On January 18, the Orthodox Church revers the memory of St. Athanasius the Great. According to popular belief, St. Athanasius is a patron of winter storms. On horseback, donned in a silk shirt, goes St. Athanasius into the forest and yells, “Go away, yo, winter, come, thee, summer!” And according to the Bulgarian popular belief, he does that each year on January 18, and that is why it is known as the Winter Atanasovden or Amidst Winter in the popular calendar.
It is said that from January 18 the day begins to grow by one millet seed. In some regions of the country people used to believe that plague was born on this day. To protect themselves from the deadly disease, people used to sacrifice a black hen to prepare a ritual meal.
Atanas, Atanaska, Nasko, Tina, Tinka, Tanyu, Taska celebrate their name day today.
A group of Bulgarian scientists is leaving today for the Republic of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe . On the initiative of the Explorers Club Bulgaria, the researchers will research into the origins of Homo sapiens in these places. The..
Today, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honors the holy great martyr Varvara - a maiden from a noble family, beheaded for her Christian faith at the beginning of the 4th century. The day is also called Women's Christmas . This name comes from..
On November 30, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honors the memory of St. Apostle Andrew . In Bulgaria the saint is known as Saint Andrey and the folk holiday as Andreevden . Saint Andrew’s Day gives the start to the series of winter holidays..
Atanasovden, also known as Midwinter in our folk calendar, is a holiday on which the Orthodox Church and our folklore pay tribute to St. Athanasius the..
Fog
Partly Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy
Cloudy
Clear