Hello dear Reader!

While you are reading this magical book,

you will be transferred to our beautiful city.

You will learn about our city, our culture and

our traditions. They are magnificent.

Are you ready about the journey?

Go ahead with our young guides.

This book is created in favour of TEAM project, Erasmus+

Enjoy reading!

Town history

The root of the name, “panagyur”, comes from

the Greek πανηγύρι, panēgýri, a festival or fair.

The town is the administrative centre of the

homonymous Panagyurishte Municipality.

As of December 2009, it has a population of 17,959 inhabitants.

Town history

In the Middle Ages there was a settlement near the

modern town. In the course of the Bulgarian-Ottoman

Wars large part the population was killed and the rest

had to move to a new location. When the Turks seized

the village of Asenevtsi near Sliven which guarded the

road to the capital Tarnovo, its population moved to Panagyurishte.

Town history

It was capital of the Fourth Revolutionary District

which was the main centre of the rebellion.

The uprising was bloodily suppressed after 10 days

of declared freedom, and the town was burnt down

and almost completely destroyed by the Ottoman Turks.

Geographical features

Panagyurishte is a town in Pazardzhik Province,

Southern Bulgaria, situated in a small valley in

the Sredna Gora mountains. It is 91 km east of Sofia,

43 km north of Pazardzhik, and 37 km south of Zlatitsa.

Geograohical features

Panagyurishte is overshadowed in tourism by nearby

Koprivshtitsa, which has a much larger collection of

restored Bulgarian Revival style houses. Like Koprivshtitsa,

Panagyurishte has a picturesque location in the Sredna Gora

mountains, and is one of the towns associated with the

historic April Uprising in 1876.

Traditional dishes

Bulgarian food is tasty, fresh and hearty. Bulgaria is

famous for its quality vegetables and dairy products

and its variety of mild spices. Pork and chicken are

the most common forms of meat, though seafood,

fish and veal dishes are also popular and lamb has

a special traditional place in Bulgarian cooking.

Traditional dishes

While many of the staples of Bulgarian cuisine you

would also find in Turkey, Greece or Serbia, in Bulgaria

each of those has its own local flavour to set it apart

from the Balkan neighbours’ version. From hearty

salads through delicious pastries to grilled meat classics,

here’s 7 Bulgarian dishes you absolutely must try during

your stay in the country!

                      Panagyurski eggs

Cheese on Shoppa, Omelette, Panagyurski eggs,

we remember these dishes whenever the refrigerator

is empty, and we die of starvation and we do not have

time to prepare complicated recipes with many

ingredients. In addition to the “Alaminuti” column,

the recipe for Panagyurski eggs is also included in

the column “Favorite Traditional Bulgarian Dishes”.

Delicious and easy to prepare, the recipe for

Panagyurski eggs is suitable for every novice in the

kitchen as well as for every student accommodation.

Baked extravaganza:

Banitsa

This piece of greasy pastry deliciousness can be purchased

in bakeries all over the country. Its standard variety includes

a filling of feta-like white cheese, though varieties filled with

onions, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms or pumpkin can also

be found. For your sweet tooth, you can also try banitsa with

apples and walnuts. Banitsa in any of its forms is an

inseparable part of a traditional Bulgarian breakfast.

Combine it with the thick fermented wheat drink boza

for a quintessential Bulgarian experience.

King of the grill:

Kebapche

The Bulgarian cousin of former Yugoslavia’s famous ćevapčići

and Romanian mititei, a kebapche is the perfect side dish to

a glass of cold Bulgarian beer on a summer day. Though

Bulgarians may argue about that, whether the beer is a

Kamenitza or a Zagorka makes no big difference. The important

part is that the kebapcheta are at least three and include some

kind of sides, usually French fries with grated sirene cheese on

top, to make the classic “three kebapcheta with sides”

Head start:

Shopska salad

Bulgaria’s internationally-renowned salad is a simple

— but effective — combo of diced tomatoes, cucumbers,

onions and peppers, with grated sirene cheese and parsley

on top. Whether a century-old meal of the Shopi

ethnographic group (as the name implies) or a 1950s

invention of communist Bulgaria’s state-owned tour

operator Balkantourist, Shopska salad is the perfect

appetizing companion to a shot of rakia at the start
of a Bulgarian meal. Curiously, Shopska salad’s

most prominent colours are white (the cheese), green

(the cucumbers) and red (the tomatoes and peppers),

which match perfectly to the colours of the Bulgarian

national flag. A not-so-subtle hint at Shopska salad’s

vital role in Bulgarian cuisine.

Goodness with goodness on top:

Mousaka

This dish is enjoyed in many variations throughout

the Balkan region. The Bulgarian version involves

potatoes, eggs and minced pork meat and is a known

favourite of Bulgarian men, among whom it is a popular

joke that they cannot marry a woman who is unable to

cook the perfect mousaka.

Childhood favourite:

Lyutenitsa

Ask a Bulgarian and they would say this thick relish of

tomatoes and peppers is the best thing you can spread

on your toast. Nowadays it is commercially produced

and sold in small jars, though it is still commonly made

at home by many Bulgarian families. When you can smell

the aroma of roasting peppers emanating from balconies

throughout the country in autumn, you know homemade

lyutenitsa season is soon to be upon you!

Dragon’s breath:

Shkembe chorba

While lyutenitsa may be a kids’ favourite, shkembe

chorba is strictly the preferred territory of adults.

Indeed, it takes more than a bit of guts to try this

tripe soup, whether because tripe is a somewhat unusual

offal to be used in a soup or because of the way shkembe

chorba is customarily generously spiced. You are expected

to add vinegar, oil, salt and crude pepper to taste – though

you will discover that to Bulgarians this usually means in

generous quantities.

Summer refresher:

Tarator

Tarator and the previous soup on the menu, shkembe

chorba, couldn’t be any more different. Unlike shkembe

chorba’s firey spiciness, tarator is light, refreshing and

cold. A yogurt-base soup of cucumbers, garlic, dill and

sometimes walnuts (and even ice cubes!), tarator is a

must in those scorching summer days when, say, the

sun has forced you into the cool shade of a small

restaurant on the Black Sea coast. And if you want to

try it in the comfort of your home, here’s how to prepare it!

 Traditions and habits

May 2 is a day off for the residents of the Panagyurishte

municipality. It was on this date that we celebrate the

new anniversary of the outbreak of the April Uprising in

Oborishte. The April Uprising of 1876 was an armed

uprising of  Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire. It

premieres prematurely  on April 20 in an old style in

Koprivshtitsa and is organized by the Giurgiu

Revolutionary Committee. Although it is  unsuccessful,

it represents a peculiar peak of the Bulgarian

National Liberation Movement.

Good Friday

Good Friday is the day when the Son of God, Jesus Christ,

is crucified to become a scapegoat for the sins of mankind.

On this day of the Holy Week, fasting in the Orthodox

Church is particularly strict – then neither is it eaten nor

drunk (even water). On Friday, Faith requires not to do any

work. Before the beginning of the service, a symbolic tomb

of Christ, decorated with flowers, was raised in a specially

raised place in the middle of the temple, and on the throne

was placed the Platinum – the cloth with which the dead

body of Christ was wrapped after its removal from the cross.

The payer is a sail on which the image of the savior laid

in the tomb is sealed.

Panagyurishte Gold

Treasure

The treasure consists of a phiale, an amphora,

three oinochoai and four rhytons with total weight

of 6.164 kg of 24-karat gold. All nine vessels are

richly and skilfully decorated.It is dated from the

turn of the 4th-3rd centuries BC. It is thought to have

been used as a royal ceremonial set by the Thracian

king Seuthes III.

Panagyurishte Gold

Treasure

The items may have been buried to hide

them during 4th century BC invasions of the

area by the Celts or Macedonians.The phiale

carries inscriptions giving its weight in Greek

drachmae and Persian darics.

Resources:

1.www.google.bg

2.www.wikipedia.org