ISSN 1311-9753 I FREE MONTHLY GUIDE + MAP I MAY 2016 I ISSUE 275 BULGARIA IN BRIEF 1 2 BULGARIA IN BRIEF 23 YEARS CITY INFO GUIDE 4 BULGARIA IN BRIEF 18 OVERVIEW 28 ACCOMMODATION 36 BARS AND RESTAURANTS 42 NIGHT LIFE Dear Readers, Greetings from Sofia City® Info Guides 46 CULTURE and Happy Easter to all of you who are celebrating this Christian Holiday on the 58 USEFUL NUMBERS same dates like the Bulgarians. This month in the Bulgarian cultural calendar there are several important dates. On May 6th we celebrate the Day of the Sofia City ® Info Guide Bulgarian army. May 24th is the Day of Bulgarian enlightenment, literacy and Publisher: culture, when we honor the creators of Nova Advertising Ltd. the Cyrillic alphabet, the two brothers Kiril /Нова Адвъртайзинг ЕООД/ and Methodius. For 26th time the Askeer Manager: Lyudmila Mladenova Awards for achievements in theatre art in Editor: Lyubina Panayotova Bulgaria will be given at Theatre “Bulgarian Design: Nova Advertising Ltd. army” on the same date. Cover: Terminal 1 Club You will find many stories about the Print: Janet 45 Ltd. meaning of those dates for us as a nation on the next pages. Thank you for your For Advertising, curiosity about our country and we are Bulk Orders and Subscriptions: (before 10th of the preceding month, please!) hoping that you will plan another trip to Bulgaria any time soon. Phone: 02 980 85 01 Cell: 0896 717 225 Do not hesitate to contact us if you have E-mail: [email protected] any tips, photos and stories you want to [email protected] share with us. facebook.com/cityinfoguides.bulgaria See you soon, All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be Lyubina Panayotova reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission. Monthly circulation: 20 000 Editor WWW.CITYinfogUides.com BULGARIA IN BRIEF 3 4 BULGARIA IN BRIEF WELCOME TO BULGARIA Welcome to one of the oldest European states with 6000-years old gold treasures, a centre of ancient civilizations, a country that hosts the sanctuary of the mystical singer Orpheus and gave to the Slavonic people the Cyrillic alphabet. Bulgaria is a small country by area and population, but it was this spectacular piece of land that God Almighty blessed with unearthly beautiful nature, proud people and rich cultural heritage. Bulgarians are also quite hospitable nation – they St. Cyril, and corresponded perfectly to the phonetic will greet you like dear guests, they will open their hearts and homes for you and they will see you riches and needs of the Slavonic-Bulgarian language. off with sincere wishes to come back soon again. As of today more than 250 million people in Europe and Asia use the Cyrillic alphabet for their national FACTS & FIGURES languages and half of them are from Russia. With the Population: 7 364 570 accession of Bulgaria to the EU, the Cyrillic alphabet Area: 110 993 sq. km became the third official one of the union. Language: Bulgarian Another major historical landmark took place in this Religion: Orthodox period when Knyaz Boris I converted the state to Average summer temperatures: 26° to 30°C Orthodox Christianity in 864. Average winter temperatures: -5° to 5°C The First Bulgarian State stretched gradually from Time zone: GMT +2 (Apr-Sept GMT +3) Transylvania in the north, to the Aegean Sea in the Country dialing code: 00 359 south, from the Black Sea in the east and to the Adriatic Internet country code: .bg Sea in the west. It fell to the Byzantines in 1018 after Administrative division: 28 regions 263municipalities it had been conquered by the Emperor Vassileios II. Capital: Sofia (population 1 291 591) The Second Bulgarian State, established in 1185 at Major Cities: Plovdiv (671 918), Varna (468 220), Veliko Tarnovo, reinstated the borders of the First Bourgas (409 018) Bulgarian Kingdom and a second Golden Age began Bulgarian Lev is pegged to the EURO (EURO 1 ≈ during which Bulgaria expanded its borders to the BGN 1, 95). shores of Black, Aegean and Adriatic seas. History From 1396 to 1878 the country was under the rule (the The Bulgarian state was founded circa 681 as so called ‘yoke’) of the Ottoman Empire. a union of the new-settled Proto-Bulgarians, of Sofia became the capital of Bulgaria after the Veliko seven Slavonic tribes who have already settled this Tarnovo Constitution was accepted in 1879. From territory and with the inclusion of some smaller 1878 (liberation from the rule of the Ottoman Empire) ethnical groups (Thracians and others). to 1944, Bulgaria enjoyed a brief but unstable period The Thracians were a tribal society who inhabited a of relative freedom. After 1944 the Communist Party, vast area in Central and Southeastern Europe. They led by its leader Georgi Dimitrov, took the power as a were well-known in the Ancient world for making result of almost bloodless coup d’état and proclaimed filigree gold and silver jewelry. The great Homer Bulgaria for a “People’s Republic” in 1946 after described in his masterpiece Iliad a Thracian king, a controversial referendum. The Communist regime having “the biggest and the most handsome horses lasted until November 10th, 1989 when Bulgaria I have ever seen, /whiter than snow and swifter peacefully ousted the Communist Party leader Todor than the winds/and a chariot finely wrought with Zhivkov. silver and gold.” The newly established state acquired political One of the first signs of Bulgaria’s democratization after recognition from the Byzantine Empire in 681 A.D. 1989 was the establishment of a multi-party system. The state was ruled by its founder Khan Asparuh, The new Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, the leader of the proto-Bulgarians and the first adopted on July 12, 1991, proclaimed the country as Bulgarian capital was Pliska. a parliamentary republic. On March 29, 2004 Bulgaria During that period the Slavic alphabet was created joined NATO, and on January 1st, 2007 the country in 855. It was called Cyrillic alphabet, named after became a member of the European Union. BULGARIA IN BRIEF 5 Religion mainly at the mountain outskirts. There are many spa resorts situated in Bankya, Velingrad and A full freedom of the religious denominations is Sandanski. Worth to mention are also the mineral proclaimed in the Constitution of the Republic of baths of Stara Zagora, Narechen, Sliven and Bulgaria. Haskovo, as well as Kyustendil, Varshets, Hissarya, According to the census from 2011, 76% of the Merichleri, Momin Prohod and Kostenets. population are Eastern Orthodox Christians, 10 % are Beautiful lakes lie hidden in the cirques of Rila and Muslims, 0.8% - Catholics, 1.1% are Protestants and Pirin Mountains. There are also dams, surrounded 0,2 % belong to other religions. by impressive nature, such as Iskar Dam, Batak Official Language and Alphabet Dam, Dospat Dam and etc. The official language is Bulgarian and the official Flora and Fauna alphabet is Cyrillic. The Bulgarian language belongs Bulgaria is still rich in locations where the natural to the group of the Slavonic languages. Serbo- beauty has been preserved almost unspoiled and Croatian and Russian are the most similar languages the flora demonstrates remarkable diversity. A to it. Other languages as English, German, French, total of 12 360 species have been found in our Russian and Spanish are spoken and used frequently country. There are more than 12 National parks by 40 % of the population. across the country with various natural reserves on their territory. The Bulgarian endemic plants, Topography which are to be found nowhere else in the world, The country’s relief is varied (from 0 to 2,925 m include more than 250 species: Rila Primrose, above the sea level) and above 60 % of the territory Balkan Violet, Bulgarian Blackberry, Rhodope Tulip, are forests and mountainous. The most famous etc. Forests abound with various wild fruits – all mountains are: Rila (with the highest mountain peak of them of proven and distinctive flavor. There is on the Balkan Peninsula Mussala – 2 925 m), Pirin also a great diversity of animal species. Bulgaria’s (Vihren Peak – 2 914 m), the Central Balkan (Botev fauna numbers more than 13,000 representatives. Peak – 2 376 m), the Rhodope Mountains (Golyam Rare mammal species are also to be found in the Perelik Peak – 2 191 m) and Vitosha Mountain near country. Sofia (Cherni Vrah Peak – 2 290 m). Communication Numerous natural phenomena are scattered across The country offers a relatively good highway the country: mountain passes and gorges, rock- network, including six international highways, which pyramids and bizarre rock formations, numerous connect Europe with the Orient, and the North with caves and waterfalls, beautiful lakes. Some of the the South part of the continent. Four out of the ten most famous natural sights are: the Melnik Pyramids, Trans-European corridors cross the territory of the Fossil Forest, the Belogradchik Rocks; the gorges Bulgaria – IV, VIII, IX and X. of the rivers Trigradska in the Rhodopes and Erma For more information about the main roads and near the town of Tran, Vratsata; the valleys of the motorways in Bulgaria check out the table below: rivers Iskar, Struma and Mesta, the canyon of the Motorway From: To: km Roussenski Lom River; the Srebarna Lake; the rock monastery Aladja off the city of Varna, etc. A1 Trakia Sofia Burgas 360 There is a great diversity of karsts forms, among A2 Hemus Sofia Varna 433 them there are 4,600 caves. The deepest cave in A3 Struma Pernik Kulata 156 Bulgaria is Raichova Dupka (387 m deep), and the longest is Duhlata (17,600 m long).