Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

The Feast of the Cross is celebrated on September 14

Photo: Ani Petrova

The Orthodox Church celebrates the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The holiday celebrates the miraculous finding of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. It is one of the 12 major Christian holidays of the year. 

When the cross was discovered, it revived a dead boy, and since then Christians believe that if they seek God's mercy on this day, they will be cured of any disease. Folk custom connects the day with the beginning of autumn when the grape harvest begins. In the Rhodopes, thousands of believers gather with a prayer for healing in the area "Krastova gora" (Forest of the Cross) near Asenovgrad the night before the holiday.

For Bulgarians, Krastovden is also connected with the beginning of the last stage of the Ilinden - Preobrazhenie Uprising, when in 1903 the rebellion against the Ottoman rule covered the region of Pirin Macedonia and Serres.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The Feast of St. Athanasius – between Christianity, rituals and beliefs

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 Great – Archbishop of Alexandria and a fighter against Arianism (church heresy which rejects the..

published on 1/18/25 6:05 AM

A new temple near Sandanski bears the names of Saints Anthony and Athanasius the Great

The only chapel in the country to bear the names of Saints Anthony and Atha nasius is in Sandanski, and its consecration will be performed by His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Nevrokop, reports Andon Kotev - one of the initiators of the idea to..

published on 1/17/25 7:00 AM
The Bulgarian Cathedral Church

Bulgarians in Berlin celebrate the feast of St. Anthony the Great with special solemnity

On January 17, the Orthodox Church honors the memory of St. Anthony the Great – a zealous advocate of Christianity. At an advanced age, he took part in the Church's struggle against the Arian heresy. Anthony got into an open dispute with the..

published on 1/17/25 5:30 AM