Sun, Nov 22 2009

Bulgaria celebrates St. George's day

Tue, May 06 2008 11:50 CET byPetar Kostadinov 190 Views

An army parade on Sofia's Tsar Osvoboditel boulevard and Battenberg square marked the day of Bulgarian army on St. George's day, May 6.

Representatives of all military schools and types of military forces marched in front of hundreds of Sofia residents in an event that has become a tradition since 1993. Fighter jets and other military equipment were also part of the event. The parade closed Sofia's centre around Alexander Nevski cathedral and the National Art Gallery between 7.30 am and 12.30pm.

The day, called Gergyovden in Bulgarian, is a major public holiday in the country and, according to Orthodox Cristian beliefs, it is the day when Bulgarians honour the brave and the courageous ones.

The tradition of celebrating May 6 as the day of the army is an ancient one but was put on hold by the communist regime in the late 1940s.

"Today we honour the memory of our heroes and we stand proud before our army flags, tested in the battles led in the name of the great cause - the liberation of all Bulgarian lands, their unity and the preservation of Bulgaria," President Georgi Purvanov said in his speech on May 6.

May 6 is the day when all those named Georgi, Gergana and Ginka celebrate their name day with a traditional meal of lamb. Reports by Bulgarian-language media said that the holiday resulted in shops raising the price of lamb to 14 leva a kg.

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment

More in this category

EC suing Bulgaria for Sofia waste disposal failure

The European Commission is taking Bulgaria to court for delays in providing Sofia with adequate waste disposal facilities.

US ambassador-designate Warlick addresses senate confirmation hearing

James Warlick is the spouse of Mary Warlick, director of the office of Russian affairs at the US state department, who has been nominated to serve as ambassador to Serbia

Bulgaria declares flu epidemic at an end

Bulgaria’s Health Ministry announced on November 20 2009 that the flu epidemic declared two weeks earlier is at an end as rates of infection decline. The announcement coincides with reports of two deaths from A (H1N1) flu in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian prosecutors to investigate Dogan’s real estate deals

Acting on allegations by Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria leader Ivan Kostov, prosecutors and Government officials are to probe deals by which Movement for Rights and Freedoms leader Ahmed Dogan acquired various properties.

Sofia prosecutors charge Bulgaria’s former defence minister Nikolai Tsonev

Prosecutors allege that a deal agreed by the former defence minister caused losses of 12.9 million leva.

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.