Augusta Traiana
An ancient town with many names, among which Beroe is often mentioned in the written sources. In 46 AD, the town entered the boundaries of the Roman province of Thrace. In 106 Emperor Trajan changed its name to Ulpia Augusta Traiana and gave it the right to self-government. The town grew to be the second […]
St. Athanasius Monastery
According to tradition, it is considered the oldest active monastery in Europe. It was founded in 344 by St. Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria. Saint Athanasius was born in 295 or 296 in Alexandria, Egypt, in a family of Christians. Excellently educated, he devoted himself to the study of the Holy Scriptures. Because of the virtues […]
Monastery of Nova Mahala
The village of Nova Mahala located at 1273 m. above sea level in the Western Rhodopes. Its population is Muslim by faith, settled sometime after the late 14th c. For this reason, the toponymy in the surrounding area is Turkish, often a literal translation of previously existing local names. There is no continuity between the […]
Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila
The Rila Monastery is located in Southwestern Bulgaria, Kyustendil District, Rila Municipality. It is 117 km from Sofia on the international road Sofia – Kulata (E79), after turning off at Kocherinovo station. It is another 30 km up the Rila Mountain to reach 1147 m above sea level. The road winds along the fast-flowing Rila […]
Diocletianopolis
Hisarya is a small but very famous town in southern Bulgaria, 42 km north of Plovdiv. It is located on a sunny plain, a transition from the southern slopes of Sredna Gora to the Thracian Valley, at an altitude of 346 m above sea level. Its climate is transitional-continental, with mild winters. Its greatest wealth […]
Storgosia
The area of Pleven is saturated with archaeological sites, but only a small part of them has been studied. Among them, the longest-explored is the fortress located in the Park of Kaylaka, about 3 km southeast of Pleven, known as Storgosia. Although still poorly explored, according to artefacts and pottery sporadically found, analysis of written […]
Partikopolis
Located at the crossroads between the Middle East and Western Europe, Partikopolis (later Sveti Vrach, in honour of the holy inmercenaries Cosmas ans Damian, martyrs in Rome in 284) and the Middle Struma region lie about a hundred kilometers from the Aegean coast. They became the site of the special attention of Christ’s teaching and […]
Philippopolis
The history of Plovdiv began in the Neolithic – 6th millennium BC – to continue without interruption to this day. The town has had important religious, administrative and political functions throughout its existence. It is the main town of Thrace (or the southern Bulgaria of today) regardless of the historical periods and the administrative center […]