Bulgaria is a country situated in Southeast Europe that occupies the eastern quarter of the Balkan peninsula, being the largest country within its geographic boundaries. It borders Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. The northern border with Romania follows the river Danube until the city of Silistra. The land area of Bulgaria is 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), slightly larger than that of Cuba, Iceland or the U.S. state of Tennessee. Considering its relatively compact territorial size and shape, Bulgaria has a great variety of topographical features. Even within small parts of the country, the land may be divided into plains, plateaus, hills, mountains, basins, gorges, and deep river valleys. The geographic center of Bulgaria is located in Uzana.
A number of ancient civilizations, including the Thracians, ancient Greeks, Scythians, Celts, ancient Romans, Goths, Slavs, Varangians and the Bulgars have left their mark on the culture, history and heritage of Bulgaria. Due to this great variety of influences, Bulgaria has adopted many unusual traditions. Thracian artifacts include numerous temples, tombs, golden treasures and ancient rites and rituals, while the Bulgars have left traces of their heritage in statehood, early architecture, music and dances. Thracian rituals such as the Tryphon Zarezan which is dedicated to Saint Tryphon of Campsada, Kukeri and Martenitsa are to this day kept alive in the modern Bulgarian culture. The oldest treasure of worked gold in the world, dating back to the 5th millennium BC, comes from the site of the Varna Necropolis.
The Rhodopes are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak at 2,191 meters (7,188 ft). The mountain range gives its name to the terrestrial ecoregion Rodope montane mixed forests that belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome and the Palearctic realm. The region is particularly notable for its karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms, such as the Trigrad Gorge.
Kazanlak, known as Seuthopolis in ancient times, is a town in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria. It is located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain range, at the eastern end of the Rose Valley. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Kazanlak Municipality.
Vitosha, the ancient Scomius or Scombrus, is a mountain massif, on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Vitosha is one of the symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking, alpinism and skiing. Convenient bus lines and rope ways render the mountain easily accessible. Vitosha has the outlines of an enormous dome.
Rila is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkan Peninsula, and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an elevation of 2,925 m which makes Rila the sixth highest mountain range in Europe after the Caucasus, the Alps, Sierra Nevada, the Pyrenees and Mount Etna, and the highest one between the Alps and the Caucasus. It spans a territory of 2,629 km2 with an average elevation of 1487 m. The mountain is believed to have been named after the river of the same name, which comes from the Old Bulgarian verb "рыти" meaning "to grub".
The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery ("Sveti Ivan Rilski", is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated in the southwestern Rila Mountains, 117 km south of the capital Sofia in the deep valley of the Rilska River at an elevation of 1,147 m above sea level, inside of Rila Monastery Nature Park. The monastery is named after its founder, the hermit Saint Ivan of Rila, and houses approximately 60 monks. The monastery is a popular pilgrimage site for many Orthodox Christians.
The Thracian Tomb of Svestari is 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) southwest of the village of Sveshtari, Razgrad Province, which is 42 kilometers (26 mi) northeast of Razgrad, in northeast Bulgaria. The tomb is probably the grave of Dromichaetes who was a king of the Getae on both sides of the lower Danube around 300 BCE, and his wife, the daughter of King Lysimachus who was a general and diadochus of Alexander the Great. The tomb is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Vratsa is the largest city in northwestern Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is located about 112 km north of Sofia, 40 km southeast of Montana.
The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is a vaulted-brickwork "beehive" (tholos) tomb that is located near the town of Kazanlak in central Bulgaria.
Sredna Gora is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the river Iskar to the west and the elbow of river Tundzha north of the city of Yambol to the east. Sredna Gora is 285 km long, reaching 50 km at its greatest width. Its highest peak is Golyam Bogdan at 1,604 m (5,262 ft). It is part of the Srednogorie mountain chain system, which extends longitudinally across the most country from west to east, between the Balkan Mountains and the Sub-Balkan valleys to the north and the Kraishte, Rila and the Upper Thracian Plain to the south.
100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria is a Bulgarian national movement established in 1966 to promote tourism among Bulgaria's most significant cultural, historic, and natural landmarks.
Vitosha is one of the 24 districts of Sofia, situated in the southern parts of the City on the foot of the Vitosha mountain. As of 2006 it has 42,953 inhabitants. The district includes 7 neighbourhoods: Boyana, Simeonovo, Dragalevtsi, Pavlovo, Buxton, Manastirski Livadi, and Knyazhevo as well as two villages Vladaya and Marchaevo. It is among the richest and greenest districts in Sofia and Bulgaria with many beautiful residences, houses, villas and residential complexes.
The Architecture of the Tarnovo Artistic School is a term for the development of architecture during the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396). In the 13th and 14th centuries the capital Tarnovo determined the progress of the Bulgarian architecture with many edifices preserved or reconstructed which show the skills of the Medieval Bulgarian architects and the construction and decorative techniques they used. The builders have created a unique architectural style, known as Tarnovian Style, that influenced the architecture in many countries of Southeastern Europe and parts of Central Europe. With its diverse architecture, the Tarnovo School may be separated into several branches according to the function of the buildings.
Strandzha Nature Park is the largest protected area in Bulgaria spanning a territory of 1,161 square kilometres (448 sq mi) in the Strandzha Mountain in the extreme south-eastern corner of the country on the border with Turkey. It was established on 25 January 1995 to protect ecosystems and biodiversity of European importance, as well as the traditional cultural, historical and folklore heritage of the region. The altitude varies from 710 metres (780 yd) on Gradishte Peak to 0 metres (0 yd) at the Black Sea coast with average length of 50 kilometres (31 mi) from west to east and 20 kilometres (12 mi) from north to south.
Rila Monastery Nature Park is one of the largest nature parks in Bulgaria, spanning a territory of 252.535 km2 (97.504 sq mi) in the western part of the Rila mountain range at an altitude between 750 and 2,713 metres. It is in Rila Municipality, Kyustendil Province and includes forests, mountain meadows, alpine areas, and 28 glacial lakes. With a little more than 1 million visitors, it is the second-most visited nature park in the country, after Vitosha Nature Park.
Lyuba Ognenova-Marinova was a pioneering Bulgarian archaeologist. She was the first underwater archaeologist in the country and headed the investigations of the ancient Thracian city of Nesebar. She became one of the leading Bulgarian researchers specializing in ancient and Thracian archeology, authoring over 100 scientific publications. She served on the faculty of Sofia University and as a senior researcher at the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia.
Magdalina Stancheva was a Bulgarian archaeologist and museologist, recognized for her dedication in preserving Sofia's past. As one of the first museologists in the country, she influenced and taught many the scientific principals of conservation. She worked with both the International Council of Museums and UNESCO to designate national preservation sites and was recognized by many awards for her efforts in conserving the cultural history of the country, including the Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the National Order Of Labour, and a citation as an Honorary Citizen of Sofia.
Surva, Masquerade games
Koprivshtitsa folklore fair
