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suzanka — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 03:24:01 CDT

Hello and welcome to my website!
Here you'll find information about my town - Vidin, something about Bulgaria and lots of pictures.

If you know somebody who may be interested in Bulgaria or just wants to expolore the Internet, please reffer him here.

You may register for free and add comments about the site.

Links

suzanka — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:06:44 CDT

www.bulgaria.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria

Bulgaria - my country

suzanka — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:00:15 CDT

History
National symbols
Bulgaria is a country in Southeast Europe, situated in the heart of the Balkan Peninsula. Click here to see Bulgarian maps The key location has determined the history of its inhabitants since ancient times.

Some facts about Bulgaria:

Boundaries: To the north Bulgaria is Romania, to the east is the Black sea, Turkey and Greece are to the South and finally, to the west, are Maccedonia and Serbia and Montenegro.
Capital city: Sofia
Largest town: Our capital, Sofia, is the largest, second is Plovdiv, third is Varna, then Bourgas and fifth is Ruse.
Area: 110 550 sq km
Population: 7,385,367 (2006)
Official language: Bulgarian (Slavic group)
Official religion: Orthodox
Official currency: Lev
Flag: colours from up to down: white, green and red. Here it is

Facts about geography:

Highest point: mount Musala in the Rila mountain - 2925m. It's also the highest point of the Balkan Peninsula.
Average altitude: 470 m
Lanscape: Despite its size, Bulgaria's landscape is unique and diverse - mountains, plains, plateaus, hills, vallyes, etc. In the mountain areas there are lots of springs which then form lakes or rivers with waterfalls and gorges.

Largest mountains: the Balkan mountains, Rila, Pirin, the Rhodopes and Vitosha. The highest peaks of each mountain is respectively: Botev - 2376m, Musala - 2925m, Vihren - 2914, Golyam perelik - 2191 and Cherni Vrah - 2290m. The Balkan Mountains cross Bulgaria from west to east. Rila and Pirin are in southwest Bulgaria and west to them are the Rhodopes. Vitosha is located near Sofia. In the mountains there is a large number of reserves and national parks for endagered plant and animal species.
Largest plains: Danubian and Thracian. The former, named after Europe's second largest river which is Bulgaria's northern border, is the largest. Its eastern parts are hilly and to the south, the height gradually grows and we get to the Balkan Mountain. The Thracian plain is located southern to the Balkan mountains (and the Sredna gora mountain) and northern to the Rhodopes. There are many rivers in these two plains, Maritsa (in the Thracian plain) and Ogosta, Iskar (Bulgaria's longest river), Vit, Osam, Yatra, etc. (in the Danubian). They make the plains very fertile and suitable for farming and agriculture.
Largest Plateau: Dobruja. It is situated in the northeast part of Bulgaria and is considered as the most fertile area for grain. It has hilly relief and is a continuation of the Danubian plain.

Climate: Bulgaria's climate is as different as the landscape is. The reason for this are the differences in altitude: mountains stop many of the air masses while the plains passes them easily. The northern parts, up to the Balkan mountain is predominantly continental, Southern of the Rhodopes, it is mediteranean and in between, the Thracian plain, the climate is of mixed character. There are also Mountain zones and a zone around the Black sea.

Photos from other places in Bulgaria

suzanka — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 10:28:05 CDT

Montana
Izvor monastery
Sofia
Blagoevgrad
Ruse
Belogradchik
Rila monastery
Bansko

Photo Gallery

suzanka — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 04:49:38 CDT

Here there are my photos from Vidin
The flood in April 2006
!NEW! photos from Vidin!

The Flood

suzanka — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 04:34:51 CDT

In April 2006 the water level in the Danube river was higher than normal and there was a risk of flood. Many people were afraid of that and went out of the town. Others like me, stayed here and watched each day what's going on. In fact, I wasn't afraid at all. That's because I live in the highest place in Vidin. I think people were afraid because the television showed it in a frightening way. Many friends and relatives of mine who live outside Vidin asked me how we managed to overcome the disaster and I merely answered that I go to the park every evening and take photos. They were really confused. We even didn't go to school for a week or two!

Here are the photos:
The Flood in April 2006
4 April - the beginning
11 April - more water
13 April - even more water
14 April - still more water
20 April - the maximum - 979cm
15 June - the water starts returning to its place

Folklore

suzanka — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:18:53 CDT

Folk regions. Here in Bulgaria, we have many folklore regions. Some of them are Northern, Dobrudjan, Shopian, Thracian, Rhodopian, Pirin. The Northern region includes Northwestern and Central Bulgaria. Dobrudjan region includes Northeastern Bulgaria, in Central Western Bulgaria is situated the Shopian region, in Southwestern parts of Bulgaria - the Pirin region, in Central and Eastern parts of Southern Bulgaria - the Rhodopian region and the rest is the Thracian region. There is different music, dances, costumes, customs, etc.

Folk costumes. You can see pictures of Bulgarian folk costumes in the first, the seventh, or the eighth link.

Musical instruments. There are some Balkan and some typically Bulgarian musical instruments. They are: kaval, backpipe, gadulka, tambura, tapan and accordion. For more information and pictures go to the second link.

Dances. Our folk dances are called horo (in plural - hora). If you want to hear some hora go to the third link.

Songs. To hear some folk song go to link 4.

Carpets. In some towns people keep the old tradition of making carpets. You can see some in the ninth link.

Nestinarstvo - Dancing on fire is an ancient pagan tradition on the Balkan Peninsula. People dance bare-footed on firing embers in circles, holding icons.

Traditions

suzanka — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:15:51 CDT

Easter. The Thirsday or the Saturday before Easter we paint boiled eggs in various colours. The first egg is always painted pure red and it is kept in front of a icon. On Easter Day children exchange them and hit eggs one in another. The egg that doesn't break in the end is the strongest, so his owner will be healthy the whole year.

Christmas. In December we decorate our homes and put a Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve there must be 7, 9 or 11 vegetarian dishes. A mandatory one is the flat cake. It must have a coin in it. Also there are some smaller ones, called kolacheta. Some possible dishes on Christmas Eve are Sarmi, Salads, Baked beans, Peppers, Pickles, fruit, vegetables and nuts. On Christmas Day we prepare meat dishes - the usual one is pork. The night after Christmas Day we exchange presents and wish good luck to our relatives and friends. An old tradition which can't be seen today is the visit of the Koledari. These are young boys who sing Christmas songs and wish luck, health and long life. People give them rings made of baked dough.

Lazarovden. On Lazarovden young girls used to sing songs to people and they give them back eggs which they're going to paint the week before Easter.

Baba Marta. On Baba Marta's Day we exchange Martenitzas. They are made of twisted red and white lines. We wear them until we see a stork.

Sirni Zagovezni. It's a celebration in early spring but it's not on the same date each year. It depends on which date Easter is. Young people ask elder ones to forgive them. In some parts of Bulgaria old people make wooden arrows, fire big flames, jump over them, then fire the arrows and throw them high in the air. This is believed to bring health.

Ignazhden. This holiday is on 20 December. If the first visitor is a good person, the next year will be good and the family will be healthy.

New year's day. Some people celebrate at home and others go outside and make small bombs. Though many are injured, every year the number of the bomb throwers increase.

Trifon Zarezan. It's on 14th of February. Adults celebrate by trimming the vines. Later in the day, they drink wine. Young people celebrate St Valentine's day.

Gergjovden (St George's day). It's on 6th May. We eat lamb dishes. It's also the day of the Bulgarian army.

Nikulden (St Nikola's day). It's on 6th December. We eat fish dishes to honour St Nikola. He was a fisherman and he saved his friends when they were out in the sea in a boat that had cracked, byputting a big fish over the hole.

Kukeri. Kukeri are men who wear strange costumes made of animals' fur, big bells and other materials. Each kuker makes his own costume frightening and unique. They walk around the villages and sing to scare away bad spirits.

St Kiril and Metodii's day. It's on 24th May. It's the day of Bulgarian literature, alphabet, culture and schools. Kiril and Metodii created the Slavic alphabet.

Celebrations

suzanka — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:13:46 CDT

Here in Bulgaria, we have many celebrations:
Official celebrations:
1 January - New Year's Day
3 March - The Freedom Day
April or May - Easter
1 May - The Worker's Day
6 May - St George's Day
24 May - Bulgarian literature's Day
6 September - Reunion Day
22 September - Indipendence Day
1 November - The day of the leaders of Bulgarian
24 December - Christmas Eve
25 and 26 December - Christmas Day
Name days:

01 January ? Vasil
06 January - Jordan
07 January ? Ivan, Joan
17 January ? Anton
18 January - Atanas
14 February - Valentin, Trifon
01 March - Marta, Martina
06 May - Georgi, Gergana
11 May - Kiril, Metodii
21 May - Konstantin, Elena
29 June - Peter, Pavel
15 August - Maria, Margarita
08 September - Maria, Margarita
17 September - Sofia, Viara, Nadejda, Lubov
14 October - Petka, Petko
26 October - Dimitar, Dimitrina
08 November - Mihail, Angel
24 November - Ekaterina, Katerina
30 November - Andrei
06 December - Nikola
09 December - Anna
25 December - Hristo, Hristina
27 December - Stefan, Stefka

Teodor, Teodora and other people who have names of flowers have a name day in March or April. That's because Easter is on different day.

Cuisine

suzanka — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:12:21 CDT

There are some special dishes, typical for the Balkan peninsula and Bulgaria particularly:
The salads first: The Shopska salata is made of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and cheese. The Snezhanka is made of yoghurt or cream, cucumbers and walnuts. Its name means Snow White. The Kjopolu is a kind of ljutenitza (a puree) made of aubergines, peppers, tomatoes, walnuts and garlic.
We have different kinds of soups. The first one is Tarator. It is a cold soup made of cucumbers and yoghurt. Next are the Vegetable soups. As the name says they are made of vegetables, usually potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and onions. The Monastery bean soup is a vegetable soup made of beans but it has its own name. And finally come the meat soups ? Lamb soup, Veal soup, Chicken soup, Fish soup. But all the meat soup have vegetables.
Now the vegetarian dishes - Baked eggs with spring onions, Stuffed peppers with egg and cheese, which are fried, Marrows stuffed with cheese (baked), and Vegetable hotch-potch. The hotch-potch is made of fried peppers, cheese and eggs.
Some of the meat dishes are: Lamb drop sarma, Vinen kebap, Chicken stew, Kavarma, Sarmi and Kebapcheta. The lamb drop sarma is made of lamb liver, which is baked in an oven. The Vinen kebap is made of pork or veal with wine sauce. The kavarma is similar to the Vinen kebap. The sarmi are cabbage or vine leaves or peppers, stuffed with rice and minced meat. There are two varieties ? boiled and baked.
Some desserts or breakfasts are Fried bread slices, Mekitsas and Banitsa. The Mekitsas are fried pieces of dough. The banitsa is a dessert made of dough sheets, between which there is a mixture of cheese and eggs. The banitsa is baked.
Here there are some pictures of traditional dishes:

History of Vidin

suzanka — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:11:01 CDT

Vidin's history

Vidin is one of the oldest towns along the Bulgarian Danube bank. It's history is rich. There are many monuments, architectural fragments, sculptures, pottery, works of bronzewhich even today show the prosperity of theancient Ratziaria (Archar) and Bononia(Vidin)during the Roman rule. Vidin has appeared as the Roman fortress of Bononia on thefoundations of a Thracian settlement. During the First Bulgarian Kingdom it is known as Budin(Bdin). It has been a bishop's centre.During the Second Bulgarian Kingdom it has been a strong fortress and after 1371 a capital of the Vidin Kingdom under Tsar Ivan Sratsimir. During the XIII - XIV centuries Bdin was not only a political but an important agricultural centre with highly developed handcrafts and arts, a large producer of grain, and also with well-developed literature. The region has beenan important trade, transport and war centre for more than two millenia. There are unique natural and historical sights, ecologically clean regions, mineral springs and opportunities for fishing in the Vidin District. The tourism is well developed. Up to now the following sites have been preserved: Baba Vida fortress, built in the 9th-10th centuries on the ruins of a Roman fortress (rebuilt many times, its present appearance dating back to the 18th C.),the Turkish konak (the second half of the 18th C.), the mosque and library of Osman Pazvantoglu, the cruciform barracks of 1798, old Renaissance buildings, and a synagogue.

History

suzanka — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:10:48 CDT

History of Vidin