ISSN 1311-9753 I FREE MONTHLY GUIDE + MAP I MARCH 2017 I ISSUE 285 BULGARIA IN BRIEF 1 2 BULGARIA IN BRIEF 23 YEARS CITY INFO GUIDE 4 BULGARIA IN BRIEF 14 OVERVIEW 20 ACCOMMODATION 28 BARS AND RESTAURANTS 34 NIGHT LIFE Dear Readers, Greetings to all Bulgarian readers on the occasion of the National Holiday on March the 3rd (The 38 CULTURE Liberation of Bulgaria). Sofia becomes a capital of the world cinema in 46 USEFUL NUMBERS March – The 21st edition of Sofia International Film Fest will take place from 9th till 19th with additional program during the month in Sofia, Burgas, Plovdiv and Varna. Sofia City ® Info Guide On March 27th my colleges and I want to express Publisher: our special greetings and gratitude to all our partners who are involved in the Bulgarian Theatre Nova Advertising Ltd. on the occasion of the World Theatre Day. The /Нова Адвъртайзинг ЕООД/ ceremony of Ikar Awards 2017 will take place at Manager: Lyudmila Mladenova the Academic circus “Balkanski” in the evening on Editor: Lyubina Panayotova the same date. Design: Nova Advertising Ltd. If you are looking for a new adventures take a look On the Cover: Sofia International Film Festival also at the suggestions at our heading “Nightlife”. Print: Janet 45 Ltd. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any photos For Advertising, and stories you want to share. We will be glad if Bulk Orders and Subscriptions: you want to tell us your thoughts and opinion about (before 10th of the preceding month, please!) some of the Bulgarian features and we would like to Phone: 02 980 85 01 find out your perspective to the cities which you’ve Cell: 0896 717 225 visited. You are always welcome to be our guest E-mail: [email protected] and we are hoping that you will plan another trip to [email protected] Bulgaria any time soon. facebook.com/cityinfoguides.bulgaria See you next time, All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior Lyubina Panayotova permission. Monthly circulation: 20 000 Editor WWW.CITYinfogUides.com BULGARIA IN BRIEF 3 4 BULGARIA IN BRIEF WELCOME TO BULGARIA Religion: Orthodox Average summer temperatures: 26° to 30°C Welcome to one of the oldest European states Average winter temperatures: -5° to 5°C with 6000-years old gold treasures, a center Time zone: GMT +2 of ancient civilizations, a country that hosts the Country dialing code: 00 359 sanctuary of the mystical singer Orpheus and Internet country code: .bg gave to the Slavonic people the Cyrillic alphabet. Capital: Sofia Bulgaria is the only one country in Europe Currency: Bulgarian Lev (BGN) that hasn’t changed its name since it was first established. The Bulgarian army has never lost a single flag in battle. The flag of Bulgaria is a HISTORY tricolor consisting of three equal-sized horizontal The Bulgarian state was founded circa 681 as bands of (from top to the bottom) white, green a union of the new-settled Proto-Bulgarians, of and red. It was first adopted after Russo-Turkish seven Slavonic tribes who have already settled War (1877-1878), where Bulgaria regained inde- this territory and with the inclusion of some pendence. The current flag was re-established smaller ethnical groups (Thracians and others). with the 1991 Constitution of Bulgaria. The state was ruled by its founder Khan Asparuh, the leader of the proto-Bulgarians and the first Bulgarian capital was Pliska. The Thracians were a tribal society who inhabited a vast area in Central and Southeastern Europe. They were well-known in the Ancient world for making filigree gold and silver jewelry. The great Homer described in his masterpiece Iliad a Thracian king, having “the biggest and the most handsome horses I have ever seen, /whiter than snow and swifter than the winds/and a chariot COAT OF ARMS OF BULGARIA finely wrought with silver and gold.” IMPORTANT & SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 681 – The Bulgarian state acquired political recognition from the Byzantine Empire. 718 – The Bulgarian Khan Tervel has stopped the Arabic invasion to European continent. 855 – The Cyrillic alphabet by the brothers Cyril and Methodius. It corresponded perfectly to the phonetic riches and needs of the Slavonic- Bulgarian language. As of today more than 250 million people in Europe and Asia use the Cyrillic alphabet for their national languages. Details Armiger - Republic of Bulgaria 864 – During his rule Knyaz Boris I converted the Adopted - 1997 state to Orthodox Christianity. Crest - Crown of theSecond Bulgarian Empire Escutcheon - Gules, a lion rampant crowned 893-927 – During the Golden Age of Tzar Simeon Supporters - Two lions rampant crowned The Greatest the First Bulgarian State stretched Compartment - Two crossed oak branches gradually from Transylvania in the north, to the with fruits Aegean Sea in the south, from the Black Sea in Motto - Съединението прави силата the east and to the Adriatic Sea in the west. At this time Bulgaria gradually reached its cultural “Saedinenieto pravi silata” and territorial apogee, when it developed into “Unity makes strength” the cultural and literary center of Slavic Europe, as well as becoming one of the largest states FACTS & FIGURES in Europe. Population: 7 364 570 Area: 110 993 sq. km 1018 – The Bulgarian army fell to Byzantines and Language: Bulgarian after that the Bulgaria State had been conquered BULGARIA IN BRIEF 5 6 BULGARIA IN BRIEF by the Emperor Vassileios II. BORDERS THROUGH THE CENTURIES 1185 – The Second Bulgarian State was estab- Bulgaria has expanded twice its borders to the lished at Veliko Tarnovo, reinstated the borders of shores of Black, Aegean and Adriatic seas. the First Bulgarian Kingdom and a second Golden Bulgarian Empire is a term used to describe Age began during which Bulgaria expanded its two periods in the medieval history of Bulgaria, borders to the shores of Black, Aegean and during which it acted as a key regional power in Adriatic seas. Europe in particular, often rivaling Byzantium. Here is the picture of Bulgarian borders in our 1396-1878 – The country was under the rule of days. the Ottoman Empire. 1878 – Liberation from the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Establishment of the Third Bulgarian State. 1878-1879 – As the result of the Treaty of Berlin, the Bulgarian State was divided in two territories. An autonomous Principality of Bulgaria was cre- ated, between the Danube and the Stara Planina range, with its seat at the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo, and including Sofia. An autono- CITY mous Ottoman province under the name of INFO Eastern Rumelia was created south of the Stara GUIDES Planina range, whereas Macedonia was returned .com under the sovereignty of the Sultan. For more info, look for Varna, 06.09.1908 – The establishment of the Burgas and Plovdiv City Info Guides Independence of Bulgaria. On that date Eastern WWW.CITYINFOGUIDES.COM Rumelia rejects the rule of Sultan and announced that joined the Principality of Bulgaria. Two Unesco Heritage days later, the Prince Alexander Battenberg First signed a manifesto to approve the accession of The UNESCO List of World Heritage now fea- the field and taken to be titled as a future prince tures over 300 landmarks in our country. Nine of Northern and Southern Bulgaria. Bulgarian wonders - seven cultural and two natural sites – are included among them: Rila 1944 – The After Communist Party, led by Georgi Monastery, Nessebar, The Kazanluk Tomb, The Dimitrov, took the power as a result of almost Sveshtari Tomb, The Madara Horseman, The bloodless coup d’état and proclaimed Bulgaria Boyana Church, The Ivanovo Rock Monasteries, for a “People’s Republic” in 1946 after a contro- Pirin National Park, Sreburna Lake. versial referendum. National Holidays 10.11.1989 – The Communist regime ended 1 January – New Year’s Day when Bulgaria peacefully ousted the Communist 3 March – National Holiday /The liberation of Party leader Todor Zhivkov. the Bulgarian land from the Ottoman Empire is celebrated on this day/ 1989 – The establishment of a multi-party 1 May – Labour and International Worker’s system and the begging of the Bulgaria’s democ- Solidarity Day ratization. 6 May – St. George’s Day (Gergyovden) and the Bulgarian Army’s Day 12.07.1991 – The new Constitution of the 24 May – Bulgarian Education, Culture and Republic of Bulgaria was adopted and it pro- Cyrillic Alphabet Day claimed the country as a parliamentary republic. 6 September – Unification Day 22 September – Independence Day 29.03.2004 – Bulgaria joined NATO. 1 November – Day of the Bulgarian Enlighteners (Holiday for all educational institutions) 01.01.2007 – The country became a member of 24 December - Christmas Eve the European Union. 25, 26 December – Christmas Days BULGARIA IN BRIEF 7 & Garden 8 BULGARIA IN BRIEF Monthly Holidays 25th March – Blagoveshtenie According to tradition this is the day, on which March is said to be ‘the women’s month’, because swalows and cuckoos deliver the hopeful message the weather is very unstable like the state of mind of that summer is coming. On the previous evening all a woman. There is a popular belief that every woman rooms and the yard are swept up and the rubbish is should choose one day from March and by what the weather is on this day, she can judge for herself how burnt. The girls jump over the fire, which protects them successful the rest of the year will be. against snakes. People belive that on Blagoveshtenie all poisons are not poisonous and if the weather is 1st March – Baba Marta fine, the harvest will be rich. People named Blagovesta, Blaga, Blagomir, Blagoi According to the tradition on 1st of March people celebrate their name day on March 25th.