Fri, Feb 10 2012

Bulgaria celebrates St. George's day

Tue, May 06 2008 11:50 CET

byPetar Kostadinov

462 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.

  • Print
  • Send via email
  • Translate to
  • Share:

To post comments, please, Login or Register.


Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.

More in this category

Winter weather as archaeologist: Roman building found near Bulgaria's Bourgas

The discovery was made after some of the land in a complex near Bourgas was washed away by rough seas.

Weather crisis disrupts train travel in Bulgaria

No trains could cross the Danube Bridge and passengers from international trains were being taken to the city of Rousse by road transport.

Bulgaria faces further fatal freeze a day after Black Sea devastation

Hazardous weather warnings across the country on February 9, new record-low temperatures, and three people reported frozen to death in Pernik.

Bulgarian Parliament passes controversial Forestry Act amendments

Opposition parties and environmental protection NGOs argued that this and other provisions were the result of lobbyist pressure from ski resort operators.

Bulgaria, Romania suspend shipping on Danube River

Ferry-boat service between the Bulgarian and Romanian banks of the river may continue if the ferry captains decide that the weather conditions allow the safe passage of the boats.

© 2000-2012, 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.