Culture Crossroads

19/04/2026

Принципно не пиша нищо на политическа тематика, но днес е нужно.

Гласувайте, хора! Знам, всички са маскари и да, всички са пребоядисани едни и същи. Обаче ако си останете вкъщи днес и не гласувате, помагате да спечелят онези, които не искате да управляват.

Няма да ви призовавам за кого да гласувате, всеки трябва да направи този избор сам, обаче, хора, отидете в избирателната секция. Има още време и дори да смятате, че от вашия глас няма смисъл, помнете, че така мисли над 70% от българското общество. Само че откъде-накъде съдбата на тези 70% трябва да се определи от ония около 30%, които гласуват всеки път? Няма да коментирам за кого и защо гласуват тези около 30%. Идеята ми е, че днес нашите действия имат значение. Много по-голямо значение, отколкото действията по площадите преди няколко месеца.

Защото не протестите определят кой ще ни управлява - гласовете на изборите го определят. Така че днес, знам, че сигурно си имате планове и така нататък, обаче отделете един половин час да гласувате. За да не се тюхкаме довечера (*и в следващите месеци) как е станало това или онова.

На снимката - рандъм къща от центъра на София. Да видим дали ще предположите къде е.

03/03/2026

Честит трети март!

Happy Third of March to all Bulgarians and people who feel for Bulgaria in some way 🙂

Today, we celebrate 'Liberation day'
Here is some info about the history of the place.

The Crossroads point:
The monument on Shipka peak.

The place is a very dramatic an symbolic for all Bulgarians because 148 years ago it was the place where the fate of the whole nation was decided. It is a place where we honour the heroism of those who fought there to make us safe.

In 1877, during the Russian-Turkish Liberation war, that place was attacked by the Ottoman army.

The idea was that one Turkish pasha (Siuleyman) had to go to Northern Bulgaria to help another pasha (Osman) with the Russian siege of Pleven (which is in Northern Bulgaria). Had he done that, the Liberation War would have ended with defeat for the Russians and devastation for the Bulgarians.

This is where Shipka comes to the fore – to go to Northern Bulgaria, Suileyman had to cross Stara Planina (which stretches across the middle of Bulgaria) but driven by anger he foolishly chose the highest mountain pass in the area – Shipka pass.

The defenders on the homonymous peak above the pass were around 7 500 Bulgarian volunteers and Russian soldiers against more than 27 000 Turkish soldiers and bashibozuk (the Turkish version of volunteer army, known for their cruelty). In a dramatic 3-day fight when even the ammo ran out, the defenders fought till the last one standing and even threw the dead bodies of their comrades against the enemy. They managed to stand their ground until some reinforcements were sent and that slowed down the Turkish army and basically tilted the scales in favour of Russia. Today, it is said that that fight won the whole war and won freedom for Bulgaria

The monument has long and tangled history (which deserves a post of its own) so for the time being I'll only mention that it was built on donations and opened to visitors in 1934. It is open all year round, the exact working hours vary according to season.

More info on how to get there, tickets etc. can be found on their website:
http://www.shipkamuseum.org/en/

31/05/2025

Some info for my foreign friends and followers.

This video will give you some info and interesting facts about Bulgaria - as Bulgarian, I am impressed with all the details the creator included (I have some more to add, equally shocking) and yup, the video is very good. :)

Go check it out and see for yourself :)

🌍✨ *15 Mind Blowing Facts About Bulgaria - The World's Most ECCENTRIC Country!* 🇧🇬Prepare to be astonished! In this captivating travel documentary, we del...

24/05/2025

Честит 24 май!

Кирилицата е едно от нещата, с които България трябва да се гордее. Винаги натъртвам, че е измислена в България и оттук, заедно с църковните книги, обикаля славянския свят.
На всички, с отношение към образованието, културата и езика, честит празник!

Авторът, нищо че празнува поне четири други празника (на фотографа, на фотографията, на преводача и на будителите 😁😁😁), си честити сам на себе си 🙃

Today Bulgaria celebrates the day of the Cyrillic alphabet and Slavic culture.

The picture: the building of the National library Saint Cyril and Methodius in Sofia, Bulgaria.

More interesting facts:

The Cyrillic alphabet was invented in 9th century Bulgaria. It is originally created in Bulgaria (no matter what your dictionary says). I need to say it twice because I've heard all kinds of nonsense.

Cyril and Methodius invented the Glagolitic alphabet. It was not meant for Bulgaria but for Great Moravia in Central Europe. The Cyrillic alphabet was created by St. Clement of Ohrid and he named it after his favorite mentor, Apostle Cyril. It is much easier to write :)

Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher as was the whole name of Apostle Cyril was a respected teacher at the Magnaura school (a.k.a. the most prestigeous university in this part of the Medieval world) in Constantinople before he started creating the Glagolitic alphabet.

Cyril and Methodius were declared patron saints of Europe in 1980.

So, we can say that this day is the time when we commemorate not only the people who created the alphabet but also culture, literature and anyone involved in it :)

03/03/2025

Честит трети март! 🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬

Happy Third of March to all Bulgarians and people who feel for Bulgaria in some way :)
Today, we celebrate 'Liberation day'

Here is some info about the history of the place.

The Crossroads point:
The monument on Shipka peak
The place is a very dramatic an symbolic for all Bulgarians because 141 years ago it was the place where the fate of the whole nation was decided. It is a place where we honour the heroism of those who fought there to make us safe.

In 1877, during the Russian-Turkish Liberation war, that place was attacked by the Ottoman army.
The idea was that one Turkish pasha (Siuleyman) had to go to Northern Bulgaria to help another pasha (Osman) with the Russian siege of Pleven (which is in Northern Bulgaria). Had he done that, the Liberation War would have ended with defeat for the Russians and devastation for the Bulgarians.
This is where Shipka comes to the fore – to go to Northern Bulgaria, Suileyman had to cross Stara Planina (which stretches across the middle of Bulgaria) but driven by anger he foolishly chose the highest mountain pass in the area – Shipka pass.
The defenders on the homonymous peak above the pass were around 7 500 Bulgarian volunteers and Russian soldiers against more than 27 000 Turkish soldiers and bashibozuk (the Turkish version of volunteer army, known for their cruelty). In a dramatic 3-day fight when even the ammo ran out, the defenders fought till the last one standing and even threw the dead bodies of their comrades against the enemy. They managed to stand their ground until some reinforcements were sent and that slowed down the Turkish army and basically tilted the scales in favour of Russia. Today, it is said that that fight won the whole war and won freedom for Bulgaria

The monument has long and tangled history (which deserves a post of its own) so for the time being I'll only mention that it was built on donations and opened to visitors in 1934. It is open all year round, the exact working hours vary according to season.

More info on how to get there, tickets etc. can be found on their website:
http://www.shipkamuseum.org/en/

01/03/2025

Честита Баба Марта!!! ⚪️🔴
Много здраве и късмет на всички - да сте живи и здрави, бели и червени като мартеничките!

За всички приятели, които създават творчески неща, има още:

Бели и червени,
много вдъхновени ⚪️🔴⚪️🔴

Happy 1 of March everyone!
Or as Bulgarians say Chestita Baba Marta! Wishing you to be red and white like a Martenitsa!

The Crossroads point:
Today Bulgarians celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of spring. Unlike Western cultures where Spring is a young and beautiful woman, our Spring is the so called Baba Marta - an old and fiery-tempered granny. She is best-known for her ill temper. When March starts, all want to keep to Baba Marta's good side :)

The legends:
According to folklore, Baba Marta is the only sister of the 11 month gods and is particularly angry with her two brothers - January and February - because during the winter they drank all her wine :-D

So, even though March is technically a spring month, the weather is heavily dependent on Baba Marta's mood swings. One day she's happy and the sun shines, the next day she's furious and blizzard comes around.

On this day, Bulgarians greet each other with the wish: Happy Baba Marta! Let you be red and white like a Martenitsa!.

Another legend ties Martenitsa to the dawn of Bulgarian history. Back in 680 AD, when Khan Asparuh (the first Bulgarian ruler and founder of the Bulgarian state in traditional historiography) was fighting Byzantium, his sister was taken captive by the Byzantine emperor. She sent a pigeon with a message to her brother about the Byzantine army coming to the Bulgarian stronghold on the bank of the Danube river and tied the slip of paper to the animal's leg with a white thread. The pigeon flew but was shot crossing the Byzantine lines. Still, it made it to Asparuh's camp. He read the message and saw that the thread had turned half white and half red. He took that as a good omen, tied the thread around his wrist and rode into battle... To win and to establish the Bulgarian state - 1300 years later, the country has not yet changed name (not even once) and still stands in its original place on the map.

What is a Martenitsa?
The symbol of the holiday is called a Martenitsa (from the name for the month March in Bulgarian). It is either a bracelet made of white and red thread or two anthropomorphic figurines - called Pizho (the male one) and Penda (the female one) . You can see them below. Usually Pizho is a red figurine and Penda - a white one. The Martenitsa is worn as an amulet all March and is taken off only after one sees a stork (the messenger of spring in Bulgarian folklore) or till the month is over. Usually, the martenitsa is then tied to a fruit-bearing tree, so that it would bear more fruit the upcoming year.

Fun fact is that Martenitsa is worn all over the Balkan peninusula - in Romania, Greece, Macedonia, parts of Serbia. Bulgarian nationalists explain that with the territory occupied by the First Bulgarian kingdom (which covered the territories of the present-day countries above). Truth is that it's a wonderful tradition to keep.

Fun fact 2 - a joint application of Bulgaria and Romania put Martenitsa on the UNESCO World Heritage list (of intangible heritage) in 2017 :)

So, happy spring and be healthy!

31/12/2024

Честита Нова 2025 година!

01/11/2024

Честит ден на будителите и на всички, които се чувстват събудени!

Нека днес да си спомним за всички ония, които са ни вдъхновили или изтърпели в училище... Учители по призвание, а не просто номинално с тази професия.

Today Bulgaria celebrates the day of the National leaders.

It is a unique holiday dedicated to all scholars, teachers and revolutionaries that contributed to the creation of an independent Bulgarian nation and that ultimately led to the Liberation in 1878.

The historical context:
Bulgaria was quite unlucky in terms of rulers. The Ottoman empire was not only backward and hostile to its Christian subjects but also dreadfully behind the rest of Europe in terms of development ever since the 15th century. All of the Balkan countries suffered but Bulgaria had the worst lot since it was too close to the empire capital - Istanbul. Too many soldiers and civilians were made to populate the land and almost any attempt of the Christian population to have something resembling a privilege was blocked. Ordinary things such as deciding what clothes to wear or owning a horse or an ox were controlled (and heavily taxed if even allowed) by the state.

Naturally, education at that time was really hard to get. Bulgarians who wanted to study would start in the church - learning to read and write from the Gospel under the guidance of a priest. Then, if they were lucky enough, they could go to either a Greek school or to Russia to continue their education. Most of these people came back to Bulgaria as the first highly-educated teachers, for the first time ever since the Medieval ages. They developed the education system of Bulgaria and raised the next generation - of traders, thinkers and scholars which in itself gave rise to the third generation - that of the revolutionaries. In Bulgarian history, all those people are collectively called 'national leaders' or 'народни будители' ('those who woke the nation up' as the literal translation goes).

Today is the professional holiday of all teachers and people engaged in education.

The Crossoroads Point:
This is the old school building in Tryavna town, Bulgaria. It is one of the oldest still preserved schools on Bulgarian territory. It is also famous because one of the most famous Bulgarian poets, ethnographers and scholars taught there - Petko Slaveikov.

This was an unusual type of school, created by the hunger for knowledge and the lack of amenities. Point was that the older pupils would teach the younger ones what they have learned and all that was overseen by a teacher. That way one person could actually teach up to 5 classes in one and the same classroom. The teacher would work directly with the oldest pupils and then each will teach the easier part of the material to the younger classmates. The teacher then would provide feedback and corrections (as well as punishments) where necessary.

Tourist information:
This place is located in the historical center of Tryavna town and it is very easy to reach. The ticket is negligibly low in price (no photo or video restrictions here) and it is open daily from 9 to 18 Bulgarian local time.

17/09/2024

Честит ден на София! 🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬

24/05/2024

Честит 24 май!

Кирилицата е едно от нещата, с които България трябва да се гордее. Винаги натъртвам, че е измислена в България и оттук, заедно с църковните книги, обикаля славянския свят.
На всички, с отношение към образованието, културата и езика, честит празник!

Авторът, нищо че празнува поне четири други празника (на фотографа, на фотографията, на преводача и на будителите 😁😁😁), си честити сам на себе си 🙃

Today Bulgaria celebrates the day of the Cyrillic alphabet and Slavic culture.

The picture: the building of the National library Saint Cyril and Methodius in Sofia, Bulgaria.

More interesting facts:

The Cyrillic alphabet was invented in 9th century Bulgaria. It is originally created in Bulgaria (no matter what your dictionary says). I need to say it twice because I've heard all kinds of nonsense.

Cyril and Methodius invented the Glagolitic alphabet. It was not meant for Bulgaria but for Great Moravia in Central Europe. The Cyrillic alphabet was created by St. Clement of Ohrid and he named it after his favorite mentor, Apostle Cyril. It is much easier to write :)

Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher as was the whole name of Apostle Cyril was a respected teacher at the Magnaura school (a.k.a. the most prestigeous university in this part of the Medieval world) in Constantinople before he started creating the Glagolitic alphabet.

Cyril and Methodius were declared patron saints of Europe in 1980.

So, we can say that this day is the time when we commemorate not only the people who created the alphabet but also culture, literature and anyone involved in it :)

🇧🇬 #кирилица #кирилиметодий #азбука #букви #празник