On August 2, Bulgarians homage to Prophet St. Elijah according to the old style calendar. The day is marked on July 20 according to the new style. Prophet Elijah was one of the greatest Old Testament figures, an ardent opponent of paganism and a herald of the true faith in God.
Many Christian churches especially in Southwestern Bulgaria are named after him. The faithful honor the saint who is the patron of thunder and lightning and protector of the harvest from fires.
St. Elijah’s Day or popularly known as Ilinden in Bulgarian is the best-loved summertime feast day in the long and sultry days of harvesting.
St. Elijah’s day is a day celebrated by all people named Iliya, Ilian, Iliana and their derivatives – Ilka, Lina, Licho etc.
Batak is a name every Bulgarian remembers with deference and pain because the fate of the small town in the Rhodopes is scarred by one of the bloodiest events in national memory – the Batak massacre. During the first days after the outbreak of..
There is a map which helped usher in the birth of modern Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. The Austro-Hungarian researcher Felix Kanitz (1829 – 1904) was the first West European to have travelled to more than 3,200 towns and villages..
On 3 March, Bulgaria celebrates the 147th anniversary of its liberation f rom five centuries of Ottoman rule. The day was declared a national holiday in 1990 by a decision of the National Assembly. The Treaty of San Stefano, signed on 19 February..
The book "Icons from the National Church Historical and Archaeological Museum" - a huge work of over 500 pages, with more than 700 published photographs..
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