A Motley Culinary Festival to Visit

This culinary festival travels around the country in an effort to collect authentic recipes and to acquaint visitors with the diversity and wealth of Bulgarian cuisine. Chef contests and culinary demonstrations are held. Where: In Bulgaria When: It is most frequently held during the official holidays of the individual towns. For more information visit: https://culinaryfestival-bg.com Festival of […]

Madara Rider

The Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east Bulgaria. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Bulgarian Empire before Bulgaria’s conversion to Christianity in the 9th century. The inscriptions beside the sculpture tell of events […]

Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak

Discovered in 1944, this tomb dates from the Hellenistic period, around the end of the 4th century BC. It is located near Seutopolis, the capital city of the Thracian king Seutes III, and is part of a large Thracian necropolis. The tholos has a narrow corridor and a round burial chamber, both decorated with murals […]

Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari

Discovered in 1982 near the village of Sveshtari, this 3rd-century BC Thracian tomb reflects the fundamental structural principles of Thracian cult buildings. The tomb has a unique architectural decor, with polychrome half-human, half-plant caryatids and painted murals. The 10 female figures carved in high relief on the walls of the central chamber and the decoration […]

Srebarna Nature Reserve

The Srebarna Nature Reserve is a freshwater lake adjacent to the Danube and extending over 600 ha. It is the breeding ground of almost 100 species of birds, many of which are rare or endangered. Some 80 other bird species migrate and seek refuge there every winter. Among the most interesting bird species are the […]

Stone Wedding

The Stone Wedding is a fascinating  and unusual group of rock formations. This natural phenomenon is located 5 km from the town of Kardzhali, near the village of Zimzelen. The rock shapes, which resemble people and animals have been formed as a result of erosive processes. The metal oxides have colored the stones in various […]

Stone Mushrooms

The Stone Mushrooms are rock phenomenon near the village of Beli Plast, 19 km from Kardzhali. ‘The mushrooms’ are about 2,5 meters tall, their stumps are colored in pink as a result of a specific mineral found in the area. A different mineral paints the caps in green. The rocks have been shaped in this […]

Standing Stones

One of the most interesting rock phenomena in Bulgaria is the Standing Stones (Pobiti Kamani) – located about 20 km from the city of Varna. The rocks resemble pillars with different height, as some of them are 5 meters tall. Most pillars are cone shaped and are hollow from the inside. Some of the stones […]

Chudnite Skali

Chudnite Skali (Wonderful Rocks) is a beautiful natural landmark located at the shore of Tsonevo damp, 2 km from the village of Asparuhovo and 90 km from the city of Varna. This natural phenomenon is a composition of 10 white rocks with beautiful shapes. They have been formed by the friction of water and wind […]

Elephant

The rock phenomenon the Elephant is located 4 km from Devin and it resembles a large elephant with a long trunk. Its figure is abstract – you have to look closely in order to recognize it. If you ask the local people, they will guide you to the place, which is on the road to […]

Belogradchik Rocks

The Belogradchik Rocks are possibly the most famous Bulgarian natural phenomenon. They are located in the Belogradchik region, 175 km from the capital and 66 km from Montana. The area of rocks is 30 km long and around 3 km wide. For millions of years the climate has shaped and changed the stone figures of […]

Lion’s Head

The lion’s head is an interesting rock phenomenon whose silhouette resembles a lion’s head. It is situated between the towns of Primorsko and Sozopol, near the Ropotamo River. You can notice the beautiful stone at one of the highest points of the Ropotamo conservation park. According to some legends, the Lion’s Head is the keeper […]

Rila Monastery

Rila Monastery was founded in the 10th century by St John of Rila, a hermit canonized by the Orthodox Church. His ascetic dwelling and tomb became a holy site and were transformed into a monastic complex which played an important role in the spiritual and social life of medieval Bulgaria. Destroyed by fire at the […]

Rozhen Monastery

The Rozhen monastery “Nativity of Virgin Mary” is located 5 kilometers east of Melnik. It is the largest Orthodox monastery in the Pirin region. There is no accurate information about the time when it was founded, but it is known that it had suffered a devastating fire in the 17th century. A century after the […]

Bachkovo Monastery

The Bachkovo monastery “The Assumption of Mary” is located on the south end of the Rhodope village of Bachkovo, 10 kilometers south of Asenovgrad. The monastery was founded in 1083 by the Georgian Grigoriy Bakuriani and was a Georgian monastery for a long time. It is believed that after the falling of Bulgaria under Ottoman […]

Chirpan Monastery “At. Athanasius“

The monastery St. Athanasius is situated near the village of Zlatna Livada, Chirpan region. It is believed that it is the oldest monastery in Europe and it was founded by St. Archbishop Athanasius of Alexandria himself in 344 AD. During its centurial history, the temple St. Athanasius was constructed and destroyed several times. In the […]

Patriarchal Monastery “St. Trinity“

The Patriarchal Monastery “Holy Trinity” is located 6 kilometers north of Veliko Tarnovo. It is believed that the monastery was founded in the 14th century, but there are theories according to which it was initially founded in the 11th century. The church of the monastery was built in 1847 by Kolyu Ficheto – one of the […]

Basarbovski Monastery

The rock Monastery “St. Dimitar Basarbovski” is located in the valley of Rusenski Lom river, near the village of Basarbovo at a distance of 10 kilometers from Ruse. It is the only operating rock monastery in Bulgaria. The monastery was founded during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (1185 – 1393), but the exact year is not […]

Dragalevski Monastery

The Dragalevski monastery “St. Mary of Vitosha” is located in the Vitosha mountain, over the Sofia district of Dragalevtsi. It was founded by Tsar Ivan Alexander (reigned 1331-1371) about 1341 year and survived the conquest by the Ottomans in 1382. The Dragalevski Monastery is a part of the monastery complex Sofiyska Sveta Gora (Sofia Holy […]

Osenovlashki Monastery

Another monastery of the Sofiyska Sveta Gora is the Osenovlashki monastery. Its Christian name is “Virgin Mary”, but it is known among the pilgrims as the monastery of the Seven Altars. It is located in the Balkan Mountain, 15 kilometers from the railway station Eliseyna. According to the legend, the monastery was founded in the […]