When growing up, about all I knew of Bulgaria was that it was part of the Soviet Union and had huge, muscle-bound men and women who competed in the Olympics. The country itself is quite beautiful and mountainous. It is also the oldest European state, having been founded in 681 as an independent country by the Bulgars. A good bit of Thrace (3000BC) was where Bulgaria is now. Several Thracian burial mounds can be found out in the countryside. Back in 855, two Bulgarian brothers named Cyril and Methodius invented the Cyrillic alphabet, which is used in several languages.
In 1018, Bulgaria fell to the Byzantines. Then, in 1398, it was invaded by the Ottoman Turks, who held the country until 1877 when the Russians helped the Bulgarians to win their freedom. After World War II, however, the Soviets took over Bulgaria until 1989, when they quietly left.
Bulgaria is the largest producer of lavender and rose oil in the world. We saw field after field of lavender plants and rose bushes. We also saw quite a few vast fields of poppies.
The drive from Belgrade to Sofia was a long one. We didn’t reach Sofia until the evening, around dinner time. Sofia is both the capitol and the largest city in Bulgaria. The area has been inhabited since at least 7,000 BC. By the time it became a city, it was inhabited by the Thracians. Alexander the Great and his dad, Philip II of Macedonia, both held the city at one time. Then it was conquered by the Romans, destroyed by the Huns, rebuilt by the Byzantines, and became part of the Bulgarian Empire. The name Sofia comes from the Greek word “Sophia” meaning “wisdom”.
The first night we spent in the hotel, there was a wedding going on. The guests were congregating outside of my room in the hallway around midnight, talking and laughing loudly, and not dispersing. So I got up, whipped the door open, placed a finger to my lips and said, “Shhhhh!” loudly. I then closed the door quickly to avoid any possible protests or arguments in a language I could not understand. Bless their hearts. They actually became quiet and went someplace else. I was able to get some sleep before needing to get up at 7am.
We spent the day in Sofia itself, starting at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Alexander Nevsky was a Russian Prince). Built between 1882 and 1912, the cathedral can hold 10,000 people. Photography isn’t allowed inside, but I didn’t know that until after I had already snapped a couple of somewhat fuzzy photos. It was very impressive and beautiful.
Next was the Church of Saint Sofia, which is the second oldest church in Sofia, dating to the 4th century. The 19th century Russian Church’s official name is the Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker. It is lovely, with several onion domes. It is also set in a park. A large part of the older areas of the city are covered in parks. Many buildings, such as the Russian Church and the National Theatre (Opera House) are set within their own parks.
Bulgaria has a President, a Prime Minister and both legislative and judicial branches. The cluster of government buildings is called the Presidency. They have a short Changing of the Guards ceremony every hour just outside of the main building. Inside the courtyard of the complex lies some Roman ruins of the town of Serdica, which was a forerunner of Sofia. A relatively intact Roman building was converted into a church in the 4th century. This is the oldest building in Sofia and is dedicated to Saint George. Saint George (aka Sveti Georgi), along with the Patron Saint, Ivan (John) of Rila, is one of Bulgaria’s most important saints.
The next morning, we set off for the Rila Monastery. A very important and pivotal plot point in The Historian, during which a couple of the main characters discover where the person they are pursuing can be found, takes place at Rila Monastery, so I felt it would be a great place to buy a new crucifix to wear around my neck. After all, we were heading to Transylvania eventually.
The monastery was founded by Saint Ivan (John) of Rila in 927 and currently houses roughly 60 monks. It has 300 chambers, a main church, a museum, four chapels, a kitchen, a library, and a bell tower. It is high up in the mountains and is absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous.
That evening, when we returned to Sofia, we attended a Bulgarian Folklore Dinner. The music and dancing had both Turkish and Greek influences. Fire is an important element of Bulgarian culture, so the last entertainment of the night was a fire dance. This involved a fella dancing barefoot among smoldering embers while holding an icon. Being a fire dancer is a hereditary and revered position.
The following day we left for Plovdiv, which was once known as Philippopolis because of Alexander the Great’s father, Philip II of Macedon. It was at one time a Thracian city and was raided by pretty much everyone throughout its history. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe, having been established during the 7th century BC, although it has had many different names during its existence. It wasn’t until the 9th century AD that it was named Plovdiv. Like Rome and Edinburgh, Plovdiv is arranged on seven hills.
We visited some sites of Roman ruins, including a partially excavated gladiator arena and an amphitheater. The theatre is in pretty good shape and is still used for performances. A market was next to the arena, containing carpets and rugs, antiques, paintings, icons, and some souvenirs. On the other side of the market was an intact medieval area of streets, walls, gates and houses. I tell you, medieval people had to be in really good shape. The streets were very steep and narrow as were the stairs in the houses that were open to the public. Most of the houses are still privately owned and are quite unique.
After having some lunch, we drove to the Stara Planina Mountains, which are part of the Balkan Mountains. This included the Shipka Pass, which was the site of several important battles between the Russians and the Ottoman Turks in the 19th century. The plains between Plovdiv and the mountains contained the largest amount of Thracian burial mounds we had encountered. I actually managed to get a decent photo of one as we flew by on the tour coach.
That evening we arrived in Veliko Tarnovo – the capitol of Bulgaria from 1185 to 1396. It is located way up in the mountains on the Yantra River. Once again, very steep cobblestoned roads and lots of equally steep stairs. The next day we visited Tsarevets Fortress, from which the kings of Bulgaria ruled the country. It is the highest point of the city. Traces of human presence there date back as far as the 2nd century BC. There is also an Execution Rock from which people were thrown to the Yantra River far below. No record of any survivors.
Our hotel was on the edge of one of the mountains with a spectacular view of the Tsarevets Fortress, across the valley, from the restaurant of the hotel. My room was on the other side of the hotel overlooking a street. I remember it being quite warm that night and needing to keep the windows wide open since there was no air conditioning. I was hoping nothing would decide to fly in.
Near Veliko Tarnovo is a village called Arbanassi. The current population is about 500 people though, in its heyday, it had roughly 1,000 houses. This was the summer residence of the kings of Bulgaria. The houses were built as “fortress houses” where the ground floor was built in stone with thick walls and no windows while the floor above was often wood with plenty of windows.
Our last stop in Bulgaria was in the city of Rousse, just before crossing the Danube to Romania. It was mid-afternoon – ice cream time. They had a wide variety of delicious ice cream at a sidewalk cafe. After fortifying ourselves, we made our way into Romania, heading to its capitol Bucharest.
