Issue 233

A few years ago, when Dr Elena Voeva decided to transform the established family dental practice founded by her father, the respected specialist Dr Haralampi Voev, she had a clear vision for its new direction. Dr Voeva had realised that the future of dental medicine and orthodontics was digital, and she therefore turned Voeva Dental into a pioneer of modern, innovative treatment in Bulgaria. The result of this visionary decision speaks for itself: today, the clinic treats patients of all ages.

From the splendid images in the Bishop's Basilica in Plovdiv to the black-and-white portraits in Villa Armira, Bulgaria is proud of its ancient mosaics, which are mostly Roman. However, while a growing number of tourists discover these centuries-old gems, a universe of newer mosaics is slowly crumbling and going to seed before our eyes.

Тhe first people to arrive at the crime scene were not the police. It was Borislav Sarafov, the controversial interim chief prosecutor, and members of the DANS, or National Security Agency. None of them should have been there. Murder in Bulgaria is usually a matter for the homicide cops – unless national security, terrorism, drug enforcement or exceptional circumstances warrant the involvement of the DANS.

By far surpassing Christmas, which in the local tradition is mostly a family dinner feast in the middle of a cold, dark winter, Easter is in spring. It indicates both the rebirth of nature and the rejuvenated crave for life, with religious symbolism, though strictly adhered to, playing the second fiddle. The Orthodox Easter rarely coincides with the Western one, owing to a very complicated metathetical, astronomical and clerical argument that dates back to the early Middle Ages. In 2026, it comes relatively early, on the 12th of April.

Just like William Shakespeare, who is considered responsible for the coinage of over 1,700 words and phrases in the English language, including "housekeeping," "break the ice" and "the naked truth," the former Number One Communist, Todor Zhivkov, also contributed his mite to the richness of Bulgarian. This is the only similarity between Tato, or "Dad," and the Bard, researchers claim, and give the popular idiom "This is not a dairy farm" as an example of the former dictator's linguistic creativity.

Steep rocky peaks, pristine alpine meadows, hidden lakes and some of the last communities that herd semi-wild, traditional breeds of sheep and horses: the Pirin is a small mountain that is one big wonder of nature. However, the sublime beauty of the mountain, whose highest parts have been a UNESCO-listed national park for over four decades, is not for those who would rather eschew hiking or stick to skiing in Bansko.

Rumen Radev will reshuffle the cards of the political establishment.

Kornelia Ninova, former chair of the BSP, on the ex-president's decision to resign and enter active politics

Radev is the absolute alternative of spinelessness, machinations and corruption.

Anton Kutev, former spokesman of caretaker governments appointed by Radev

We are many, they cannot stop the wave.

Rumen Radev announces that he resigns to launch his own party

One doesn't expect to find waterfalls in the middle of the hilly Danube valley, and yet there they are – hidden amid karst crevices and familiar only to a handful of people, they turn up as a surprise.

The waterfall in the village of Hotnitsa is one of these serendipitous sights. In fact, it is one of the two reasons for the relative fame of this village in the Veliko Tarnovo region. The other is the colony of expats, mostly from the UK. According to most recent data, they own about a hundred of the 500 houses in the village.

1. When is the only right day to put on your martenitsa?
A. 1 March
B. 8 March
C. 10 March

2. Who is the president of Bulgaria?
A. Rumen Radev
B. Iliyana Yotova
C. Boyko Borisov

3. There is a Sofia street named after which British author?
A. Terry Pratchet
B. Arthur Conan Doyle
C. Agatha Christie

The mastodons roamed along the banks of a river, munching on the vegetation under the canopy of a tropical forest, oblivious to the screams of  monkeys and the presence of rhinos, but watching out for lions and sabre-toothed tigers that were never far from the watering hole.

The river attracted all of these animals but, from time to time, a visit here could prove fatal. As the water swept away the remains of the dead bodies, they eventually started to pile up at one of the bends of the river. There the bones accumulated, along with other debris, and over time they fossilised.