A unique heritage • From the ancient civilization of the Thracians to the superb Orthodox monasteries, Bulgaria has an extraordinary historical heritage • A STORY OF GREAT RICHNESS.
(Source: The UNESCO Courier)
BULGARIA, the roots of a modern country by Magdalina Stantcheva (researcher, specialist in medieval archeology and head of excavations at the History Museum of the city of Sofia).
Bulgaria – 13 centuries of history and culture
The motto engraved on the coat of arms of Sofia, capital of Bulgaria “It grows but does not age” could very well summarize the history of this modern and dynamic state which this year celebrates the 1300th anniversary of its founding by Khan Asparouch in 681 .
Between the 5th and 9th centuries, a time of great mixing of peoples whose migrations from east to west and from north to south reshaped Europe (as well as Asia and North Africa) to give it ethnic features. , linguistic and cultural that it still preserves, the rich territories which extend from the Danube to the Aegean Sea and from the Black Sea to the Adriatic underwent astonishing transformations.
They were formerly those of Thrace and Illyria; they had been Roman provinces and then tore themselves away from the “Roman” empire of the East, called Byzantine, from now on Byzantium, enemy or ally, would hardly govern them except through its cultural influence.
After various invasions, the country had welcomed new inhabitants - Slavs arriving in successive waves of increasing numbers, joined by warriors of another origin, coming from the plains of the Dnieper and the Volga and who are called the Proto-Bulgarians.
It is to the fusion of these two peoples that Bulgaria owes a large part of its personality and culture.
The latter gave it its name, the former gave it its language.
But as attached as it is to these decisive moments in its history, as well as to each, often dramatic, phase of the development of this culture, modern Bulgaria is also passionate about a more distant past, that of the Thracians, for example. , of which its citizens also feel they are the heirs.
This small territory (110,911 km2) has a multi-millennium history that has left its mark everywhere.
The richness and variety of Bulgarian heritage (more than 31,000 monuments from all periods are classified and protected) are matched only by the attentive fervor with which its heirs bring the ancient and the modern together.
Here history is part of contemporary life and prehistory itself seems more present and familiar than elsewhere.
The first farmers of this country, some 8000 years ago, left multiple remains of the highest interest.
Mounds formed by the accumulation of successive habitats, tells testify to the permanence of human settlements – most Bulgarian cities are built on several floors of ruins and archaeological deposits.
Of these tells, one of the most famous constantly attracts researchers to the southern province of Nova Zagora near the village of Karanovo.
12 meters high, its deepest layer belongs to the oldest Neolithic, i.e. the sixth millennium, while its summit dates from the Iron Age.
The vertical section made by the archaeologists shows how, without interruption, generations succeeded one another, from century to century.
For science, such a site is obviously very valuable.
Karanovo materials, tools, weapons, utensils of all kinds, fill the rooms of several museums.
Later, at the beginning of the Bronze Age, and, in this case, at the dawn of European civilization, men bequeathed to posterity another prestigious site – the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna, on the coast of the black Sea.
Archaeologists have unearthed a large number of tombs there from the end of the 4th millennium BC, which yielded hundreds of gold objects, ranging from tiny beads to bracelets that weigh 200 to 300 grams.
This find is all the more exciting as two of the tombs contained golden scepters, symbols of legitimate power, clear signs of an already established tradition.
There is no doubt that the social organization of this part of south-eastern Europe had reached a degree of complexity unusual at such an early period.
This enigma is probably explained by the copper deposits then exploited in this region and which must have given rise to fairly intense exchanges with several countries in nearby Asia.
Trade would therefore be the basis of the prosperity of these miners who buried so many marvels of gold, with their dead and in whom scholars today agree to recognize the ancestors of the Thracians.
These people, the oldest whose name is known in south-eastern Europe, left numerous vestiges of their language (which belonged to the same Indo-European branch as Latin and Greek) in inscriptions and in names. places, mountains or rivers.
It also occupied a large place in the literature of its close neighbors – in the classical period, from the 6th century BC, the Greeks often noted Thracian influences on their mythology, their religion, their arts, especially music.
Today, the general public has met the Thracians thanks to the fabulous exhibition of jewelry, vases and golden weapons which has traveled to several countries.
The History of the Three Capitals
In the history of the nation, three city names retain a moving and almost sacred resonance.
These are those of the capitals that the Bulgarian princes established in the Middle Ages.
Pliska first, a prodigious monument to the founding of the first Bulgarian state in 681, its consolidation, the conversion to Christianity and the introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet.
Founded in 681 by Khan Asparouch, Pliska remained the capital for a little over two centuries.
Towards the end of this period, two events had a decisive influence on the future of the country – the conversion to Christianity and the introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet.
Then Preslav, witness to the golden age of Bulgarian culture, when in the 10th century letters and the arts flourished under the leadership of King Simeon.
Preslav became the second capital of Bulgaria under the reign of King Simeon (893-927) and saw the “Golden Age” of Bulgarian culture flourish.
After the city was captured and sacked in 971 by the Byzantine emperor John Tzimisces, Bulgaria endured the domination of Byzantium for several decades.
Finally, Tirnovo, center of civilization in the 13th and 14th centuries, until the Ottoman invasion which would subjugate the country.
Each still seems to express the spirit of its time.
Refuges of the spirit
From the beginnings of the state and in particular, during Ottoman domination, the monasteries of Bulgaria have been the refuge of the national spirit which thus kept its forms of cultural expression alive.
The monks there taught in the Bulgarian language, translated Greek and Eastern philosophers and laid the foundations of a national literature.
This is also where Bulgarian monumental painting reached its peak from the 15th century.
The frescoes on the walls and vault of the refectory of the Bachkovo Monastery, dating from the 17th century, are striking in their richness and quality.
There is a wide variety of images – scenes from the Old and New Testaments, portraits of monotheistic philosophers from Antiquity and even, something rare in Bulgarian religious painting, representations of ecumenical councils.
From monasteries to National Awakening
In Bulgaria, the monastic tradition is as old as the nation itself.
The first monastery was founded in Pliska by Boris I, who retired there at the end of his life.
And the disciples of Cyril and Methodius came to work in this same monastery to teach and spread the Slavic alphabet developed by their masters.
It was the beginning of a long tradition – for twelve centuries monasteries would be cultural centers.
Preslav strengthened and clarified this noble role which was to take on its full extent under Ottoman domination, each monastery then becoming a high place of the national spirit, where the Bulgarians felt protected.
On the day of the feast of the great monasteries, pilgrims from all over the country, on foot, in carts, on horseback, met there.
The population of the towns and countryside sent offerings of all kinds to contribute to the decoration of the sanctuaries.
This is the case of the Rila Monastery, served by monks who celebrate divine service in the church and chapels where Bulgarian religious singing is perpetuated.
Age-old cities
More than half of Bulgaria's towns are at least five thousand years old and are stone chronicles left by history over the centuries.
In Plovdiv, for example, the visitor encounters at every step ancient remains such as the amphitheater or the stadium as well as cobbled streets and half-timbered houses from the 18th century dating from the time of the National Awakening, all these testimonies of the past being carefully protected and highlighted in the very heart of a modern and lively city.
The Thracians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Genoese, all left their mark on Nessebar, the Black Sea port.
Its oldest churches date from the 5th century and mark almost every stage of the history of Christianity in this region.
The most remarkable examples of this religious architecture are the great basilica of the 6th century and the churches of the 13th and 14th centuries, in brick and tuff, with arches and cornices decorated with ceramic inlays.
A national campaign to safeguard Bulgaria's cultural heritage has helped protect and restore a large number of villages and towns.
5,000 years of urban planning
On the coast, underwater archaeological research has made it possible to trace the origins of navigation in the Black Sea and to identify traces of the first port towns.
A large number of stone anchors have been brought to the surface which date from the end of the Bronze Age, approximately 1200 years BC.
Thracian ships exported copper plates and brought back goods which were to enrich their home ports, the primary centers of maritime trade.
The Greek colonists who came to settle on this coast in the 6th century BC therefore found a string of Thracian cities there.
Their language prevailed, they built theaters and the workshops of their sculptors and ceramists prospered in these towns which for a long time bore Greek names.
But we know that their links with the Thracians were very close and that they were not only commercial – customs and divinities exchanged and mixed; parties were common.
It was only one of the first encounters and cultural interactions which were to give this country its unique character.
These encounters and this antiquity are by no means the privilege of coastal cities – more than half of Bulgarian cities are at least five thousand years old.
Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Nessebar, Stara Zagora, constitute true monuments of the history of urban planning, and, in many cases, it is possible to explore their archaeological heritage as it lies in the ground, under modern buildings.
In Sofia, the capital, this heritage forms ten meters of cultural layers, concentrated under the busiest part of the city center.
The redevelopment of this area, seriously affected by the aerial bombardments of the Second World War, acutely posed the problem of the conservation of archaeological remains in an urban environment.
In many countries, this problem arouses controversy; in Bulgaria it is outdated.
Any archaeological monument unearthed is integrated into the modern environment.
Between the new buildings of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, an underground passage runs along the wall of the ancient city, before crossing the east gate and following a 6th century street where marble slabs bear Roman inscriptions 400 years older.
Further on, in another underground passage, the walker can sit on the terrace of a café near a small medieval church.
Elsewhere, the tram runs along the corner tower of the surrounding wall; another tower is inserted in the premises of a department store.
A bank under construction had to cede half of its basement to an old complex formed by part of the surrounding wall, two 4th century streets and the foundations of a 14th century church.
Opposite this modern building, a large space is reserved for archaeologists, while waiting for the architects to have drawn up plans for the conservation of the remains.
All these cities seek to provide an original solution to the conservation of their heritage.
A very well preserved amphitheater was unearthed in Plovdiv (the Roman Trimontium) – shows will be held there.
The forum, as it should be, is a place reserved for pedestrians, while the old ramparts on the hills serve as retaining walls for 19th century neighborhoods.
Bulgaria is undoubtedly a country rich in culture and history and an ideal destination for a cultural stay in a preserved and sublime setting.
Modern Bulgaria
In summary
Conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC, Northern Thrace became the province of Moesia, before the arrival of Slavic tribes and proto-Bulgarians in the 6th century AD, who, allied, managed to establish itself within the Byzantine Empire.
The first Bulgarian state was formed in the second half of the 7th century and was recognized by Constantinople in 681.
9th–10th centuries
Between the reign of Khan Krum and that of Prince Boris I, the first Bulgarian state was formed.
Christianity becomes the official religion while the Cyrillic alphabet is adopted.
The Bulgarian population was born from the gradual fusion of ethnic components with very diverse origins.
11th–10th centuries
Bulgaria was subjugated by the Byzantine Empire until the uprising of 1186 led by two boyars, John I Asen I and his brother Peter II.
13th–14th centuries
The second Bulgarian empire reached its peak under the reign of John III Asen II in the first half of the 13th century.
Bulgarian hegemony then extended to the whole of South-Eastern Europe. But the empire fell apart from the years 1260-1270, delivered to the Mongol invasion, to dissensions between boyars and to the threat of the Ottomans who annexed Bulgaria in 1396.
15th–19th centuries
Bulgaria is integrated into the Ottoman Empire. Sporadic revolts broke out while a population of Turkish origin established itself in the country.
The national movement developed in the middle of the 19th century (Georgi Rakovski, 1821-1867) until the insurrection of April 1876. Following the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878, the Bulgarian state was restored, but amputated following the Berlin Congress of 1878, which led to a new insurrection.
In 1879, the Bulgarian principality adopted a democratic Constitution.
Twentieth century
After reunification with Rumelia (1885) and the birth of a very unstable parliamentary life, Bulgaria, independent since 1908, engaged in the two Balkan wars and, alongside the Central Powers, in the First World War, conflicts which result in significant territorial losses.
The authoritarian evolution of the regime brings it closer to Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.
From 1945 to the present
The Bulgarian Communist Party emerged as head of state, closely aligning itself with the Soviet Union under the leadership of Dimitrov, Červenkov and Živkov.
The latter was dismissed during a “palace revolution” in November 1989, following perestroika launched in the USSR by Mr. Gorbachev and the collapse of the communist bloc.
Bulgaria today
Bulgaria is integrated into NATO and the European Union.
Republic of Bulgaria under the governance of the Head of State – President Rumen Radev since January 22, 2017.
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