The settlement had over 1,000 houses at the time, its population consisting mostly of eminent merchant families who traded in Transylvania, the Danubian Principalities, Russia and Poland. Handicrafts were well-developed, with copper- and goldsmithing, vine-growing and silk production playing an important part.

The homes of the rich merchants, as well as the five churches built in the years of progress, bear record of the economic upsurge and prosperity.

There are Arbanasi Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God (17th-18th century), Monastery of Saint Nicholas (17th-18th century), Church of the Nativity of Christ (15th-17th century), Church of Saints Archangels Michael and Gabriel (16th-18th century), Church of Saint Athanasius (17th century), Church of Saint George (17th century), Church of Saint Demetrius (17th-18th century).

Huge number of tours of Bulgaria offer visiting Arbanassi church Nativity Church of Christ.

It consists of a naos (a man's department), a narthex (a women's department), a gallery running alongside on the north and on the west, while on the eastern side there is a chapel to John the Baptist.

There were several costructing stages in the building of the church.

The present day naos was originally a church on its own. Its painting was completed in 1597. The composition of: The Judgement Day and Nativity date back to those times. The painting of the woman's department was completed in 1638. There, both the walls and the arches were painted.

The composition there from self-contained cycles and themes: Mother Mary's Ascension, Jesse's tree, The Judgement Day. Jesse's tree composition follows the Biblical stories about Christ's predecessors. The presence of the antique philosophers and ancestors (Homer, Aristotle, Plato) in this scene was inspired by the humanistic tendencies of the time. The themes of Mother Mary's Ascension and of the Judgement Day testify to the great interest taken in the cosmogenic issues, the genesis and history of mankind. The chapel to John the Baptist was painted in 1632. The themes were taken from the life of its patron John the Baptist.

The iconostasis is one of the earliest examples of woodwork in Bulgaria. Most of the paintings in the gallery were made in 1649. They are grouped in a calendar sequence of Menelogue and represent stories from the New and Old Testaments and The Seven Oecumencial Councils.

The thematic cycles in the gallery are united in the scene of the Vain Life in a Vain World or the Wheel of Life with the zodiac signs. The paintings in the naos depict the Feasts, the Passions and Wonders of Christ. The paintings were completed in 1681.

Huge number of tours of Bulgaria offer visiting the Church Nativity of Christ is the earliest Arbanassi.

It is thought that the monastery was founded in the 11th century as a cloister of the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos. In 1360 it became an autonomous monastery on the order of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria. After the Ottoman conquest of Bulgaria, the monastery was plundered and burned several times by the Turks and eventually entirely destroyed. It was only reestablished in 1825 by father Zoticus of the Rila Monastery by means of donations. In 1832, a firman of the Ottoman sultan allowed the construction of a new monastery church; the church was designed by the noted Bulgarian National Revival architect Kolyu Ficheto and completed in 1834.

The cross-shaped church features three apses, a single dome and a covered narthex. The icons and frescoes of the main church were painted by another famous artist, Zahari Zograf, who worked in the monastery between 1849 and 1851. Among the more notable murals are those of the Last Judgment, the Wheel of Life, the Birth of the Mother of God, the Last Supper.

Zahari Zograf also painted Saints Cyril and Methodius, as well as a self-portrait.

In addition, the main church was richly decorated on the outside and a wood-carved and gold-plated iconostasis was installed.

Some tours of Bulgaria offer visiting the Wheel of Life version of the Transfiguration Monastery, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.

Perhaps the most visible monument in Veliko Tarnovo is the monument of tsars Assens.

The monument is dedicated to Bulgarian rulers tsars - Assen, Peter, Kaloyan and Ivan Assen II.

It was built in 1985 on the occasion of 800 years of the proclamation of Tarnovo to the former capital of the Bulgarian state and the revolt of the brothers Assen and Peter that led to the release of Bulgaria from the ruling of Byzantium.

It represents four powerful tsars of Bulgaria on the horses as each one sees in a different direction, a huge sword rises in the middle.

Such is the adoption of the square with monuments to the rulers of Hungary in Budapest.

The monument of four great Bulgarian tsars Assens is situated on the picturesque peninsula of Yantra river, Veliko tarnovo, near to the Inter hotel, Veliko Tarnovo as tourists of tours of Bulgaria passes on Stambolov Bridge to see the monument of four great Bulgarian tsars Assens in Veliko Tarnovo.

See a picture of the monument of four great Bulgarian tsars Assens in Veliko Tarnovo.

Paisius of Hilendar (1722–1773) was a Bulgarian monk and a figure of Bulgarian National Revival.

He is most famous as author of the book Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya or History of Slavs and Bulgarians, that book is estimated as first History of Bulgaria.

Most Bulgarians think of him as the father of the Bulgarian National Revival.

Paisius was born in Bulgaria in the town of Bansko. Paisius was a monk at the monastery of Hilendar. Collecting materials for two years through hard work and even visiting the lands of the Germans, he finished his Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya or History of Slavs and Bulgarians in 1762 in the monastery of Zograf, Atone Mountain, Greece.

The book Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya or History of Slavs and Bulgarians was the first attempt to write a complete history of Bulgaria and attempted to awake and strengthen Bulgarian national consciousnesses.

The most famous part of the whole book among the Bulgarian is the question:

"O stupid people, why are you ashamed to call yourself Bulgarian?"

On one side this more or less signifies the purpose of Paisius of Hilendar who speaks about the danger of Bulgarians falling victim to the hellenization policies of the well educated Greek clergymen.

On the other side the Turks conquered and ruled Bulgaria for five hundred years, including in 1762, and many Bulgarians accepted by force by sword and fire the Islam religion of the Turks, Turkish names and behavior.

The first manual copy of the book Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya was done by the monk Sophronius of Vratsa in 1765. Structurally, Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya consists of two introductions, several chapters that discuss various historic events, a chapter about the Slavic teachers, the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, a chapter about the Bulgarian saints, and an epilogue.

As Paisius traveled around Bulgaria he brought his book, which was copied and spread among the Bulgarians.

See a picture of a page of the famous Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya or History of Slavs and Bulgarians.

There they can enjoy seeing the process of making rose oil and buying rose water and rose cosmetics.

The price of Bulgarian rose oil has fallen dramatically because of a decreasing number of tourists passing through airports over the financial crisis according to a BBC news report of August 2009.

Mr. Nick Hingham has made a report that has been shown on the BBC news.

Hingham has visited the Rose valley of Bulgaria near Kazanlak from which he states 40 percent of the world's rose oil is produced as well as a large amount of lavender oil , because of its perfect micro-climate.

Hingham stated that worldwide recession has hit demand for products like rose oil and lavender essence leaving some of the producers struggling to survive.

He concluded that fewer travelers visiting Bulgarian airport shops has seen a drop in the price of rose oil as they do not buy the perfumes and soaps that contain the oil.

The Four Gospels of Ivan Alexander was written during the rule of Tsar Ivan Alexander in the Second Bulgarian Empire. The manuscript is regarded as one of the most important literary treasures of the medieval Bulgarian culture and arguably the one with the greatest artistic value.

The manuscript Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander, currently housed in the British Library, contains the text of the Four Gospels illustrated with 366 miniatures and consists of 286 parchment folios parchment, 33 by 24.3 cm in size, later paginated with pencil.

The manuscript was written by a monk named Simeon in 1355-1356 on the orders of Tsar Ivan Alexander.

The Tetraevangelia of Tsar Ivan Alexander, also called London Gospel is one of the most famous and valuable manuscripts of the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet. Represents evangeliyata transcript of Saint Matthew, Mark, Luke and John Bogoslov and in the beginning of each Gospel is depicted on the corresponding evangelist. At the beginning of the book into two separate sheets of an original miniatures of historical importance. Only after 14 centuries have created two illustrated evangeliya in Moldova and Russia copied from him. Previously, in 11 century are two illustrated evangeliya in Greece, but they are in small format and are written with small font, while Tetraevangelieto of Ivan Alexander is in a format written by the representative, statutory letter Literary School of Veliko Tarnovo .

The handwriting of the manuscript Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander shows similarity with the Manasses Chronicle (1344-1345), another product of the Literary School of Veliko Tarnovo of that time. The manuscript Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander was initially plated with gold, gems and pearls, but part of this plate later disappeared and was replaced with the current one.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

It covers events from the creation of the world until the beginning of the reign of Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180), Emperor of Bisantium. There were five transcript copies as followed: Moscow copy, Vatican copy, Tulchan copy, Hilendar copy and Novgorod copy.

Moscow transcript is a Bulgarian version, the oldest preserved copy of the records and is located in the State Historical Museum in Moscow. Vatican transcript consists of 206 parchment leaves. It is the only one copy illustrated with 69 original miniatures with more than 100 different scenes. This copy is stored in the Vatican library.

Tulchan transcript is a Bulgarian version of 14 - 17 century and is held in the Romanian Academy of Sciences in Bucharest.

Hilendar copy of the 1510 version in Serbian and stored in Hilendarski monastery.

Novgorodskiyat copy of the 17 century is also in the Serbian version is located in Saint Petersburg.

Constantine Manasses (c. 1130 - c. 1187) was a Byzantine chronicler and the author of a chronicle or historical synopsis of events. The Manasses Chronicle obtained great popularity and appeared in a free prose translation in the middle ages.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

The reign of Ivan Shishman is inextricably connected with the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman domination for five hundred years term ot time.

After the death of Tsar Ivan Alexander in early 1371, Ivan Shishman inherited the central portion of Bulgaria with the capital Tarnovo. Ivan Sratsimir of Vidin and Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici of Dobrudzha were completely independent. Although in 1371 Wallachia still recognized the suzerainty of Ivan Alexander as seen in a request concerning commercial, in 1386, during an obscure war in which Ivan Shishman defeated and killed Dan I of Wallachia, it was probably already independent. That year, Ivan Shishman had attacked Ivanko, the new despot of Dobrudzha, who was the nephew of Dan I, but although he killed Ivanko's ally, he didn't manage to bring Dobdruja under his influence.

The Ottomans advanced on Bulgaria, and Ivan Shishman was forced to recognize Ottoman overlordship. In spite of this capitulation, the Ottomans continued their conquest of Bulgaria, with the fall of Ihtiman in 1378, Sofia in 1383 and Niš in 1385. Encouraged by the Serbian and Bosnian victory over the Ottomans at the Battle of Pločnik in 1387, Ivan Shishman refused to support Murat I or to recognize his suzerainty. The Ottoman reprisal was swift, and the enemy overran the Bulgarian defenses, besieging Ivan Shishman in Nikopol on the Danube in 1388. Ivan Shishman had no choice but to submit, and was allowed to keep most of his realm, but was required to surrender Drastar (Silistra) to the Ottoman Sultan.

In spite of the murder of Sultan Murat I before the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Ottomans crushed the Christian coalition, and could turn their attention more closely to Ivan Shishman. In 1393 the new Sultan Bayezit I invaded Bulgaria unexpectedly and besieged the capital Tarnovo. The capital was defended under the supervision of the Bulgarian Patriarch Evtimiy, while Ivan Shishman had taken refuge in Nikopol once more. After a siege of three months, Tarnovo fell by treason on July 17, 1393, a point sometimes taken as the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire, although both Ivan Shishman and Ivan Sratsimir survived.

Ivan Shishman continued to rule in Nikopol as an Ottoman vassal, and perhaps counted on the imminent anti-Ottoman crusade prepared by the Hungarian king Sigismund of Luxemburg. Returning from a failed campaign against Mircea I of Wallachia, Sultan Bayezit I had Ivan Shishman beheaded at Nikopol on June 3, 1395. The remainder of Ivan Shishman's territory was annexed by the Ottoman Empire, while Bulgarian emperors continued to rule at Vidin until 1422.

Folklore tradition (legends and songs) presents Ivan Shishman's exploits and death as the heroic deeds of the last emperor of Bulgaria but Ivan Shishman was in fact survived by his half-brother Ivan Sratsimir in Vidin and the latter's son Constantine II.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of medieval Bulgaria.

See a medieval picture of Tsar Ivan Sishman.

Ivan Asen II had sought to bolster the effectiveness of his state by providing for some level of administrative control and concluding a commercial treaty with the republic of Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik), a dependency of Venice. He showed restraint on the field of battle and sought to face challenges through diplomatic solutions.

However, his policies exhibit considerable inconsistencies, especially in the relationship towards Nicaea and the Latin Empire. It is possible that Ivan Asen II could not decide which of these rivals was more dangerous to him or more profitable as an ally. In the long run his actions (including the victory over Theodore of Epirus and the general preference for Nicaea) secured the position of Nicaea as the Byzantine successor state best able to reconquer Constantinople. Bulgarian influence over Serbia and Thessalonica lapsed on his death.

The rudimentary administrative apparatus he left behind proved insufficient to cope with the challenges of two successive minorities on the throne, and led to significant territorial losses to Nicaea, Epirus, and Hungary in 1246, not to mention Bulgaria's status as a tributary to the Golden Horde in 1242. It is difficult to say to what extent Ivan Asen II may have been able to prevent these developments, but he may be credited with presiding over a period of rare prosperity, internal peace, and external hegemony for Medieval Bulgaria. Although the Nicaean alliance was renewed, Ivan Asen II allowed Cuman detachments and a 60-thousand strong western army to cross his lands and reinforce the Latin Empire in 1240.

The last recorded action of Ivan Asen II is his defeat of a column of the Mongol army of Batu Khan in the course of its retreat from Hungary in 1241. This was not a decisive defeat, and a new Mongol invasion in 1242 forced Bulgaria to become tributary to the Golden Horde.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

See a picture of Tsar Ivan Asen II at the Monastery of Zograf, Greece..

In 1207 Kaloyan concluded an anti-Latin alliance with Theodore I Laskaris of the Empire of Nicaea. In the same year, Kaloyan's troops killed Boniface of Montferrat (September 4, 1207), the Latin ruler of the Kingdom of Thessalonica. Seeking to take advantage of that situation, Kaloyan advanced on the city and besieged it with a large force, but was possibly murdered by his own Cuman commander Manastar at the beginning of October 1207.

The sources on Kaloyan's reign are for the most part foreign (Byzantine and Latin) and hostile, stressing his brutality and cruelty. Some of this ruthlessness has been ascribed specifically to his Cuman envoy, while others have pointed out that Kaloyan's most repressive policies were aimed at the destruction of the enemy elite, while commoners were often treated with mercy.

One of the stories about the demise of the Latin Emperor Baldwin describes his cruel dismemberment by an enraged Kaloyan, whose wife had falsely alleged that Baldwin had propositioned her, when he had in fact spurned her advances. The story is reminiscent of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, but fit well with the hostility of contemporary sources, which also suggest occasional outbursts of rage.

Kaloyan's corpse, together with his personal signet ring, was reported as discovered buried in the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Veliko Tarnovo.

Emperor Baldwin I, the Emperor of Latins, was captured from the trops of Kalyoan.

Baldwin I was imprisoned in Tarnovo, the capital of Bulgaria, until he died or was executed later in 1205.

Now toursits of tours in Bulgaria see the tower of Baldwin at Tzarevetz hill in Veliko Tarnovo. The legend says that Baldwin I was imprisoned there.

Ultimately Kaloyan's reign was a period of growth and political ascension of the Bulgarian Empire, which expanded the political and economic gains of his brothers Assen and Peter. He is considered to be one of the great Bulgarian emperors.

See a picture of Kalyoan’s grave in the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Veliko Tarnovo.

Kaloyan pursued his predecessors' aggressive policy against the Byzantine Empire and Kaloyan conquered Konstanteia Simeonovgrad in Thrace and Varna from the Byzantine Empire in 1201, and most of Slavic Macedonia in 1202. The Pope Innocent III had written to Kaloyan, inviting him to unite his Church with the Roman Catholic Church, as early as 1199. Wanting to bear the title of Emperor and to restore the prestige, wealth and size of the First Bulgarian Empire, Kaloyan responded in 1202. In this political maneuver, he requesed that Pope Innocent III bestow on him the imperial crown and sceptre that had been held by Simeon I, Peter I, and Samuel and in exchange he might consider communication with Rome. Kaloyan also wanted the Papacy to recognize the head of the Bulgarian Church as a Patriarch. The pope was not willing to make concessions on that scale, and when his envoy, Cardinal Leo, arrived in Bulgaria, he anointed the Archbishop Vasilij of Tarnovo as Primate of Bulgarians and Vlachs. Kaloyan only received Uniate crown as rex Bulgarorum et Blachorum (King of Bulgarians and Wallachians or rex Bulgarie et Blachie King of Bulgaria and Wallachia, not emperor. Blithely Kaloyan wrote to the pope, thanking him for an imperial coronation and for the anointing of his patriarch. He also assured him that he too will follow the Catholic Church rites, as part of the agreement. Meanwhile, in an attempt to foster an alliance with Kaloyan, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos recognized his imperial title and promised him patriarchal recognition.

Immediately afterwards, in 1204, the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople and created the Latin Empire, electing as emperor Baldwin I of Flanders. Although Kaloyan had offered the crusaders an alliance against the Byzantine Empire, his offer had been declined, and the Latin Empire expressed the intention of conquering all the lands of the former Byzantine Empire and its neighbours. The impending conflict was precipitated by the Byzantine aristocracy in Thrace, which rebelled against Latin rule in 1205 and called on Kaloyan for help, offering him its submission.

As the Latin Emperor Baldwin I began to subdue rebel cities and besieged Adrianople, in the words of the Crusader chronicler Villehardouin, "Johannizza, King of Wallachia, was coming to succour Adrianople with a very great host; for he brought with him Wallachians and Bulgarians, and full fourteen thousand Comans who had never been baptised" (Villehardouin, 92) . On April 14, 1205, Kaloyan's Cumans managed to draw the pursuing heavy cavalry of the Latin Empire into an ambush in the marshes north of Adrianople, and Kaloyan inflicted a crushing defeat on the Crusader army. Emperor Baldwin I was captured, Count Louis I of Blois was killed, and the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo led the surviving portions of the Crusader army into a hasty retreat back to Constantinople, during the course of which he died of exhaustion.

Baldwin was imprisoned in the Bulgarian capital Tărnovo until he died or was executed later in 1205.

Now toursits of tours in Bulgaria see at Tzarevetz hill in Veliko Tarnovo the tower of Baldwin. The legend says that the Emperor Baldwin was imprisoned there.

During the course of 1205, Kaloyan defeated the Latins at Serres and captured Philippopolis Plovdiv, overrunning much of the territory of the Latin Empire in Thrace and Macedonia.

In spite of the initially welcome successes of Kaloyan against the Latins, the Byzantine aristocracy eventually began to conspire against his rule. Kaloyan also changed course, and turned mercilessly on his former allies, adopting the sobriquet Rōmaioktonos Romanslayer, as a counter-derivative from Basil II's Boulgaroktonos Bulgarslayer.

On January 31, 1206 Kaloyan defeated the Latins again in the battle of Rusion, and later proceeded to capture Dimotika. The Bulgarians repeatedly ravaged Thrace, including the important cities of Herakleia and Caenophrurion Chorlu, and prompting the evacuation of other cities, such as Rodosto Tekirdag. Whereas in the past Kaloyan had limited his ferocity to outsmarting his enemies, his later campaigns included wholesale transfer of populations from the captured cities to distant regions in Bulgaria.

See a photo of a seal of Tsar Kaloyan.

The late 9th and early 10th century constitute the earliest and most productive period of medieval Bulgarian literature. Having spent his early years in Constantinople, Simeon introduced Byzantine culture to the Bulgarian court, but eliminated its assimilative effect by means of military power and religious autonomy.

The disciples of Cyril and Methodius, among whom Clement of Ohrid, Naum and Constantine of Preslav, continued their educational work in Bulgaria, actively translating Christian texts to Bulgarian, such as the Bible and the works of John Chrysostom, Basil of Caesarea, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nazianzus, Athanasius of Alexandria, as well as historic chronicles such as these of John Malalas and George Hamartolus.

The reign of Simeon also witnessed the production of a number of original theological and secular literature works, such as John Exarch's Six Days Chronicle, Constantine of Preslav's Alphabetical Prayer and Proclamation of the Holy Gospels, and Tchernorizec Hrabar's An Account of Letters.

Simeon's own contribution to this literary blossoming was praised by his contemporaries, for example in the Praise to Tsar Simeon preserved in the Golden collection and Simeon's Collection, to which the tsar personally wrote an addendum.

Simeon turned the new Bulgarian capital Preslav into a magnificent religious and cultural centre, intended more as a display of his realm's heyday and as a royal residence than as a military fortress. With its more than twenty cross-domed churches and numerous monasteries, its impressive royal palace and the royal Golden Basilica, Preslav was a true imperial capital. The development of Bulgarian art in the period is demonstrated by a ceramic icon of Theodore of Amasea and the Preslav-style illustrated ceramics.

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See a photo of Ceramic icon of Saint Theodore dating to reign of Tsar Simeon.

During Simeon's rule, Bulgaria spread over a territory between the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea, and the new Bulgarian capital Preslav was said to rival Constantinople. The newly-independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church became the first new patriarchate besides the Pentarchy and Bulgarian Glagolitic translations of Christian texts spread all over the Slavic world of the time. Halfway through his reign, Simeon assumed the title of Emperor (Tsar), having prior to that been styled Prince (Knyaz).

Desperate to conquer Constantinople, Simeon planned a large campaign in 924 and sent envoys to the Fatimid caliph Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah, who possessed a powerful navy which Simeon needed. In the summer of 924, Simeon arrived at Constantinople and demanded to see the patriarch and the emperor. He conversed with Romanos on the Golden Horn on 9 September 924 and arranged a truce, according to which Byzantium would pay Bulgaria an annual tax, but would be ceded back some cities on the Black Sea coast.

Most likely after Patriarch Nicholas' death in 925, Simeon raised the status of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to a patriarchate. This may be linked to Simeon's diplomatic relations with the Papacy between 924 and 926, during which he demanded and received recognition of Pope John X of his title as Emperor of the Romans, truly equal to the Byzantine emperor, and possibly the confirmation of a patriarchal dignity for the head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

See a picture of the Victory of Tsar Simeon at Anchialos Battle with Bisantium of the Manasses Chronicle.

The first lectures "Tract against Bogomil” said about the views of the priest Bogomil and his followers and it was as a dispute with them, trying to criticize their views and behavior and to demonstrate that they in no way could be acceptable of God. Prezviter Kozma criticized the fact that for various reasons the Bogomils did not recognise icons, cross of God, relics of saints for their hostility and disapproving attitude towards the rich, state and the church and faith to their masters, and that learning-dependent members of the public not to be subject of their masters.

The second work “For the monks” criticized the part of religious people priests monks in Bulgarian society, which lived in ways that he personally found perverse or insufficiently pious. His understanding of how the monks had to live, that should not be overlooked monastic vow of fasting, prayers and constant sexual abstinence, must be shared by the official authorities in Bulgaria, because Cosmo presbyter was a writer at the court of Tsar Peter I, which overlooked could be a base and possible reason of rapid spread of Bogomils in Medieval Bulgaria. From these lectures one can learn many facts about doctrine of Bogomils and how its principles apply to the Orthodox Church. The text shows that the author of the lectures did not consider the Bogomils as a separate sect, or did not want to separate from other heretics by any definition, afraid that some listeners (lectures were not only read but also listened publicly in church sermons) will be tempting to look at the Bogomils as perhaps more reasonable and closer to the Orthodox Christians heretics and even as a new structure, unrelated directly to the then familiar heretical society groups, named as manihei or pavlikyani.

Besides, maybe he wanted his audience to condemn the other heretics. In any case, he refused to identify the Bogomils and call them simply heretics. In this attempt to make a distinction between them and true Christians, especially Bogomils had behavior of devoted Christians, but they were not such people because as the author saw dangerous enemies of mankind, which like to depart from following the rules of church, which enable the soul to be saved and the person to receive eternal life.

In particular, as Cosmo claimed heretics denied literal interpretation of the Bible and the authenticity of the story and all, because according to them the Devil, not God had a leading role in the Creation and ruling of the earthly world. The Bogomils said that respect of the cross was foolishness, because the cross was a tool by which people killed the son of God. The Bogomils said that all Christian rituals and the church itself are actually unnecessary and even harmful. Particularly stresses that the state, including the church is not from God and the opposite - from the Devil. Presbyter Cosmo meets these postulates of the Bogomils by criticism consists of quotations from the Bible and examples from everyday life and a critical remarks aimed at showing heretics as people who contradicted themselves or were hypocrites.

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See a picture of pages of lectures "Tract against Bogomil” 10 century.

The term "Bogomil" means "Dear to God" in Bulgarian. It is difficult to ascertain whether the name was taken from the reputed founder of that sect, priest Bogomil, or whether he assumed that name after it had been given to the whole sect.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

The now defunct Gnostic social-religious movement and doctrine originated in the time of Tsar Peter I of Bulgaria (927 – 969). In spite of all measures of repression, it remained strong and popular until the fall of Bulgaria in the end of the 14th century.

Bogomilism was a natural outcome of many factors. The forced by sword and fire Christianization of the Slavs and proto-Bulgarians by Tsar Boris I in 863 and the fact that the religion was initially practiced in Greek, which only the elite knew, resulted in a very superficial level of understanding of the religion. Another very important factor was the social discontent of the peasantry. Due to the constant wars during the time of Simeon I, who was the father of Tsar Peter I of Bulgaria, the lands near the Greek border were devastated, and the people living there were left without occupation. Moreover, the change of authority over these lands resulted in the unstable status of the peasantry. All these factors contributed to the general discontent of the peasantry at the beginning of the 10th century. Another factor was the existence of older Christian heresies in the Bulgarian lands. The most influential among those were Manichaeism and Paulicianism, which were considered very dualistic.

One says that the Bogomils taught that God had two sons, the elder Satanail and the younger Michael. The elder son rebelled against the father and became the evil spirit. After his fall he created the lower heavens and the earth and tried in vain to create man; in the end he had to appeal to God for the Spirit. After creation Adam was allowed to till the ground on condition that he sold himself and his posterity to the owner of the earth. Then Michael was sent in the form of a man; he became identified with Jesus, and was elected by God after the baptism in the Jordan. When the Holy Ghost (again Michael) appeared in the shape of the dove, Jesus received power to break the covenant in the form of a clay tablet held by Satanail from Adam. He had become the angel Michael in a human form; as such he vanquished Satanail. Satanail was thus transformed into Satan. Through his machinations the crucifixion took place, and Satan was the originator of the whole Orthodox community with its churches, vestments, ceremonies, sacraments and fasts, with its monks and priests. The Bogomils did not go as far as to recommend asceticism.

The essence of Bogomilism is the duality in the creation of the world. This is exactly why it is considered a heresy. Due to this duality, their doctrine rejects everything that is socially created and that does not come from the soul, the only divine possession of the human. Therefore, the established Church, the state, and the hierarchy were totally undermined by Bogomilism. The followers of Bogomilism refused to pay taxes, to work in serfdom, or to fight for their rulers. The whole social system was overthrown, which on its part were understood as suggesting disorder and propels destructivity for the state, the church by its progenitors, that ultimately eradicated the Bogomils.

See a map of the spread of Bogomilism in 10 - 15 century.

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The early 9th century marked the beginning of a fierce rivalry between the Eastern Orthodox Church in Constantinople and the Catholic Church in Rome. For a variety of reasons, Boris became interested in converting to Christianity and undertook to do that at the hands of western clergymen to be supplied by Louis the German in 863. However, late in the same year, the Byzantine Empire invaded Bulgaria during a period of famine and natural disasters. Taken by surprise, Boris was forced to sue for peace and agreed to convert to Christianity according to the eastern rites in exchange for peace and territorial concessions in Thrace. At the beginning of 864 Boris was secretly baptized at Pliska by an embassy of Byzantine clergymen, together with his family and select members of the Bulgarian nobility. With Emperor Michael III as his godfather, Boris also adopted the Christian name Michael. Boris' conversion inspired a reaction by his pagan subjects, including many important notables.

Conversion to Christianity met great opposition in Bulgaria. In the summer of 865 a group of noble men aristocrats boyars started an open revolt. Boris ruthlessly suppressed it and executed 52 boyars together with their entire families. Thus the Christianization continued.

Bulgarian church in 9 century. At the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 870 the position of the Bulgarian church was reopened by Bulgarian envoys, and the eastern patriarchs adjudicated in favor of Constantinople. This determined the future of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which was granted the status of an autocephalous archbishopric by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 886 Boris' governor of Belgrade welcomed the disciples of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, who were exiled from Great Moravia into Bulgaria and sent them on to Boris in Pliska. Two of these disciples, Clement of Ohrid and Naum of Preslav who were of noble Bulgarian origin, set up educational centers in Pliska and in Ohrid to further the development of Slavonic letters and liturgy. The alphabet that was originally developed by Cyril and Methodius is known as the Glagolitic alphabet. In Bulgaria Clement of Ohrid and Naum of Preslav however created or rather compiled a new alphabet which was called Cyrillic and was declared the official alphabet. The Slavic language also was declared as official in 893. In the following centuries this alphabet was adopted by other Slavic peoples. The introduction of Slavic liturgy paralleled Boris' continued development of churches and monasteries throughout his realm.

In 889 Boris abdicated the throne and became a monk. His son and successor Vladimir attempted a pagan reaction, which brought Boris out of retirement in 893. Vladimir was defeated and blinded, and Boris placed his third son, Simeon I of Bulgaria on the throne, threatening him with the same fate if he too apostatized.

See a medieval picture of Kniaz Boris I baptism of the Manasses Chronicle.

The buildings were erected with the financial aid of the Japanese government. The Japanese government has allocated $ 3.5 million for the restoration of the Thracian tomb of Alexandrovo, Haskovo, Bulgaria.

The fact that the Museum of the Thracian art is opened this year, when Japan and Bulgaria celebrate 50 years since the restoration of diplomatic relations, has a deep significance, said His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino of Japan.

His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino of Japan expressed his hope that for many years ahead the museum will contribute for the preservation and research of the Bulgarian historical heritage.

The oldest artifact dates back to 4,500-4,000 years BC and was a gold decoration on the robes of the Thracian kings and priests. The treasure collection also contained three necklaces made of Mediterranean seashells and silver, dating back to the Bronze Age, some two thousand years before Christ.

His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino of Japan also saw the Thracian treasure as he visited the Thracian tomb of Alexandrovo accompanied by President Georgi Parvanov.

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In 862, both brothers were to enter upon the work which gives them their historical importance. That year the Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia requested that the Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch Photius send missionaries to evangelize his Slavic subjects. His motives in doing so were probably more political than religious. Rastislav had become king with the support of the Frankish ruler Louis the German, but subsequently sought to assert his independence from the Franks. He is said to have expelled missionaries of the Roman Church and instead turned to Constantinople for ecclesiastical assistance and, presumably, a degree of political support. The request provided a convenient opportunity to expand Byzantine influence, and the task was entrusted to Cyril and Methodius. Their first work seems to have been the training of assistants. In 863, they began the task of translating the Bible into the language now known as Old Church Slavonic and travelled to Great Moravia to promote it. They enjoyed considerable success in this endeavour. However, they came into conflict with German ecclesiastics who opposed their efforts to create a specifically Slavic liturgy.

For the purpose of this mission, they devised the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet to be used for Slavonic manuscripts. The Glagolitic alphabet was suited to match the specific features of the Slavic language and its descendant alphabet, the Cyrillic Alphabet, is still used by many languages today.

In 867, Pope Nicholas I invited the brothers to Rome. Their evangelizing mission in Moravia had by this time become the focus of a dispute with Theotmar, the Archbishop of Salzburg and bishop of Passau, who claimed ecclesiastical control of the same territory and wished to see it use the Latin liturgy exclusively. Travelling with the relics of Saint Clement and a retinue of disciples, and passing through Pannonia, where they were well received by Prince Kocel they finally arrived in Rome in 868 where they were warmly received. This was partly due to their bringing with them the relics of Saint Clement; while the rivalry with Constantinople, as to the jurisdiction over the territory of the Slavs would incline Rome to value the brothers and their influence.

The brothers were praised for their learning and cultivated for their influence in Constantinople. Anastasius would later call Cyril "the teacher of the Apostolic See." Their project in Moravia found support from Pope Adrian II, who formally authorized the use of the new Slavic liturgy.

Saint Cyril the Philosopher was estimated as one of the best educated man in Europe at that time. Saint Cyril was buried at the Basilica di San Clemente, Rome. See a picture of Saints Cyril and Methodius bring the body of Saint Clement to Rome in 11th century fresco in the Basilica di San Clemente, Rome.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

After their death, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of Equals to the Apostles. In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1980, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patrons of Europe, together with Saint Benedict of Nursia.

There are a lot of monuments of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius in all slavonic Estern Europe.

Now all people about 170 million in Russian Federation, Serbia and Bulgaria use the Cyrillic alphabet.

The Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets, based primarily on the Greek uncial writing of the 9th century, are the oldest known Slavic alphabet and were created by the two brothers and their students, in order to translate the Bible and other texts into the Slavic languages. The alphabet has been traditionally attributed to Cyril. That fact has been confirmed explicitly by the papal letter Industriae tuae (880) approving the use of Old Church Slavonic, which says that the alphabet was "invented by Constantine the Philosopher". The term invention need not exclude the possibility of the brothers having made use of earlier letters, but implies only that before that time the Slavic languages had no distinct script of their own. The early Cyrillic alphabet was a simplification of the Glagolitic alphabet which more closely resembled the Greek alphabet. It has been attributed to Saint Clement of Ohrid, a disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius. However, recent studies have suggested that the Cyrillic alphabet was more likely developed at the Preslav Literary School in northeastern Bulgaria in the early 10th century and was named so in honour of Saint Cyril. They also translated Christian texts for Slavs into the language that is now called Old Church Slavonic and wrote the first Slavic Civil Code, which was used in Great Moravia. The language derived from Old Church Slavonic, known as Church Slavonic, is still used in liturgy by several Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches. Nor is it known for sure which liturgy, that of Rome or that of Constantinople, they took as a source. They may well have used the Roman alphabet, as suggested by liturgical fragments which adhere closely to the Latin type. This view is confirmed by the "Prague Fragments" and by certain Old Glagolitic liturgical fragments brought from Jerusalem to Kiev and there discovered by Saresnewsky, probably the oldest document for the Slavonic tongue; these adhere closely to the Latin type, as is shown by the words "Mass," "Preface," and the name of one Felicitas. In any case, the circumstances were such that the brothers could hope for no permanent success without obtaining the authorization of Rome.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about of culture and reading Cyrillic alphabet in visits of tours of Bulgaria.

See Saints Cyril and Methodius, a mural painting of Bulgarian Zahari Zograf at Troyan Monastery, Bulgaria, dated 1848.

As Asparuh commenced to raid across the mountains into Byzantine Thrace in 681, Constantine IV decided to cut his losses and conclude a treaty, whereby the Byzantine Empire paid the Bulgars an annual tribute as protection money. These events are seen in retrospect as the establishment of the Bulgarian state and its recognition by the Byzantine Empire.

In later tradition Asparuh is credited with building the major centers of Pliska and Drastar, as well as at least one of the Bulgarian limes walls from the Danube to the Black Sea. Recent scholarship has questioned whether it was Asparuh that established Pliska as the capital, suggesting that the original capital of Bulgaria was in the vicinity of Varna. While the multi-tribal and hegemonic character of the Bulgarian state in the first century or two after its establishment is readily apparent, Bulgarian historians have stressed the establishment of a capital and of a state tradition that could be viewed retrospectively as national.

According to a late tradition, Asparuh died fighting the Khazars on the Danube. According to one theory his grave is located near Voznesenka on the Dnieper in Ukraine.

Bulgaria is a country in the middle of the ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse Balkan Peninsula. Bulgaria has seen many twists and turns in its long history and has been a prospering empire stretching to the coastlines of the Black, Aegean and Adriatic Seas. The First and Second Bulgarian Empires served as cultural centres of Slavic Europe, but the land was also dominated by foreign states twice in its history, once by the Byzantine Empire (1018 - 1185) and once by the Ottoman Empire (1396 - 1878).

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria. See a picture of the ruins of Pliska that was probably the capital city of Khan Asparuh.

He is considered as the most famous Bulgar ruler. The accuracy of the Turkic title khan commonly applied to him and his successors is a subject of some dispute, for which see List of Bulgarian monarchs. According to the Byzantine sources, Asparuh was as a younger son of Kubrat, who had established a spacious state Great Bulgaria in the steppes of modern Ukraine. Asparuh may have gained experience in politics and statesmanship during the long reign of his father Kubrat, who probably died in 665. After his father's death the state disintegrated under Khazar attack in 668, and he and his brothers parted ways, leading their people to seek a more secure home in other lands.

Asparuh was followed by 20,000 to 30,000 Bulgars. He crossed the Danube River delta and while the Byzantine capital Constantinople was besieged by Muawiyah I, Caliph of the Arabs (674–678), he and his people settled in the so-called Ongul area in Southern Bessarabia or northern Dobrudza. After the Arab siege of Constantinople ended, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV marched against the Bulgars and their Slav allies in 680 and forced his opponents to seek shelter in a fortified encampment. Forced to abandon the leadership of his army in order to seek medical treatment for his ailments, the emperor sabotaged the morale of his troops, who gave in to rumours that their emperor had fled. With segments of the Byzantine army starting to desert, the Bulgars and their allies broke through the blockade and routed the enemy troops in the battle of Ongala. In 680 and then he swiftly moved from the Danubian delta down to the Balkan range.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

See a picture of the ruins of Pliska that was probably the capital city of Khan Asparuh.

Information on laws of Khan Krum is in Svidas Byzantine Encyclopedia of 10 century.

The laws of Khan Krum had uniformed rules of the Slavs and the Old Bulgarians in Bulgaria and to eliminate old time local regulations in Bulgaria.

According to another legend Khan Krum ordered to remove all vineyards vines grape plants in lands of Bulgaria in order not to make wine and to prevent Bulgarians to be drunk. After his death the vineyards are planted anew, and now in today's Bulgaria are popular brands of wine and brandy named as Khan Krum. Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria. See a picture of the ruins of Pliska that was the palace and the capital city of Khan Krum.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

During the reign of Khan Krum the territory of Bulgaria doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains. Khan Krum leaded heavy wars with the Avars, and the Byzantine Empire.

So at that time Bulgaria was bordered by middle of the Danube River with Frank Empire ruled by Karl the Great. Over 811 year Nikephoros, Emperor of Byzantium, collects numerous elite army and assume a new military campaign against Bulgaria. After continued battles Emperor Nikephoros, sensed a danger of loss, quickly walked to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire. With the main forces Emperor Nikephoros decided to overnight in Varbishki Pass of the Balkan mountain. At dawn on 26 of July 811 the troops of Khan Krum surrounded the army of Byzantines. When Emperor Nikephoros wakes up and understands his position, sayd: "Even we have wings, no one will avoid destruction." The battle began and Bulgarians throwed stones and arrows at the Byzantines. Emperor Nikephoros was killed and few Byzantines escaped.

This is the only second case, when an Emperor of Byzantium was killed by barbarians. A legend said in these dark middle ages that the head of the murdered emperor Nikifor was put on a spear “to be displayed on coming in and out to Khan Krum people our disgrace " (as Byzantine historian Theophanes ).

Then, according to a legend, Han Krum ordered to be made a cup with silver from the head of Emperor Nikephoros. Khan Krum was drinking wine from this so called glass. Thus, according to Old Bulgarians, Khan Krum seized the power orenda of killed enemy Emperor Nikephoros. See a picture of the Manasses Chronicle on how Khan Krum celebrated after he defeated the army of Byzantium and Emperor Nikephoros was killed.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

For decades, Tsar Samuel led long and severe wars with neighboring countries of Byzantium, Serbia, and Hungary.

History tells that the Bulgarian Tsar Samuel lost the battle with the Byzantine Empire at Belasitza, Key, Klidion of July 29, 1014, time which is called dark middle ages.

Nikephoros Ksifiy, a military leader in the army of Byzantium, finds a secret way and the Byzantine army attacked the Bulgarian army in rear back side and defeated the army of Bulgaria.

In winning the battle, then Emperor of Byzantium Vassiliy Second ordered to be removed the eyes or blinded the eyes of some 15,000, according to John Skilitsa, captive prisoners of war Bulgarian soldiers from the army of Tsar Samuel.

In expressing his gratitude for this act Vassiliy Second was later honored by the Byzantines with the name Killer of Bulgarians (in Greek: Βουλγαροκτόνος).

Today one of the boulevards in Athens was named Vassiliy Killer of Bulgarians, in honor of the emperor, defeated Tsar Samuel in 1014.

The emperor Vassiliy Second Killer of Bulgarians ordered on every 100 Bulgarian soldiers to be left one soldier with a healthy one eye and one eye blinded in order that this soldier to be able to keep this completely blinded 99 other Bulgarian soldiers.

Tsar Samuel died on October 6, 1014, probably from a heart attack after he personally saw 15,000 soldiers of his army, blinded in battle at Belasitza, Key, Klidion.

See a picture of the Manasses Chronicle on how Tsar Samuel died possibly after he met his 15,000 soldiers blinded after the battle at Belasitza, Key, Klidion.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

The church Saint Forty Martyrs in Veliko Tarnovo became a Panteon of rulers of Bulgaria in 2007. The remains of five rulers of Bulgaria, first of them were callled khans later them were called tzars, were symbolically buried in the church Saint Forty Martyrs in Veliko Tarnovo.

First sientific expedition brought from today's Ukraine, the remains of three rulers of Bulgaria. Russian archeologists claim that there were found tombs of the Bulgarian rulers Han Kubrat ruler from 632 till 660 AD, Han Asparuh / 660-701 /, and Tzar Ivailo / 1277-1280 /. Three Bulgarian rulers, hans or khans and a tzar, , were buried near respectively Poltava, Mala Pereshchepina, and Isakcha.

Another scientific expedition brought from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia remains of bones and ashes of the Bulgarian ruler Tzar Mihail Shishman / 323-1330 /, killed in battle near Kyustendil and buried in Saint George church in the village of Staro Nagorichane, Kumanovo.

Remains of bones and ashes were taken from the tomb of King George Terter / 1280-1292 /, which allegedly was discovered some time before around the medieval town Tcherven, Rousse, Bulgaria.

Remains of bones and ashes of these five rulers of Bulgaria were laid down in small white marble coffins, which were put in large marble Sarcophagi in church Saint Forty Martyrs en Veliko Tarnovo.

Tomb of the Bulgarian Tzar Samuel / 997 - 1014 / is located on the island of Saint Achil, Small lake of Prespa, in today's Greece. The question of bury again the remains of Tsar Samuil in Veliko Tarnovo is still subject of continuing negotiations with Greece.

Greece is another country with Eastern Orthodox religion, as the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Patriarch and the Patriarchate were separated from the Eastern Greek Orthodox Patriarch and Patriarchate. The today’s Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is located in Istanbul, the former city of Constantinople, the ancient former capital of the Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire.

Bendida or Bendis was a Thracian goddess divinity of the moon and the hunt whom the Greeks identified with Artemis.

Bendida or Bendis a Thracian goddess divinity was a huntress, like Artemis, but was accompanied by dancing satyrs and maenads on a fifth century red-figure stemless cup at Verona.

More than Olympian Artemis, Bendida or Bendis a Thracian goddess divinity remained a night-goddess.

A decree of the oracle of Dodona required ancient Greeks Athenians to grant land for a shrine or temple for Bendida or Bendis a Thracian goddess divinity.

Her cult was introduced into Attica by immigrant Thracian residents, and, though Thracian and Athenian processions remained separate.

Both cult and festival of Bendida or Bendis a Thracian goddess divinity became so popular that in Plato's time 429 - 413 B.C. its festivities were naturalized as an official ceremonial of the city-state, called the Bendideia.

Among the events were nighttime torch-races on horseback, mentioned in Plato's Republic, 328.

Seeing this news the tourists of tours of Bulgaria will know more about history of Medieval Bulgaria.

It was built and wall-painted under the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II in honour of the glorious Bulgarian victory over the feudal lord Teodor Komnin in the battle near Klokotnitza that happened on March 9, 1230, and which made Bulgaria the most powerful country in Southeastern Europe. The church includes two parts, an oblong basilica with six columns and an additional building, constructed later on the western side of the church. During the years of the Ottoman yoke the church remained Christian probably until the first half of the 18th century. With its turning into a mosque the wall-paintings, the icons and the iconostasis were destroyed. In the church Saint Forty Martyrs Church some of the most significant written monuments are found – the Omurtag’s, the Asen’s and the Border columns of the Rodosto fortress, dating from the rule of Khan Krum. After the Liberation of the Turks in 1878 the first archeological excavations around the church began. The Funeral of Kaloyan, Bulgarian ruler from 1197 until 1207, is of great interest. It was found in October 1972. The funeral is of a man some 1.9 m tall, in rich warrior armour, with 61 g golden ring with a heraldic sign. The same heraldic sign was found later in 1981 on a seal – irrefutable prove for the stamp sign of the Bulgarians during the rule opf the kings Asenevtsi dynasty.

One proof of this is the stone of Eskus, today the village Gigen, with memorial inscription in Latin by Joseph arhisinagogus.

Other evidence for the presence of Jews in the Balkans was the Jewish synagogue in Plovdiv Philipopolis 3 - 4 century A. D.

In 1978 construction of new buildings street called Maria Luisa in Plovdiv, builders fall of ancient Jewish synagogue building with an area of about 660 square meters. Ancient Jewish synagogue of 3 - 4 century A. D. in Plovdiv had a large room hall used for prayer, two large side wings and a large yard. Prayer hall was a magnificent flooring. It was found four rows Greek inscription, which gives detailed information about Kosmianos Yosef the donor of the synagogue, who has provided funds for the decoration of the synagogue. This is the only ever archaeological found ancient synagogue in the lands of Bulgaria. The construction of the Jewish synagogue probably happened before the Gothic invasion in the middle of the 3rd century A. D.

In Bulgaria there are about a dozen synagogues, but only Sofia and Plovdiv Jewish synagogues are acting.

Today's Jewish synagogue Zion, Plovdiv is located on 9 Tzar Kaloian Street. The Jewish synagogue, Plovdiv is the oldest synagogue in Bulgaria. The Jewish synagogue Zion, Plovdiv was built in 1886 - 1887. The building of the Jewish synagogue Zion, Plovdiv was been made external and internal restoration in the period 1998 - 2003. On opening celebration of a restored Jewish synagogue in Plovdiv on 10 of September 2003 were presented the Deputy U.S. Ambassador in Bulgaria, His Excellency Ambassador of the State of Israel, the mayor of Plovdiv, the Regional Governor of Plovdiv and other distinguished guests.

In 1364 the Turks invaded Plovdiv and gave it a new name Philibe. Being on the threshold of the Orient, the city turned into a busy centre of trade and handicrafts, along with Istanbul, Thessaloniki and Edirne. In the 19th century the city was the centre of the Bulgarian Renaissance.

After the Liberation of Bulgaria for a short period of time Plovdiv was capital of the autonomous province Eastern Rumelia, which, after Bulgaria’s reunion in 1885, became a part of united Bulgaria. In the 20th century Plovdiv became the second most significant economic and cultural centre in Bulgaria.

In 342 BC the town was conquered by Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, and named Philipopolis. The founder of the town placed a strong garrison in it and made it a centre of Thracia.

In the middle of 1st century AD Philipopolis was seized by the Romans and was incorporated into the Roman Empire, hence the Roman name of the town -Trimontium which means the town on the three hills. During the 2nd-3rd century AD Trimontium became the metropolis of the large province Thracia Romana and had its own Senate.

There are two Roman theaters in Plovdiv. First Roman theater, situated at the Old town of Plovdiv, is well preserved and still there are performances there. The ruins of the second Roman theater in Plovdiv is on the main shops street on a Gumaya circle near a Gumaya mosque in Turkish called Cuma Camii. There is also a newly built statue of Philip II of Macedon.

Banya Bashi Mosque is a typical monument of Ottoman architecture which adds colour to the Sofia city centre which took its name from the neighbouring Central Baths, in Turkish Banya Bashi means ‘a lot of baths’.

Once there were 70 mosques in Sofia but today the Banya Bashi Dzhamiya is the only one still functioning.

The inside is decorated with fine calligraphy, citing texts from the Koran, as the portrayal of human figures is banned in Islamic art. What is notable for the mosque is the domed ceiling, which was restored to its original design, after the fall of Communism. There are loudspeakers installed on the minaret calling the Muslim minority to prayer five times a day. Have in mind that the mosque is not officially open as a tourist attraction but visitors are welcome outside prayer times, including women, if modestly dressed.

The story of the construction of the Central Synagogue is as dramatic as its size. It began in the year 1903. The Jewish community had been reorganized on the French Consistoire model. It was led by the dynamic new Chief Rabbi, Marcus Ehrenpreis, and the leaders of the Sofia Jewish community, the young energetic Ezra Tadjer, and the venerable Avram Davidjon Levy. Friedrich Gruenanger, the most famous architect in Bulgaria at the time, was selected to design the Synagogue. The site selected was in the city center on the property occupied by' the very old synagogue "Ahava i Hesed" (Heb. Love and Kindness). Construction begins on November 13, 1905 with an elaborate ground laying ceremony. The famous brass chandelier weighing over 2200 kilos, the large candelabra (Heb. menorah), and other decorations were imported from Vienna. Finally, after four years of construction, financial crises, and communal debates, the synagogue is completed. On September 9, 1909 the Central Synagogue of Sofia was formally opened. The Central Synagogue immediately became the symbol of Bulgarian Judaism. It housed the offices of the Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria and the Chief Rabbi of Sofa. It also housed the Beth Din or supreme rabbinic tribunal. The famous Judaica library of the Sofia community with its priceless collection of medieval rabbinic responsa was also located in the Synagogue.

The museum staff’s scientific research is linked with the latest national and international priorities in the fields of biodiversity, ecology, and nature conservation. The entomology and palaeozoology studies are especially intense...

Departments: Non-insect Invertebrates .Insects .Fishes . Amphibians and Reptiles . Recent and Fossil Birds . Recent and Fossil Mammals . Fossil Invertebrates . Plants . Rocks and Minerals.

The National Museum of Natural History, Sofia has a history of almost one hundred and twenty years. It is the oldest museum in Bulgaria and the oldest and richest among the natural history museums on the Balkan Peninsula. It was founded in 1889 by the Royal Prince Ferdinand under the name Royal Prince’s Natural History Museum. At first it used to accommodate Prince Ferdinand’s personal collections of birds, mammals and butterflies. The first curator of the museum was the court doctor Dr Paul Leverkühn who was a famous ornithologist. He organised the first exposition in 14 halls on two floors in an old building where today’s museum stands and it was opened for visits in 1907. That year the first and until now the only full catalogue of collections was issued listing several thousand exhibits of that time...

Visitors information.
The National Museum of Natural History, Sofia is open for the public every day from 10:00 to 18:00, except on 1 January, 3 March and 25 December.

Section I of the Central Hall of the Archaeological Museum, Sofia is divided into two areas. The exhibits in the first one, to the left of the entrance, represent of a general picture of the Thracian culture from the end of the second to the end of the first millennium BC. All artifacts, among them many thought as emblematic for Thrace, are distinguished in three basic periods, Late Bronze Age, Early Iron and Late Iron Age. The most numerous correspond to the period of zenith in the development of Thrace 5th to the 3rd century B.C. They are distinguished by geographical principle. The artifacts from the territory of the kingdom of the Thracian tribe Odrysai are among the highlights of the exhibition. Objects from particular regions inhabited by other mighty Thracian tribes during the Iron Age are also displayed.

Some large collections from various sites are the hightlights of the exhibition. The collection of artifacts from the caves Kozarnika, Belogradchik region, and Temnata Dupka, Lukovit region; tells Karanovo and Ezero, Nova Zagora region; the early Neolithic settlement Chavdar, Pirdop region; the early Calcolithic settlement Salmanovo, Shumen region; the late Chalcolitic settlements Kodzhadermen, Shumen region, and Krivodol, Vratsa region are among them. Artifacts from different regions of Bulgaria outline the characteristics of the local prehistoric cultures and ethno-cultural regions in the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic.

The Vault of the Archaeological Museum, Sofia is on the second floor of the eastern building of the museum. The area is designed for exhibition of treasures, grave goods and single artifacts of special artistic and historical value from the Late Bronze Age through Early Iron Age to Late Antiquity.

The first exhibits in the Room those from six warrior’s graves from the necropolis at Trebenishte, Macedonia are on display in cases to the left of the Room. The artifacts are distinguished according to their cultural affiliation for the first time in an exhibition in Bulgaria and illustrate the burial rituals of the Illyrians during the Archaic Period. They outline also a number of elements common for the southwestern region of the Balkan Peninsula. The rich collection of needles and fragments of golden ornaments present the parade weapons and armour from this period. The bronze ware illustrates the trade relations connecting the Balkans with Central Europe, with Peloponnesus and the Near East in the sixth century B.C.

The museum has five exhibition halls: Central Hall, Prehistory, Middle Ages, Treasure, and a special temporary exhibition. It is managed by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Once you have entered the National Archaeological Museum you face the magnificent replica of Madara Horseman sheltered in the arch over the central staircase toward the gallery. This is the only replica exhibited in the Museum. For the Bulgarians it is of special importance. Made at the beginning of the twentieth century, it represents the spirit of this unique time in the history of the European culture and of the Bulgarian state: the foundation and establishment of Medieval Bulgaria. To reach the Horseman, the visitor has to go along an alley, similar to the prestigious alley of our first capital of Pliska. Along the alley there are columns with inscriptions, recording of wars, conquests, peace treaties with the Byzantine Empire and building activity of the first Bulgarian rulers. These inscriptions represent the ‘stone chronicle’ of Bulgaria from the 9th century.

Visitors information. Working hours Movember – March 09:00 – 17:30. The box office closes at 16:45.

April – October 09:30 – 18:00. The box office closes at 17:30.

Closed on official holidays – 1 January, 3 March, 24 May, 24 and 25 December.

Tickets price cost adult 10 BGN, student and children 1 BGN.

Cultural

Ancient City of Nessebar (1983)

Boyana Church (1979)

Madara Rider (1979)

Rila Monastery (1983)

Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo (1979)

Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak (1979)

Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari (1985)

Natural

Pirin National Park (1983)

Srebarna Nature Reserve (1983)

Guided tours of properties submitted on the Tentative List, Bulgaria, UNESCO sites.

Two neolithic dwellings with their interior and household furnishings and utensils completely preserved (1984), City of Stara Zagora, in the district of the Higher Institute of Medicine

The Magoura cave with drawings from the bronze age (1984)

The ancient town of Nicopolis ad Istrum (1984)

The late ancient tomb of Silistra (1984)

The Bachkovo Monastery (1984)

The town of Melnik and the Rozhen Monastery (1984)

The Rocks of Belogradchik (1984)

The Vratsa Karst (1984)

Central Balkan Park (1984) The Roussensky Lom National Park (1984)

The Pobiti Kamani Natural Monument (1984) The Ancient Plovdiv (2004)

Thracian Tomb with Wall Paintings beside Alexandrovo village (2004)

Pirin National Park World Heritage Site (2006).

Cultural

Ancient City of Nessebar (1983)

Madara Rider (1979)

Rila Monastery (1983)

Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo (1979)

Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak (1979)

Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari (1985)

Natural

Pirin National Park (1983)

Srebarna Nature Reserve (1983).

Usually they are exposed at the Museum in Kazanlak.

There are also other Thracian gold treasures, armors, helmets, coins, status and more.

The best shops for tourist goods such as national costumes dolls, folklore clothes, books, photos, disks, rose oil products and cosmetics are situated at the subway among the buildings of the Presidency, Council of Ministers and National Assembly. There is the shop called White Stork that the ex-president of the USA Bill Clinton visited a couple of years ago.

The biggest books shops are Pismena at the National Palace of Culture, Helicon at the crossroads of Patriarch Evtimi St. and Vitosha St. and small but very well supplied the Pinguins chain books shops at Sveta Nedelia Circle and Angel Kuntchev St. and Neofit Rilski St.

The pricess are fixed in BGN Leva and one can not bargain.

There are some Roman ruins, dated 3d-4th century AD, in Silistra, a Danube river town in North-East Bulgaria.

Most preserved and famous of them are: ruins of North wall Roman fortress, ruins of South wall Roman fortress, well preserved Roman tomb building with wall frescoes and ruins of Roman country house.

Nearby are found Roman bronse face mask helmet with gryphones, Roman sport helmet, Roman chariot from a ritual burial with a slave’s skeleton, Roman stone sun clock, gold ring, arms and stone statues.

Some of them are exposed at the local museum.

One claims that Roman general Flavius Aetius, also known as the last great Roman man, was born at Durostorum.

He used to guide the Roman army for 40 years term of time.

One claims that he lead the Roman army that defeated the Hun king Attila also known as Flagellum Dei or The Scourge of God in a great battle at the Catalaunuan field in 451 AD.

Not only can enjoy one the ancient building but also colourful wall frescoes.

A Roman noble man and his wife and six slaves were presented on the frescoes.

There are palm trees, birds and animals.

One can say that another decent well controlled taxi company is Taxi C Express Inc., the oldest taxi company in Sofia, on tel. +3592 91280. There prices are the same. They have various models and brands of cars.

One can claim that those taxis lined up the hotels and shopping malls and at the Court House could possibly overcharge you in times by deliberately manipulated measure machines due to lack of control. All taxi drivers barely speak English and generally prefer longer but cleaner from traffic jam streets.

The managing directors of the Register Cadastre Real Estate Agency, Sofia , Bulgaria.

Mr. Tzvetan Boev and Mr. Dimitar Tzvetanov report that now the fulfillment is estimated as a little bit better.

So far there cards for app.2 million real estates units and the aim is 3 million till the end of 2008. Source Capital

The French State National Geographic Institute finances the project by Euro 6 million.

Geoportail shall offer satellite photos, diagrams, geological information, more than 3,700 maps and 400,000 photos, renewed each term of time of five years.

The French President Mr.Jaques Chirac said that this was the first free European service of that type and it boosted the Galileo – a satellite navigation system in EU and mobile phones with GPS service. Source Capital

The local Municipality of Kardgiali bids for the amount of 3 million EURO by the EU PHARE programme mainly for improving the infrastructure about Perperikon.

They gathers for this 104 anniversary of the Rose picking festival.

The organisers claim there are already 20,000 sq. m rose fields planted around Kazanlak.

First and bigger six floors shop and food supermarket is the most famous Silk Market Shop, between Friendship store and International Trade Center, at the corner of the main Jianguomenwai Dajie St. and Dongdaqia Lu St., opposite to the Giuyou Store, at the East direction of the main entrance of the Forbidden City Museum, down town Beijing.

Second one is the Pearl Hongqiao Market Store at the North East corner of the Temple of Heaven Museum Park.

There in lined up small shops, by hard and exhausting bargain, one could possibly buy really very cheap famous brands suits for 300 RMB, silk ties and pashmina, cashmere and silk scarves for 10 RMB, sweaters for 150 RMB, small electronic equipment, pearls, jade, tea, silk, leather goods and virtually any kind of clothes and shoes.

At the third one store tourists can buy cheap big electronic goods at a big store at the corner of Bisihuan Xilu St. and Zhongguancun Nandajie St. near Summer Palace Museum.

It is a local habit for salesman to begin bargain for tourists from as much as ten or fifteen times more than a bargain price. So it is reasonable to be in advance informed of the prices. The tourists can buy the same type of goods at the shops at the famous down town trade streets.

17.9 is the number of the average Internet user in China spends online each week – more that any other country. Source: Ipsos Insight

$1,6 billion is the price tag for Windows software to be purchased by Chinese PC makers, announced by President Hu during a visit with Microsoft chief Bill Gates. Source Newsweek

Bulgarian mobile operqator claims that there aproximately 3 million internet users in Bulgaria.

Only 4,6 per cent use broadband connection. Source Capital News Paper

The head states of twelve central European countries gather for a formal meeting in Varna.

So twelve presidents will meet and see nine Thracian Gold Treasures.

This unique exhibition may be a part of cultural tours and one more option for the sea side beaches tourists also.

It consists of a round central premises the so called round chapel, two entrance halls to the west and many small side rooms, which were destroyed during the ruling of the Byzantine emperor Yustinian 527-565.

Only the round chapel was used as a church all through the Middle Ages The church was seriously damaged by the invasion of the Huns. It was reconstructed a number of times in X and XI century.

During the Turkish Yoke, it was reconstructed and turned into a mosque. From that and some later periods, some of the oldest frescos, which could be seen today in the restored building, have been preserved.

In 1469, the relics of St. Joan Rislki were shown, which were later moved to the Rila Monastery. Source BIA BIC

$2.5 billion was the amount spent from the airlines for returning lost luggage to owners lasr year, up from $1.6 billion in 2004. Source Time

The Argentineans do not need visas to enter in Bulgaria as a formal treaty was signed in Argentina in March, 2006.

The same is valid in reciprocal bases for the Bulgarians who travel in those countries.

More Irish tour operators offer tours and travel in Bulgaria this year. Now they are more than ten and among them are some of the main Irish tour operators. Those who offer guided tours in Bulgaria are the firms The Eastern Discovery, The Golden Explorer and Aegen.

Among the most offered programs are the vacations in summer on the Bulgarian Black Sea cost and in winter at the mountain place such as newly famous Bansko and also well known places Borovetz and Pamporovo.

It seems the Irish tourists like the combination of Bulgarian golden sands and green areas and trees at the beaches, white winter ski fields, old houses in Bulgaria and tasty Bulgarian wine.

On the other side the tour operators in Bulgaria pay attention to the new Irish market as a special part of the popular U.K. travel market.

Furthermore the tour operators in Bulgaria try to catch attention on well determined Bulgarian tourist products such as The Rose Festival in Bulgaria, Bulgarian rose oil, Bulgarian yogurt, monasteries tours in Bulgaria, wine tours in Bulgaria, buy houses visits in Bulgaria, cultural tourism tours in Bulgaria with the Rila monastery, the old town of Plovdiv, Koprivstiza, the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, Veliko Tarnovo and the Horseman of Madara.

The prices for tourists are accepted as competitive and also raising quality of hotels’ services in Bulgaria is appreciated. The Bulgarian Agency of tourism reports that more than 29,000 Irish tourist visited Bulgaria in 2004 that is more than 100 per cent rise as compared to 2003.

Shall hotel managers, travel agencies and tour operators in Bulgaria back the nominee of Mr. Stephan Sharlopov or the nominee of the famous Bulgarian sumo wrestler rikishi Mr. Kaloyan Mahlyanov a.k.a. Kotooshu Katsunori?

Mr. Sharlopov is well known as a businessman who has invested about 3 million Euros in the local economy of the town of Veliko Tarnovo and especially in renovation of the Yantra hotel and the building of the local theatre. He is one of the founders of the cultural program The Second Bulgarian Renaissance.

Kotooshu is the first European to reach the second-highest rank of ozeki in November 2005, faster than anyone else in the history of 1,500 year-old Japanese sport of sumo wrestling, and one of only five non-Japanese have to achieved it. It reports that Kotooshu is very popular in Japan and he is also called sumo’s Beckham and David Beckham of Sumo around the world. He wears the sumo costume with the name of the Japanese company that sells the type of Bulgarian yogurt on the Japanese market and also with the Bulgarian rose’s symbol.

Shall his popularity in Japan prompt more Japanese tourist to visit Bulgaria? Shall more Japanese tourists stay at the Yantra hotel, the town of Veliko Tarnovo?

What was the result of the Web vote in Feb., 2006?

Kotooshu lost the vote of the citizen of Veliko Tarnovo town but won the vote of sportsman of Veliko Tarnovo region for the year 2005. Mr. Petko Gantchev won the vote of the citizen of Veliko Tarnovo town. He is the electrical fitter who dared to apply at the general public prosecutor against the contract between Bulgarian national electricity company and the American firm AES. Mr. Petko Gantchev claimed this contract increase the price of electricity with 106 million Euros per year. It seems his efforts were important for the vote.

Would you like to spend a different weekend around roses?

Would you like to experience the living tradition that has been Bulgaria’s symbol in the eyes of the world for centuries?

Join us for

The Festival of Roses in the Valley of Roses, see rose fields, rose picking, rose oil producing factory, rose cosmetics, the Queen of Roses march and also Thracian tombs, Kazanlak, Bulgaria, Thracian treasures, museum of Thracian culture artifacts, Thracian gold, newly discovered Thracian gold mask and bronse head of the Thracian King Sevt III, Thracian tumulus and more.