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HIGH PRIORITY TOURIST DESTINATION - 7,000 YEARS OF HISTORY
...Again in the TOP for 2008...
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Every tourist guide will show you where Bulgaria is, along with the following:
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'Situated in South-Eastern Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula, extending over an area of 111,000 sq km (1,06% of the European territory), with a population of about 9 million, capital city - Sofia, with 1,200,000 inhabitants, an attractive tourist country with beautiful scenery and a hospitable people.'
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The aim of AltoursBG is to show you things you might NOT know about Bulgaria:
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Cradle of civilizations
The oldest high developed civilization in Europe, dated to the 6th - 5th millenia BC, comprising vast area in some part of present East and South Bulgaria, existed in parallel to the civilizations of Asia Minor and the valleys of Tigris and Euphrates, Palestine and Egypt, and perhaps millenia before them. They were those who had formed the Thracian people.
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Land of golden treasures
The oldest crafted gold in the history of mankind (Varna Necropolis, 6th - 5th millenia BC), as well as the Thracian gold treasures which conquered the world, were discovered in the Bulgarian lands!
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Meeting point of civilizations
With more than 40,000 cultural and historical monuments Bulgaria is a land of many ancient civilizations - Pre-historian, Thracian, Macedonian, Greek, Proto-Bulgarian, Slav, Roman, Byzantine, Turk and Bulgarian.
Bulgaria ranks third, only after Greece and Italy, for the number of its archaeological monuments.
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Homeland of powerful kingdoms
The birthdate of the country is the year 681. There were only two empires in Europe at that time - the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium).
The mighty Bulgarian Empire with khan Asparuh at its head united the ancient Thracian nation and the Slavic tribes. This is how the third Empire in Europe - the so-called Danubean Bulgaria appeared on the crossroad with Asia and Africa. Its capital was called Pliska.
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Sofia - town from the dawn of history
The Bulgarian capital - Sofia was born 7,000 years ago in the green embrace of the Vitosha mountain close to warm mineral springs.
Today, more than 250 unique monuments from different ages blend harmoniously with the city's modern appearance.
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Culture and wildlife with recognition
The UNESCO World Cultural and Wildlife Heritage List includes 9 Bulgarian landmarks - 7 cultural and 2 natural wonders:
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The Madara Horseman - a monumental bas-relief hewn into the sheer rock, the only one of its kind in Europe! |
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The two unique monuments of Thracian art - the tombs near Kazanluk and Sveshtari; Boyana Church - marking the beginnings of portrait painting in European art; the majestic Rila Monastery - largest in the Balkans; the ancient museum town of Nessebur - situated on a rocky peninsula, linked with mainland by a narrow isthmus; Ivanovo Rock Monasteries - a natural museum of mediaeval Bulgarian painting; Pirin National Park and Sreburna Wildlife Reserve. |
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Native land of Orpheus and Spartacus
Orpheus - the mythical Thracian singer, born near today's village of Guela in the Rhodope Mountains, who, according to the Greek mythology, took part in the quest of the Argonauts together with Jason and Heracles.
Spartacus - the famous Roman gladiator, born in a village near the present-day Sandanski, at the foot of the Pirin Mountain, became the leader of the biggest slave uprising in Antiquity (74 AD).
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Wine - tradition carried through millenia
Man's first wine ever may have fermented in the Bulgarian lands. Viticulture and wine producing in the lands of present-day Bulgaria are dating back to 6,000 BC!
It is only in Bulgaria, that the wine of the ancient Thracians is still produced and drunk - the full-bodied red Mavrud. The Mavrud vine grows only in this region of Bulgaria and nowhere else.
Small Bulgaria is one of the world's largest wine producers together with France, Spain, Italy and Greece.
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Homeland of the attar of roses
The world's perfume and cosmetics industry could not do without the Bulgarian attar of roses - the Bulgarian oleaginous rose yields 80% of the world's production.
2,000 flowers are needed for just 1 single gram of the precious attar of roses whose price equals that of gold!
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Country of yoghurt - the food of centenarians
The Bulgarian yoghurt is a unique product. The preparation technology is based on the Lactobacterium Bulgaricum bacteria that grow nowhere else in the world. It has found an important part in many Bulgarian foods. Bulgarians eat yoghurt in some form practically every day throughout their life.
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If you step onto Bulgarian soil, God will bless you! If you come in contact with Bulgarian nature you will take away with you health and good spirit!
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