Bulgaria travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Directly beyond the Natural History Museum, with its five golden onion domes, sits the small and beautiful ornate Russian Church. Built from 1912-1914, to appease a Russian diplomat afraid to worship in Bulgarian churches, the church is named after St. Nikolai “The miracle maker”. To this day wishes are written on slips of paper and placed in the wooden box by the white marble sarcophagus of Bishop Serafim (1881-1950), who is buried in the crypt. Although never canonised, he is revered by many Bulgarians as a saint. The gold domes were recently re-gilded with gold leaf donated by the Patriachate of Moscow, making the Russian church one of Sofia‘s most attractive photo motives.

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The oldest museum in Bulgaria, the museum of the archaeological institute has been in its present location the “Byuyuk (Big) Mosque” since 1899. the mosque itself dates back to the end of 15th century. It recently underwent major restoration, reopening in 2000 and is without a doubt one of the most charming and interesting museums in Sofia. The museum has five exhibition halls: Central Hall, Prehistory, Middle Ages, Treasures (or vault), and one dedicated to temporary exhibitions.

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St. Sofia is the oldest Eastern Orthodox Church in Sofia and after major restoration and renovation works, reopened to the public less than ten years ago, it once again plays as important role in the day-to-day rituals of Sofianites. Sveta Sofia is in fact the church that gave its name to the present day capital back in the 15th century.

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27 October
Sofia Live Club, 20.00 hrs
World Fusion Music: Prem Joshua transports the listener across the borders of East and West. This is the band’s review of a recent gig in Sofia: “One of the recent highlights was our concert in Sofia, Bulgaria, where we had a phenomenal performance to a packed hall at the huge ex-communist building, the “Palace of Cultures”. For our final tracks we invited some local Bulgarian musicans to share the stage with as, playing their traditional instruments, like the Bulgarian bagpipe (called Gaida), the Bulgarian wooden flute (called Kaval) and the traditional drum (called Tapan). Our concert came to a crescendo in this spontaneous session mixing instruments from India, the Balkan and the West – such magic and an absolutely unique space!”

Olive Garden
18 Angel Kanchev St.
The consensus in the expat community is that the Olive Graden is a welcome new addition to Sofia’s better eateries; good food, friendly service and reasonable prices. We agree. The menu is orientated towards pasta and Italian but it also features specialties from around the world, and particularly attractive is the extensive lunch time menu. The adjacent garden should still be enjoyable on warmer autumn days.
www.olivegarden.com

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1st – 10th October – Indian Film Festival
Nine contemporary Indian movies will be presented to Bulgarian audience at this festival, every evening at 19.00hrs, with additional projection on the weekends at 16.00hrs. Where: Cineplex, City Center Sofia. Program details: www.bulgarianamaste.com

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The monastery (now a convent) is situated on a sheer cliff in the slopes of the Balkan Mountains along the upper course of the Yantra River not far from Etura. It was founded between 1832-1833 by Archimandrite Yosif Sokoloski. The convent’s church “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary” was built in 1834. The convent is renowned for the unique 8-spouted fountain by Nikola Fichev. The Sokolski Convent is a national monument of culture. It is located 9 km to the south of Gabrovo and 55 km from Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria.

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The monastery is located in the central part of the Balkan Mountains. It was built under Tsar Ivan Asen II (1218-1241) and destroyed at the time of Bulgaria’s fall under Ottoman Empire. The monastery was rebuilt in 1450 and in 1845 when the monastery church was erected. During the National Revival period the monastery was a major enlightenment and learning center whose library kept numerous old manuscripts and early printed books. Plakovski Monastery is a national monument of culture. It is located 18 km to the south of Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria.

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The monastery was founded in 1350 by Theodosius of Turnovo with the support of Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331-1371). A busy learning center, it gave birth to the Kilifarevski School of Literature. Here studied the future Bulgarian patriarch Euthymius of Turnovo. In 1393 the monastery was destroyed by Ottoman invaders. It was rebuilt in the valley below the site of the old buildings. A small monastery church with two chapels were built. In 18th-19th century the monastery was once again plundered and devastated. Today’s monastery compound was built between 1840-1849 by master-builder Nikola Fichev. It is located to the south of Kilifarevo and 17 km from Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria.

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The tomb is a unique monument of Thracian and Hellenistic art of the first half of the 3rd century B.C.  It was discovered in 1982 during arcaelogical excavations of a Thracian tumulus near the village of Sveshtari. The tomb comprises a corridor and three chambers of an almost square shape, covered by a semi-spherical vault. The tomb at Sveshtari is a brilliant evidence of the Thracian’s contribution to the world cultural heritage. It is located 10 km to the northwest of the town of Isperih and 140 km from Sofia, Bulgaria. It became a UNESCO monument in 1986.

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