10 interesting facts about Bulgaria – a warm and friendly country

When deciding which country to go on vacation, we often do not even suspect how many interesting facts about the life, history and traditions of local residents exist in a particular country.

Unfortunately, not many people know that Bulgaria is the birthplace of the most famous gladiator Spartacus and the father of Alexander the Great, and Orpheus sang with a divine voice several thousand years ago in the Rhodope Mountains.

This country has a lot of unique historical and cultural monuments and a variety of religious architectural sites and other interesting sights. Some of them are under the protection of UNESCO.

It is hardly possible for you to see all the interesting places and visit all the popular tourist routes in one trip, but you can learn something unusual about this amazing country by reading our material. We present you 10 interesting facts about Bulgaria.

10 Reverse head shake

Bulgaria is one of the few countries in the world where sideways nodding means yes and downward nodding means no.. This, of course, can be a little confusing when you try to communicate by gesture with locals who do not speak English, but, fortunately, most of them understand that such a custom will be a novelty for all tourists.

One of the theories as to why such gestures are used in Bulgaria seems to be quite true. During the Ottoman expansion, the Bulgarians deliberately interchanged the gestures of consent and denial in order to mislead the Turks, when they, torturing the locals and demanding to accept their religion, put a knife to their throat and said: “Do you renounce the Orthodox faith?»

Since denial would definitely lead to death from a dagger, the Bulgarians decided to go for a little trick and reversed the gestures: an affirmative gesture with the head left and right, a negative gesture up and down.

9. The best yogurt in the world and Shopska salad

They say that the best and highest quality yogurt appeared in Bulgaria.. It seems that he is the source of the longevity of the Bulgarians. What is it connected with? One of the reasons must be the content of bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus in it, which live only in the Bulgarian air.

And the famous shopska salad is considered the national dish of the country. This culinary recipe is very simple to prepare: it consists of chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onion, raw or roasted peppers.

The finished dish is sprinkled with grated cheese. Most often, Bulgarians use vinegar with vegetable oil as a dressing for Shopska salad. The salad can be garnished with fresh parsley.

Shopsky gained wide popularity in the era of socialism, when he was advertised by the national tour agency Balkanturist. By the way, this year the Bulgarian Shopska salad outperformed all competitors and earned the title of the most favorite dish in Europe.

8. The rose is the symbol of the country

Roses are one of the main export products in Bulgaria. It is from them that approximately 85% of the world’s rose oil is produced, which is an important component of perfumery.

If you want to see the wonderful rose crops in Bulgaria, come here in May or June. If you want to take home a very “Bulgarian” souvenir, make sure you buy rose oil, which can be found on sale almost everywhere in Bulgaria.

Interesting fact: every year in the city of Kazanlak the Festival of Roses is held, in which a girl is elected to the title of “Queen of Roses”. Festivals include street processions, folklore concerts, art shows, wine tastings, exhibitions and more.

7. Motherland of the Cyrillic alphabet

If it seems to you that the Cyrillic alphabet was born in Russia, then you are mistaken. Previously it appeared in Bulgaria, and thanks to the missionaries – brothers Cyril and Methodius – who came to these lands to teach local pagans, it began to spread to all Slavic lands. The Day of Two Brothers is the most celebrated Orthodox holiday in Bulgaria.

6. The first gold treasure in the world

We associate gold mainly with other parts of the world, but it is on the territory of present-day Bulgaria – to the west of Varna, not far from the Black Sea – they discovered the oldest treasure, which was a collection of gold jewelry. It was found in a large cemetery containing 300 graves dated from 4560-4450 AD. e.

5. Rakia is the national drink of the Bulgarians

Most of us have probably heard of him at least once. Anyone who hasn’t tried rakia yet should definitely catch up while in Bulgaria.

You can enjoy this drink, with 40% alcohol, not only in Bulgaria – strong fruit moonshine is also popular in the Balkans, it is produced in Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Turkey. The technology is used alone, the names are also the same, however, experts can easily distinguish Bulgarian-made brandy from a foreign counterpart.

Rakia is made from fruits, water and sugar using a distillation method. The taste and smell of the finished drink directly depend on the raw materials used in the manufacture.

Grozdova brandy is the most common in Bulgaria.where grapes are used as the main component. Since homemade wine has a short shelf life, it is often distilled to produce brandy that can be stored for years (although in Bulgaria you rarely meet a local resident who has kept this drink for such a long time).

4. Baba Marta

In the Bulgarian cultural tradition, it is customary to celebrate the arrival of spring very solemnly and cheerfully, therefore, on March 1, all local residents give each other original souvenirs called “martenitsa”. Presenting such a gift, the Bulgarian should say: “Chestita Baba Marta!” (Happy Baba Martha!).

Unusual products – “martenitsa”, are made from red and white twisted woolen threads. According to legend, these dolls can appease Baba Marta, who in local folklore acts as a mischievous old woman, whose mood changes very sharply, which is reflected in the changeable weather of the first month of spring.. If Baba Marta rejoices, then warm and sunny days come, and if she is angry, then a cold wind begins to blow.

In martenits, red means health and fertility, and white means strength, purity and joy. According to tradition, “martenitsa” should be tied to the arm, belt or outerwear and not removed for 3, 9 or 25 days, and in order for everything to turn out well next year, Bulgarians hang “martenitsa” on flowering fruit trees.

3. Bulgarian bagpipes

Bulgarians are proud of their instrument called Kaba Gaida. This folk musical instrument consists of animal skin (sheep or goat). Gaida (not Kaba Gaida, which is typical for Bulgarians) can also be heard in Albania, Macedonia, Turkey or Greece.

2. One of the largest wine producing countries

There is strong evidence that wine was produced on the territory of present-day Bulgaria as early as… the Stone Age. And even if this is not true, the absolute fact remains that Bulgaria – despite some downtime since the fall of communism – is one of the leading producers of quality wine in the world.

1. Record holder for the number of artifacts found

The history of Bulgaria goes back thousands of years. The rulers of this country in different eras were communists, Turks and even Romans. However it is the ancient Roman influence on Bulgaria that can still be found in many cities of the country.

For example, there are Roman baths in Varna, ruins in Sofia, and in the center of Plovdiv there is a Roman theater almost untouched by time, which is still used today for performances and concerts.

Bulgaria is in third place in the list of countries where the most valuable archaeological sites are located (more are found only in Greece and Italy).

Also on the territory of modern Bulgaria, more than 15 Thracian tombs were discovered at one time. By the way, Bulgaria has 000 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, was created 7000 years ago. Thus, it is the second oldest city in Europe. The city has a motto, which, translated into Russian, sounds: „Growing but not getting old.

The golden treasure discovered in the necropolis of Varna is the oldest treasure in the world. Its origin dates back to 5000 BC. e.