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Religious and Cultural Tour of Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia August 29 – September 12, 2020

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Religious and Cultural Tour of Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia August 29 – September 12, 2020 RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL TOUR OF BULGARIA AND NORTHERN MACEDONIA AUGUST 29 – SEPTEMBER 12, 2020 Day 1. Saturday, August 29, 2020 Meals: Dinner Our guide will meet you at the airport and assist for a transfer to your downtown hotel. Time at leisure to overcome the jet lag. Overnight: Sofia Day 2. Sunday, August 30, 2020 Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Start your full day of Liturgy and sightseeing in Sofia. We will attend the Sunday Liturgy at the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, followed by a walking tour along the “Yellow Brick Road” viewing some of the city’s landmarks: St. Sophia Church and the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, the crypt of the Russian church with the sarcophagus of St. Serafim of Sofia, St. George Rotunda, St.Nedelya Square and St. Nedelya Church, where the holy relics of St. Stefan Urosh Milutin were kept, Alexander Battenberg Square, the National Theatre, the former Royal Palace. Stop for a coffee break, and then visit the Archeological Museum. Drive to Boyana and visit the 900 years old Boyana Church (UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site). Enjoy the remarkable murals, painted by an unknown artist in the 13th century. Next we will enjoy panoramic sightseeing of the National Library, Sofia University, Borisova Garden, and the National Palace of Culture. Overnight: Sofia Day 3. Monday, August 31, 2020 Meals: Breakfast and Dinner After an early breakfast, we will drive to the Rose Valley and Kazanlak, stopping enroute for a visit to Starosel. Here we begin to explore the ancient Thracian cultural heritage of Bulgaria and visit the oldest ever found royal Thracian complex with a mausoleum, which dates back to the end of 5th and the beginning of 4th century BC. Then we will proceed to Hisarya, or the ancient Diocletianopolis. Hisarya is a local SPA resorts, popular for its curative hot mineral springs. The Romans conquered the Ancient Thrace in 46 A.D. Attracted by the hot mineral springs in the area; the Roman troops founded a large settlement here. In 293 A.D., the Emperor Diocletian gave it the status of a town. Enjoy a leisurely walk in the beautiful local park to see the Roman ruins, the mineral water springs and hundred-year old trees – Fraxinus Excelsior (160-year-old), Sofora japonica (100-year-old) etc. Later, en route to Kazanlak, the main city in the Rose Valley, we will stop for a visit to the oldest rose-oil distillery, which includes a presentation on rose water and rose oil distillation. Overnight: Kazanlak Day 4. Tuesday, September 1, 2020 Meals: Breakfast and Dinner The Rose Valley is also popular as the Valley of the Thracian Kings. Enjoy a sightseeing tour in Kazanlak including: the Thracian Tomb (replica), the Tyulbe (small Islamic mausoleum, 15th century). The Kazanlak Tomb is a Thracian Tomb from the late 4th - early 3rd century B.C. and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The funeral objects and frescoes depicting hunting scenes and the funeral suggest that a Thracian king was probably buried here. The frescoes are the finest masterpiece of Thracian art. Next stop is in Shipka - the peak where the most decisive battles were held in 1877-1878 for the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman domination. There is a monument on the top and a wonderful panorama of the Central Balkan Range. Continue on to Etara to visit the Ethnographic Open-air Village Museum. Everything surrounding the visitor brings him/her back to the period of Bulgarian Revival with numerous workshops where even today the craftsmen work, using the same instruments and techniques. We will drive onward to Veliko Tarnovo. The capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (XII-XIV c) is situated on three hills, mirrored in the waters of the Yantra River winding down below. Tzarevets Hill is a genuine outdoor museum with its royal buildings, churches, fortress walls, towers, and the restored Ascension patriarchal church. Overnight: Veliko Tarnovo Day 5. Wednesday, September 2, 2020 Meals: Breakfast and Dinner After breakfast, we will enjoy a tour of the Old City, including visits to Tzarevets Royal Hill and Samovodene marketplace, brought back to life by artists and craftsmen, who create and sell exquisite items in their small workshops. We will also visit the neighboring Arbanassi museum village and walk through this beautiful museum village, admiring its fortress-like houses and extremely interesting churches. We will visit the 15th century church of the Nativity and the Konstantsaliev’s house, an 18th century architectural masterpiece. After lunch, we proceed to Varna, the largest Bulgarian Black-sea port and summer capital of Bulgaria. (3, 5 hrs.). The city was founded as a Miletian colony in the place of an old Thracian settlement already during the 6th c. B.C. Time permitting, stop over to visit the Petrified Forest natural phenomena, located 15 km away from Varna. Overnight: Varna Day 6: Thursday, September 3, 2020 Meals: Breakfast and Dinner After breakfast you will tour the ancient sites of Varna and the Museum of History, which displays the oldest man-made gold (45000-42000 B.C.) The tour then proceeds to the museum town of Nesebar, which is another UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage site, picturesquely situated on a small rocky peninsula. We will be able to enjoy a slow pace walk in the cobbled streets accompanied by beautiful sea-view panoramas. Different civilizations have left their marks jealously guarded today on the tiny peninsula. According to legends, Nesebar had about 40 churches. At present, scientific information is available for 23 of them. Overnight: Nesebar/Burgas area Day 7. Friday, September 4, 2020 Meals: Breakfast and Dinner Following breakfast, we depart to Plovdiv, the 2019 European Capital of Culture. It is Bulgaria’s second ranking town, a worthy rival to Sofia. Its location is astride the river Maritsa, and its six hills, which are prominent features on the Thracian plane, indicates the strategic significance of the city. It is one of the oldest and most colourful towns in Bulgaria. No one can tell exactly when the foundation stone was laid here, although it must have been over 5000 years ago. Old Plovdiv on Trimontium hill is the centre of Bulgarian national revival architecture at its height. En route, we will visit Bachkovo Monastery, valuable primarily for its ossuary and its church, in which 11th to 14th century frescoes are preserved. We will spend the whole afternoon exploring Ancient and Byzantine heritage of Plovdiv, visiting it the Archaeological museum, the Small and Large Basilicas, and walking along the narrow cobbled streets to enjoy the silence and tranquility of this historic town. Overnight: Plovdiv Day 8. Saturday, September 5, 2020 Meals: Breakfast and Dinner After breakfast, we will have a walking tour, which includes: a visit to the Old Town, the 2000yrs old Roman Theatre; the Byzantine and medieval fortifications, Roman Stadium, Roman Forum. After late lunch, we head to Bansko and enjoy the beautiful scenery, crossing the Rhodope Mountains to reach Bansko and the Pirin Mountains. We will have dinner in a local restaurant, famous for the home- made food, located just 5 min drive from downtown Bansko. After check-in, enjoy a walking tour of this museum village. Overnight: Bansko Day 9. Sunday, September 6, 2020 Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Early check out at 06:15 (boxed breakfast). We will depart to Rila Monastery to attend the morning Liturgy in the monastery church “Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. After the Liturgy, we will visit the original monastery kitchens from the 19th century and the museum. Here you can see the famous wood carved Raphael’s cross. It took monk Raphael 12 years to finish the cross with its 140 biblical scenes and 1500 human figures, not larger than a grain of rice. After Lunch, we cross the border and enter Northern Macedonia, travelling to the capital city of Skopje. In existence for 2,500 years, Skopje is the city of many cultures and civilizations, from ancient to Byzantine, from Ottoman to modern. It is a place where one can find modern hotels above cobbled Ottoman streets, red-bricked churches beside rounded Turkish mosques, neoclassical homes right around the corner from old Yugoslav-era buildings. Overnight: Skopje Day 10. Monday, September 7, 2020 Meals: Breakfast and Lunch When Macedonia became a Roman province, its location as the crossroad on three important Roman roads allowed the cities of this region to develop and enjoy the highest privileges of the Roman Empire. After the declaration of the Christianity as a state religion of the Roman Empire, many of the cities in Macedonia became Episcopal centers, opening the doors for new Christian culture. The main square of Skopje is the promenade of the city that connects the new and the historical part of the city. It is the biggest in Macedonia and the place where independence from Yugoslavia was declared. Today after the reconstruction of some of the old buildings destroyed in the 1963 earthquake and the newly erected avenue of the national heroes tells the story of the city and the history of the country. With its medieval and Ottoman architecture and numerous little craftsman shops, it remains one of the biggest and the most colorful centers of its kind. This area is rich with sacral and profane buildings that rich Turkish feudalists left as a bequest. After lunch, we visit St. Panteleimon Church in Nerezi. Built by the peer Aleksey Komnen in 1164 on an ancient Roman cult site with impressive fresco-paintings, by which the unknown Nerezi master has given life to the walls of the church. Some art historians consider that the fresco “Lamentation of Christ” announces Renaissance I c.
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