Portal:Bulgaria/Did you know/Full List

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... that the ancient ritual of barefooted dancing on smouldering embers, nestinarstvo, emerged in several remote villages in the Strandzha Mountains?

... that Lavov most (pictured) and Orlov most, two bridges in the centre of Sofia, were built by the Czech Prošek family in 1889-1891?

... that American actress and wife of Tom Hanks Rita Wilson is the daughter of a Muslim Bulgarian?

... that the early 17th-century church in the village of Dobarsko features frescoes of Jesus taking off in a rocket?

...that the National Art Gallery of Bulgaria (pictured) occupies the Neo-Baroque 19th-century edifice of the former royal palace?

... that Petar Zhekov, a European Golden Boot winner, is the highest Bulgarian football division's top overall goalscorer?

... that Bulgaria became the country to introduce the Cyrillic alphabet in the European Union when it acceded to that organization on 1 January 2007?

...that the Largo, a Socialist Classicism complex in central Sofia, Bulgaria, accommodates a number of state institutions?

...that 62% of the surface of the Pirin Mountains (peak pictured) is granite, and is therefore covered with mainly ancient metamorphic rock?

...that the Crusade of Varna required simultaneous attacks on the Muslim Ottoman Empire by Christian Hungary and the Muslim Karamanids, which did not occur?

...that the area on which Vrana Palace was constructed, just outside of Sofia, was initially purchased by Tsar Ferdinand I in 1898?

...that mining has caused significant ecologically damage to the Timok River recently, and also from heavy metal industry in other cities?

...that Perperikon (ruins pictured), an ancient Thracian city, is the largest megalith ensemble in the Balkans?

...that an ore-miner settlement existed on the present location of Chiprovtsi since Thracian times, and was Kiprovets by the Slavs who inhabited it?

...that during the period of Communist rule, Dobrich was renamed Tolbukhin , but was renamed back to Dobrich by presidential decree in 1990?

...that Vardim Island, the third largest Bulgarian Danubian island, is a protected wetland and bird nesting area of national importance?

...that the chitalishte (community centre) in Novo Selo (pictured), constructed in 1930, is also a memorial to locals who perished in war?

...that Hadzhi Dimitar was one of the most prominent Bulgarian voivods and revolutionary workers for the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule?

...that the earliest traces of human settlement in the Pleven area date from the 5th millennium BC, the Neolithic era?

...that the town of Tutrakan was founded by the Ancient Romans in the end of the first half of the 1st century under the name Transmarisca?

...that the Zograf Monastery (pictured) on the Holy Mountain was burnt down by a Catalan pirate raid in 1275?

...that Mandritsa is known as the only Albanian village in Bulgaria?

...that the Banat Bulgarian Stefan Dunjov participated in both the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Italian unification, and was the first Bulgarian to be promoted to the rank of Colonel?

...that Ivan Bogorov, who published the first Bulgarian newspaper in 1846 in Leipzig, was also an ardent supporter of Bulgarian linguistic purism and was known for his often amusing neologisms?

...that, in opposition to the orthodox architectural canon, a giant undulating apse occupies the entire east façade of the Church of the Holy Trinity (pictured) in Svishtov?

...that after an accident in his teens, Bulgarian poet Pencho Slaveykov had difficulty writing and speaking?

...that Bulgarian Dobri Zhelyazkov founded the first textile factory in the Ottoman Empire?

...that architectural elements akin to those of the Olympic Stadium in Munich were incorporated in the Central Railway Station in Sofia during its latest renovation?

...that Lady Strangford (pictured) is honoured in Bulgaria for the work she did following the Batak massacre?
...that the Samara flag, presented as a gift from Russia to the Bulgarian volunteers in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, is the only flag awarded a Bulgarian Medal for Bravery?
...that the bulk of Bulgarians in Hungary descend from gardeners and other professionals who settled in the country prior to World War I?
...that although it was not particularly well-known in Bulgaria until the late 19th century, today Bulgarian beer is one of the country's most popular alcoholic beverages?