On January 18, the Orthodox Church revers the memory of St. Athanasius the Great. According to popular belief, St. Athanasius is a patron of winter storms. On horseback, donned in a silk shirt, goes St. Athanasius into the forest and yells, “Go away, yo, winter, come, thee, summer!” And according to the Bulgarian popular belief, he does that each year on January 18, and that is why it is known as the Winter Atanasovden or Amidst Winter in the popular calendar.
It is said that from January 18 the day begins to grow by one millet seed. In some regions of the country people used to believe that plague was born on this day. To protect themselves from the deadly disease, people used to sacrifice a black hen to prepare a ritual meal.
Atanas, Atanaska, Nasko, Tina, Tinka, Tanyu, Taska celebrate their name day today.
On 20 July (according to the Gregorian calendar), the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honours the Old Testament prophet Elijah, known in Bulgaria as Sveti Iliya. Celebrated as Ilinden, this day is one of the most venerated summer festivals in Bulgaria and is..
Underwater archaeological research has been completed in Taukliman Bay (also known as Bird Bay) , located about 6 km northeast of Cape Kaliakra. Dozens of archaeological sites of great historical value have been located in its vicinity: caves used in..
Though known mostly as one of the closest associates of Vasil Levski and a dedicated fighter for national liberation, there was actually much more to Father Matey Preobrazhenski (1828–1875) than his revolutionary efforts. Little is known about..
A trilingual exhibition titled “Egyptian Cults around the Black Sea” opens today at 6 PM at the Archaeological Museum in Sozopol , according to BNR –..
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has issued an official statement on “pagan neo-Hindu propaganda with pseudo-Christian elements”. The bishops of the..
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