WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

by Stamen Manolov; photography by Anthony Georgieff

At first glance this town might disappoint

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Situated in the heart of what is probably Bulgaria's best farming land, it has a rich history of which... almost no material heritage remains. Everything was constructed anew in the 1960s and 1970s: brutalist office buildings, prefabricated housing estates, the inevitable megalomaniacal hotel and some rally-friendly squares paved with slippery slabs that seem to be in constant need of repair. But do take your time. Once you dive under the surface you will start discovering the city's hidden charms that include a lively downtown, a cobbled street lined up with traditional craftsmen's shops and what is perhaps the  best park in the Bulgarian northeast.

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where in bulgari are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
To reach it you have climbed and climbed and climbed for hours on end, starting from a mountain chalet called Bezbog, or Godless.
where in bulgaria are you.jpg
WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
The city was cosmopolitan and rather rundown, part Danubian and part post-Ottoman – a place where one could drink a huge Viennese coffee in a brightly lit coffee shop that served both Mitteleuropean cakes and pretzels, and Middle Eastern kataifi and baklava
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
A look into its history will reveal why. Though it has medieval origins, after the 1878 liberation from the Ottomans the village was populated by ethnic Bulgarian immigrants from the Banat, now in Romania, Hungary and Serbia.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
In Antiquity and onwards the area developed as a thriving centre for mining lead, iron, silver, gold and copper. As it happened, one of the first Bulgarian rebellions against the Ottomans originated here, in the 17th century.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Cultivating the rose bushes is difficult enough, but the real challenge comes with picking up the buds: it can be done only within a few weeks in May and early June, and only very early in the morning.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Besides the fortress, it sports plenty of Ottoman-era heritage, including a well-preserved city wall, a post office, a cross-shaped barracks and perhaps the most eccentric mosque this side of the Bosporous.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
A successful negotiation of the cobbled streets, which can become treacherously slippery in wet weather, will open up a new world for you, both out- and indoors.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Men and women in bathing suits partake, come rain or shine, of some hot mineral springs that flow freely through the yellowish mud. A very un-orthodox church with bold, non-Christian-like murals stands nearby.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Come Yuletide, and the streets swarm with adult men dressed in what appears to be a combination between early 20th century gendarme uniforms and traditionally embroidered white shirts.
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WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
A bridge spanning over a turbulent whitewater river, which was constructed in such an incredible location that it was quick to gain notoriety for being otherworldly, a structure no human hand was able to accomplish without assistance from supernatural force