Art & Literature
Zahari Zograf (1810-53) painted magnificent frescoes inspired by
medieval Bulgarian art in monasteries. The carvings of highly
contemplative monks appear in monastery museums throughout Bulgaria:
saints the size of grains of rice are a particular highlight. Bulgaria's
poets show a tendency to meet with a violent and early death, lending a
poignancy to the high idealism of writers such as Hristo Botev (rebel folk
poet of the late 19th century), Dimcho Debelyanov (lyric poet killed in
WWI) and Geo Milev (poet of the post-WWI social upheavals, kidnapped and
murdered by police). The grand old man of Bulgarian literature, Ivan Vazov,
is one of the few who made it over the age of 30. His novel Under the Yoke
describes the 1876 uprising against the Turks.
Music
An ancient Greek myth ascribes a Thracian origin to Orpheus and the
Muses, a heritage which Bulgaria's singers still take very seriously.
Orthodox religious chants convey the mysticism of regional fables and
legends, whereas the spontaneous folk songs and dances of the villages
meld classical origins with a strong Turkish influence. International
interest in Bulgarian vocal music was ignited by groups such as Le Mystere
des Voix Bulgaires, who have taken Bulgaria's polyphonic female choir
singing to a world audience.
Food
Bulgarians fill up on meals of meat, potatoes and beans, crisped up
with salads, and tossed back with dangerous liquor: beware of water
glasses filled with rakia (ouch) and mastika (aaah). Breakfast is a
bread-based snack on the run - look out for hole-in-the-wall kiosks
selling delicious banitsi - cheese pastries, often washed down with boza,
a gluggy millet drink which is an acquired taste. Lunch is the main meal
of the day. Dinner appears late at night, mostly to signal the end of
aperitifs and the start of serious slugging.
Language
Bulgarian is a South Slavic language written in the Cyrillic alphabet.
Saints Cyril and Methodius, two brothers from Thessaloniki, invented the
Cyrillic script in the 9th century and one of the strong bonds between
Bulgarians and Russians is their shared use of this alphabet. Russian is
the second language of older Bulgarians and is still taught in schools.
Younger people are more likely to be interested in speaking a version of
English peppered with classic rock lyrics and advertising slogans.
Bulgarians waggle their heads Indian-style to mean yes, and nod to mean
no. It's normal to feel like your head is a pogo-stick; just try to stay
upright.
Dances
Have a look at this pdf-file for information about the dance
Silistrenska Tropanke
To read the file you need the free software Adobe Reader from
Adobe or another pdf-viewer.
The Adobe Reader you can find on the homepage from
Adobe under Support -
Downloads.
National Anthem
To listen the national anthem click
here.
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