Awakener/enlightener - a person who, through his actions, ideas or creative work, awakens the spirit of the people, preserves and spreads national identity, culture and education. In Bulgarian history, this term is most often associated with the period of the National Revival (18th-19th centuries) and the names of teachers, writers, clergymen and revolutionaries - this is how ChatGPT defines the words "enlightener" and "awakener" today.

On November 15, the exhibition "National Awakeners" was opened in the ceremonial hall of the Municipal Office of the Prague 12 district. In addition, four information plaques were placed under the names of streets in Prague's Modřany district, honoring Bulgarian personalities and places.

"Our association "Bulgarian Orthodox Community", of which I am the chairperson, unites Bulgarians who have actually been here for many years. They all had a dream about the neighbourhood, where several streets are named after Bulgarian enlighteners and places connected in some way with the Czech intelligentsia who came to Bulgaria after the Liberation to help rebuild the new Bulgarian state. We decided to put up information signs on these streets to explain not only to the younger generation, but to people in general, where these names come from and why they are named after Bulgarians and Bulgarian towns," engineer Silvia Krasteva told Radio Bulgaria.

Of course, we should not forget the great role of the so-called Bulgarian gardeners in modern Czech history, who founded a whole community of Bulgarian Czechs, to which Silvia Krasteva belongs. There is more to that. It turns out that in the 1970s a Bulgarian brigade of builders was employed in the construction of the Modřany district. In their honour, the then Prague Municipal Council issued a decree naming several streets after Bulgarian enlighteners and the cities in Bulgaria where the Czech community was strongest at the time - Shumen, Pleven, Sofia and Plovdiv.

"We started with four plaques, which are the first steps. They are for Sofia Square, Hristo Botev Square, Vasil Levski Square and Ivan Vazov Square. We officially unveiled these plaques with the Bulgarian ambassador to the Czech Republic, H.E. Dancho Michev. This is only one part of the project. The other part involves children of Bulgarian origin who live here - some of them were born here and go to local schools. The children have made interactive folders, we call them lapbooks, with information about each of the Bulgarian Awakeners or cities that gave names to streets and squares in Prague. The boards are very beautiful, made with a lot of love. I am proud that we can present nine of them at the exhibition "National Enlighteners".

And the little Bulgarians who took part in the making of these panels received special prizes at the opening of the exhibition, provided by the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad.

The chairperson of the Bulgarian Orthodox Community in the Czech Republic, Sylvia Krasteva, says that every year Bulgarians get together and celebrate Christmas and New Year together. Unfortunately, since 2022 the Association has no premises, so a new tradition was born - visiting Bulgarian associations in other European countries.

This year the Association will also participate in the Christmas and New Year's market in the Prague 12 district of the Czech capital. On 7 December, our compatriots are organising a workshop for children, where they will learn how to make a survachka - a decorated dogwood branch used by children visiting homes in the first hours of the New Year. And in 2025, Silvia Krasteva hopes that the number of information signs about "Bulgarian streets" in Prague will increase.