Mode of Life and Culture

Since ancient times Bulgaria's lands have been inhabited by different tribes and people. Their mode of life and culture formed ours. Before the establishment of the first Bulgarian state there were Greeks, Illirians, Thracians living in our lands who had a highly developed culture. A special place occupy the Thracians with their culture who were the creators of an exceptionally interesting art. For a Bulgarian mode of life and culture can be spoken since the second half of the VІІ C. With their arrival on the Balkan peninsula the Slavonians and ancient Bulgarians made contacts with the local inhabitants and with the neighbor people. They inherited their high ancient culture which enters their live and it gains a new look. Later a rich Bulgarian culture is created with original self-made characteristics based on the Slavonic one. The leading style is the folk one, talantedly preserved and developed by Bulgarian masters. Very little is known about the mode of life and culture of Bulgaria in the first century of our state. We can only judge by some ethnographic and archeological monuments. There are more artifacts from the period of the Renaissance. Bulgaria was under a Turkish yoke back then. In these hard for our people years the kingdom's glory and the western culture elements are erased. Only pure Bulgarian culture stays alive through the mode of life and the applicable art. Its roots are so deep that they stand against the trial of time. The folk masters were not influenced by the exuberance of the East. They were true to the functional importance of their works of art connected with the Bulgarian mode of life. The Bulgarian woman created her art by the unwritten laws of beauty. She embroidered motifs and forms left by mothers and grand-mothers and also enriched them according to her own aesthetically taste and needs. The mode of life and culture saved our nation from losing its identity.

The Rose is the symbol of Bulgaria and that is not accidental. The Kazanlak and Karlovo gorges are called the Valley of Roses. In here are the most appropriate for the development of the oil-bearing Rose conditions. The rose gathering was once a true ritual. Now it is a tourist attraction. During the rose gathering a Miss of the Roses contest is held in which every year young girls participate.The contest also has a rich cultural and tourist program and is visited by many foreign tourists that come from different parts of the world. They get acquainted with one of the oldest and traditional Bulgarian crafts - the rose boiling. It is a process of getting rose oil and rose water from the colors of roses by means of water distillation and special equipment. Bulgaria since the ХVІІ c. is one of the biggest exporters of rose oil in the world. And rose oil is one of the most important compositions for the perfumery production.

With copper the Bulgarians produce vessels to sell in Constantinopole, Asia Minor and Egypt. Their woolen textile production was used to clothe the Turkish army, and the galloons decorated the cavalry of the entire Eastern Europe. They produced city clocks, huge hammered candlesticks, bells. They were famous with their carpet-making.

It emerges in the ancient days but flourished during the Renaissance when the most aesthetically precious carpets are made. They were weaved manually using high quality wool. Several centers were formed: Kotel, Chiprovtsi and Samokov. The carpets from Chiprovo had triangular combined motives. The pattern consists of one field and one to three borders. The colors used were yellow, red, black, green and white but the dominant one was red. The carpets from Kotel had a combination of figures based on a rectangle or a square. Geometric ornaments prevailed on this type of carpets like vases, flowers, birds. The most used colors were blue, green, red, violet, sometimes ochre. Bulgarian carpets have this specific feature that the masters looked for harmony between form, contents and function. They have a typically Bulgarian style. The Bulgarian woman created this incredible treasure.

Architectural masterpieces were created. Today many of the villages and towns inhabited once by rich craftsmen and traders are turned into architectural-ethnographic reservates.

Koprivshtitsa - You can get information from Renaissance Villages

Tryavna - You can get information from Renaissance Villages

Bansko - You can get information from Mountain Resorts

Zheravna - You can get information from Renaissance Villages

Bozhentsi - You can get information from Renaissance Villages

Nesebar - You can get information from Objects Protected by UNESCO

Etarat - You can get information from Renaissance Villages

Bulgarian monasteries were centers of creative and educational activity. That was the place where the traditions were reconsidered: language, literacy and art were preserved there too. They became focuses of cultural life. National icon-painting and wood-carving artistic schools were formed. The Samokov, Tryavna, Bansko schools were known with their own style characteristics and several generations of hereditary masters, some of them trained in Europe. The strict canonical kind of art was transformed to a vital one. It turns to reality. The severe harsh tones were replaced by bright cheerful colors. You can learn more about the monasteries in the page dedicated to them.

The mastership is demonstrated also in the embroideries and ornaments on the textile.

The Bulgarian woman used to make the clothing and all fabrics necessary for the life of the family by herself. The main colors she used were white, black, brown extracted from materials of nature. They were supplemented by all nuances of red, ochre and green extracted from natural materials too.

The artistic decoration of textiles is known by the great local diversity of styles and color choices.

There were 4 types of woman dresses: one-apron, two-apron, low-cut sleeveless dress and "sayana". Based on the color and cut there were 2 types of man clothing: white and black. Every ethnographic area had its characteristic working, festive and wedding dressings.

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