Bulgaria
marked on 25 August 2007 the 130th anniversary of the memorable battle at the Shipka
mount, one of the decisive ones in the Russo-Turkish war, which lead to the
liberation of the country from 500-year Ottoman yoke.
Hundreds of Bulgarians climbed the numerous steps to the Shipka monument to pay
their respect for the people who died in the battle.
"Shipka is not just a mount in our national history, but it has its European
dimensions. Shipka is a mount with which Bulgaria measures its national
dignity," President Georgi Parvanov said in his speech at the opening of the
festivities.
Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, Parliamentary Speaker Georgi Pirinski, the
ambassadors of Russia and Belarus, representatives of the diplomatic corpus,
members of the parliament and representatives of the local authorities attended
the event.
The leader of the nationalist party Ataka Volen Siderov
also appeared at the monument, but refused to join the official parliamentary
delegation.
The fierce battle that took place at the mount of Shipka took the lives of
hundreds and, as the poem goes, the desperate Bulgarians, were besieged at the
peak for three whole days as the Turks were closing in on them.
The battle was preceded by several others in the area, all of them lead by
Suleiman Pasha, who before the Shipka mount battle decided to attack directly
instead of making an outflanking movement and use a less guarded route.
The
Turks tried for three days to take the peak. The decisive stage of the battle
started on the third day, August 23. Around 5 pm the Bulgarians were
already out of
bullets and shells. The Bulgarians were already exhausted; the whole area was
covered with the bodies of the killed soldiers and the situation looked
hopeless, when finally the Russian General Radetski arrived at the place with
his 53rd Volin infantry regiment.
This last-minute reinforcement helped the defenders to push back Suleiman Pasha,
thus cutting his way to the armies of Osman Pasha and Mehmed Ali Pasha. This way
the advance of the Turks towards northern Bulgaria was blocked.
To mark the heroic battle of Russians and Bulgarians together, people donated
money for building the 31.5-meter-high monument. It was designed by architect
Atanas Donkov and sculptor Alexander Andreev. Its official unveiling in 1934
gathered thousands.
A bronze lion keeps guard of the entrance to the monument along with a statue of
a woman who symbolizes the victory over the Ottoman troops.
Cyril en Methodeus
Bulgarian Culture Hymn Sounds in 21 EU Languages
The culture hymn dedicated to the deed of Bulgarian enlighteners Saints Cyril and Methodius has been translated into 21 EU languages, including Romanian, and published for circulation in all Member countries of the Union.
The
multi-language edition of the hymn will be officially represented at the Sofia University where EU Commissioner Jan Figel, in charge of education,
culture and multilingua of the Union, will be present upon the invitation of
Bulgarian Euro-Affairs Minister Meglena Kuneva.
"I dreamed that while Bulgaria signs its EU accession treaty, the other nations
of the Member states be also able to feel the spirit of Bulgarian letters,"
Minister Kuneva wrote in the foreword to the edition.
Bulgaria uses Cyrillic letters and once a member of the EU, its language - which
has a history of nearly thousand years - will be recognised as one of the
official languages of the community.
The authentic text of the highly worshipped hymn was created by Bulgarian poet
Stoyan Mikhaylovski and published for the first time in 1892. Nine years later
prominent composer of Bulgaria came across the poem "March ahead, o revived
people!" in a textbook of one of his students and was inspired to write down its
music. It was May 9, 1901.
The
preferred drink of many a Bulgarian will be honored in a two-day-long
celebration in the picturesque old mountain town of Troyan in Central Bulgaria.
The Feast of the Plum and the Troyan Plum Rakiya, starting Friday, September 23,
2007 and will be held for the thirteenth time, organizers announced at a press
conference.
Japanese people may celebrate the Cherry Blossom for months but length is
nothing compared to the intensity of festivities that the famous Bulgarian
Rakiya liquor will inspire in Troyan and the nearby Oreshak village, home of the
National Arts and Crafts Exhibition.
The spirit of the upcoming feast can easily be guessed by the titles that were
chosen for the two days, first one will be "Irrigative" and the second -
"Sobering". It can't be otherwise, provided that the subject of celebration is
the first Rakiya obtained during this year's process of distillation.
Among the colorful surprises are many folk choirs, dances, Rakiya stilling,
marmalade boiling, and most importantly - a lot of raising glasses. On the more
intellectual side, the guests will receive the first issue of the newspaper
"13th First Distilled", and witness the introduction of the newly published book
"The Blue Plum" by Totyo Totevski.
And as the press conference turned into preliminary testing reporters proved
that Rakiya lovers and even amateurs are bound to have a good time at the real
thing.
Bulgarian archaeologists have continued their amazing streak at the
ancient sanctuary of Perperikon, unearthing a temple five times larger
than Athens' Acropolis.
A bronze cross containing relics of the Holly Cross was also discovered
at the site close to the southern city of Kurdzhali, and is the first
preserved woodchip from Jesus' cross found in Bulgaria.
The Acropolis-rivalling temple dates back to the Bronze Age and is the
biggest on the Balkans. The whole complex is spread over 7.5 square
kilometres and covers the whole Perperikon peak. People came to pray at
that spot for a period of over 2,000 years, archaeologists believe.
The complex is checkered with metallurgy workshops and the team
discovered many awls, and axe moulds. The discovery represents a success
for the archaeologists because it is the first complex of its kind ever
found on the Balkan Peninsula. The only site that resembles it has been
uncovered at the Island of Crete.
Finders of the bronze cross were thrilled as well, as it dates back to
the IX or X century A.D. Its sacred contents were very well preserved,
because it was hermetically sealed. The cross, bearing Jesus' image on
the front and the Holly Mother's on the back, had to spend over a month
in a special solution before scientists could pry it open.
The ceramics found near a tower at the newly unearthed sanctuary are
similar to the pottery from ancient Troy. This evidence brings new
support for the hypothesis that the Troy Homer had described was founded
by the Thrace.
