Nice Places in Bulgaria. Bulgaria Guide.

Mythinglinks: Eastern Europe / The Balkans: Bulgaria, page 1
I checked an old dictionary and discovered that the name comes from a chain of mountains crossing Bulgaria from east to west. ...

According totheir believes they have to be served only by muslims. Be sureto click on all the hypertext for more in-depth essays, written with styleand gentle wit. But in spite of its 13-century-old tradition, it is an “infant”compared to the history of civilization in the present-day Bulgarian lands.These areas had been populated as early as the Palaeolithic period. Given the nature of Bulgaria'shistory, political power was usually allied with religious power, whichmeans that the biographies also give a glimpse into the realm's sacredtraditions and beliefs. Here,in the neighbourhood of the town of Montana, a 6800-year-old inscriptionhas been discovered....This is a stone tablet on which 24 signs (stillundeciphered) are written in four lines. I checked an old dictionaryand discovered that the name comes from a chain of mountains crossing Bulgariafrom east to west. I can not have found the country on a map.I now know more about this country. If you click on the page's: "And more..."you'll find a good overview -- in the opening paragraph the unnamed authorsset an intriguing and mysterious tone:Founded in 681, Bulgaria is one of the oldest Europeanstates. It also has moreclickable photos (a pleasant surprise when you click on the thumbnailsis that you get not only the thumbnail but also a whole series of artifactsfrom the same site). It begins with Thrace,moves to Rome (which conquered Thrace by the first century AD), and concludeswith early Byzantine architecture. It covers the full sweep of Bulgarian history, topic by topic-- the few sections I scanned looked fascinating. Most remarkable, however,is the story of World War II when the Bulgarians protected their localJews from the Nazis. Prior to that, all I knew about Bulgaria was thatan eerie music born in her mountains had recently become quite popularin the West. Radenska offersan eerie explanation, which again points to the daunting complexity ofthe Balkans:...Rhodopi mountains were a huge hunting field for thesultan, his family and large number of his people. The Bulgarswere absorbed in the larger Slavic population.... The clickable photos are excellent,as usual. The index lists nearly 30 rulers from 632-1996.When you click on a name, you'll find a brief but useful biography alongwith a small portrait of that ruler. The name "Bulgaria" comes from the Bulgars,a Turkic people who migrated from the steppe north of the Black Sea, conqueredthe Slavic tribes and founded the First Bulgarian Kingdom in 681. The oldest are from the Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis (4600- 4200 B.C.) which experts rank as "the world’s oldest gold and Europe’smost ancient civilization.” Other Thracian treasures date from the4th century BCE. The page is brief but evocative.It offers several fine photos and links to further information on Bulgaria'smountains and Black Sea beaches. The site also offers an excellent Bibliography. The site is one of a series done by "travel-bulgaria.com"to foster travel to this unique land. The site unfortunately relies more on text thanimage; one can't help wishing for detailed photos of this splendid art. There's a lovely photo of a mountainlake near the end. These nine include natural wonders as well as medievalmonasteries and ancient Thracian tombs. They have muslim names and speak very ancient bulgarian language....Theirancestors were slavic christian people who accepted muslim religion. They needed tobe served during their stay there (sometimes for months). This engrossing website, also from "omda," surveys thehistory of Bulgarian Jews from that point on: included is data on the Jewishqueen (mentioned above) -- it's a somewhat mixed message since sheconverted to Christianity before her marriage. This time the text on Thracianhistory, architecture, and murals is lengthy and beautifully done.I wish there were more photos, but the three provided are "clickable" forgorgeous enlargements. Thisfact took place in 16th and 17th centuries.Why was this ethnic group forced to become Muslim?