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BULGARIA'S ROMANTIC VILLAGES

Off-the-beaten-track destinations combine nature, tradition, folk culture

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HARMAN KAYA THRACIAN SANCTUARY

Spectacular shrine, ancient observatory near Bivolyane, in Rhodope

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WHO WAS STEFAN STAMBOLOV?

Controversial politician of late 19th century still divides Bulgarians

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Vagabond Magazine

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HARMAN KAYA THRACIAN SANCTUARY
Spectacular shrine, ancient observatory near Bivolyane, in Rhodope

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MAKING THE ROUNDS IN SOFIA AND BEYOND
The grandest dream of the Bulgarian Government: One fine morning the people disappear and only the state budget remains.

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BULGARIA'S ROMANTIC VILLAGES
Off-the-beaten-track destinations combine nature, tradition, folk culture

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PASS OF FREEDOM
For Bulgarians, Shipka Pass epitomises national liberation struggle

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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
You drive through nondescript villages populated mainly by ethnic Turks, past animal farms that stink of dung and mosques whose minarets stick up into the sky, until a turn of the road takes you directly opposite a site that suggests North America rather than the Balkans.

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WHO WAS STEFAN STAMBOLOV?
Controversial politician of late 19th century still divides Bulgarians

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BULGARIA'S MONTHLY QUIZ
Think you know Bulgaria and the Bulgarians? Take our test to doublecheck

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LOST CITY OF ANI
Ruins of mediaeval Armenian capital feel like edge of the world

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BURGAS: GEMS OF MARITIME GARDEN INSPIRE MODERN FICTION
Whether you are attracted by the few remaining pristine beaches along the southern Black Sea coast, the quaint if overcommercialised streets of the old towns of Nesebar and Sozopol, or the endless parties at the popular resorts, you are bound to stop in or at least bypass Burgas.

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QUOTE-UNQUOTE
"I haven't been on holiday for 17 years." Prime Minister Boyko Borisov

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I'VE BEEN WRONG BEFORE, AN EXCERPT FROM A MEMOIR
This current issue presents a text by the 2017 creative non-fiction Sozopol Seminars fellow and CapitaLiterature participant Evan James

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SØREN JACOBSEN
Danish ambassador on promoting bicycles, healthy lifestyle in Bulgaria

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LAST DAYS OF BOLATA
Government waives protected status of pristine bay

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WHAT'S IN A (TURKISH) WORD?
Latest bout of name-changing triggers civil society response

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TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DANCE
An excerpt from Shadow Journey: A Guide to Elizabeth Kostova's Bulgaria and Eastern Europe

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BULGARIA'S TOWERS
Lone Medieval fortifications evoke tumultuous times

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BULGARIA'S LESSER WATERFALLS
Away from summer heat

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OF OFFICIAL NEWS, DEATH BEDS AND MAKING RIPPLES
Communist-era political jokes increasingly regain popularity in the Bulgaria under GERB. Here are some recent samples that are making the rounds these days.

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FAR FROM SUMMER CROWDS IN GREECE
Route to Ionian islands offers fascinating byways and detours

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GREEN BLACK SEA
Blooming phytoplankton changes sea colour in June, spawning tall tales and conspiracy theories

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DIMITROVGRAD BEYOND CHALGA
Bulgaria's largest open air bazaar brings life to textbook example of Stalinist architecture

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DECIPHERING BISHOP'S BASILICA OF PHILIPPOPOLIS
Even the most fascinating archaeological site is nothing more than an accumulation of stones if its history and contexts remain unknown. This May, for two days, historians, archaeologists, restorers and experts in other fields shared their findings and ideas about the Bishop's Basilica of Philippopolis at a scientific conference in…

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MONASTERIES OF VELIKO TARNOVO
In the most glorious years of its past, when it was the capital of mediaeval Bulgaria, from 1185-1393, Veliko Tarnovo was a centre of military power and political intrigue, of busy commerce and even busier administrators. It was also the seat of the patriarch, the head of the Bulgarian Church.…

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WHEN A ROSE IS NOT EXACTLY A ROSE
Grim reality of Bulgarian rose pickers at loggerheads with picture postcard images

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WAS JULIA KRISTEVA A COMMUNIST 'AGENT'?
Bulgaria 'unmasks' top French intellectual

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MYSTERY PEAK
Was half-human Egyptian Goddess 'buried' in Strandzha?

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CARS OF COMMUNISM
Still braving Bulgaria's roads

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BULGARIA'S CLOCKTOWERS
Gems of 19th-century workmanship dot large and small towns

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NYMPHS OF KASNAKOVO
Ancient Roman shrine devoted to healing water still attracts patronage

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IRON CHURCH ON ISTANBUL'S GOLDEN HORN
Bulgarian St Stefan Church reopens after major renovations

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VANGA, EXTRATERRESTRIALS, WORLD CONSPIRACIES
This section of Vagabond is usually reserved for the funnier and/or exceptionally eccentric statements and deeds of Bulgaria's statesmen, but in this issue we bring on the results, without a comment, of a poll conducted by Trend, an independent polling agency, into the mindsets of those who vote them into…

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BULGARIA'S PARTIZANI MONUMENTS
When you travel around Bulgaria, from the capital to the smallest of villages, you will inevitably encounter monuments of stern men and sometimes women, with guns in their hands and passion in their eyes. Made of stone or bronze, these monuments adorn squares and streets, peek over the trees by…

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BULGARIA'S FIRST CAPITALS
Travel northeast to discover this nation's mediaeval beginnings

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BULGARIA'S DOLMENS: PREHISTORIC MEGALITHS SLOWLY DISAPPEAR FROM SOUTHEAST
Dragon houses: until not that long ago, this was what Bulgarians called the squat, sturdy dolmens littering the low ridges of the Strandzha and Sakar mountains.

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BULGARIA'S ROMANTIC VILLAGES
Off-the-beaten-track destinations combine nature, tradition, folk culture

Be the first to comment! Read more...
QUOTE-UNQUOTE
"I haven't been on holiday for 17 years." Prime Minister Boyko Borisov

Be the first to comment! Read more...
HARMAN KAYA THRACIAN SANCTUARY
Spectacular shrine, ancient observatory near Bivolyane, in Rhodope

Be the first to comment! Read more...
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
You drive through nondescript villages populated mainly by ethnic Turks, past animal farms that stink of dung and mosques whose minarets stick up into the sky, until a turn of the road takes you directly opposite a site that suggests North America rather than the Balkans.

Be the first to comment! Read more...
WHO WAS STEFAN STAMBOLOV?
Controversial politician of late 19th century still divides Bulgarians

Be the first to comment! Read more...
MAKING THE ROUNDS IN SOFIA AND BEYOND
The grandest dream of the Bulgarian Government: One fine morning the people disappear and only the state budget remains.

Be the first to comment! Read more...
PASS OF FREEDOM
For Bulgarians, Shipka Pass epitomises national liberation struggle

Be the first to comment! Read more...
BULGARIA'S MONTHLY QUIZ
Think you know Bulgaria and the Bulgarians? Take our test to doublecheck

Be the first to comment! Read more...
BURGAS: GEMS OF MARITIME GARDEN INSPIRE MODERN FICTION
Whether you are attracted by the few remaining pristine beaches along the southern Black Sea coast, the quaint if overcommercialised streets of the old towns of Nesebar and Sozopol, or the endless parties at the popular resorts, you are bound to stop in or at least bypass Burgas.

Be the first to comment! Read more...
LOST CITY OF ANI
Ruins of mediaeval Armenian capital feel like edge of the world

Be the first to comment! Read more...
I'VE BEEN WRONG BEFORE, AN EXCERPT FROM A MEMOIR
This current issue presents a text by the 2017 creative non-fiction Sozopol Seminars fellow and CapitaLiterature participant Evan James

Be the first to comment! Read more...

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Vagabond's Foreign Travel

Society

TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DANCE

TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DANCE

An excerpt from Shadow Journey: A Guide to Elizabeth Kostova's Bulgaria and Eastern Europe

WHEN A ROSE IS NOT EXACTLY A ROSE
Grim reality of Bulg…
DECIPHERING BISHOP'S BASILICA OF PH…
Even the most fascin…
VERY SUPERSTITIOUS
Clairvoyants and red…

Vagabond Interviews

SØREN JACOBSEN

SØREN JACOBSEN

Danish ambassador on promoting bicycles, healthy lifestyle in Bulgaria

CONVIVIALITÉ AS A BUSINESS AND RAISON D'ÊTRE
Jelena Lalic, CEO of…
GRIGORIOS VASSILOCONSTANDAKIS
Greece's ambassador …
IRIT LILIAN: ISRAEL'S AMBASSADOR ON HER FAVOURITE SPOTS IN BULGARIA
Irit Lillian is one …

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