• +359 886 993 977
  • info@freeplovdivtour.com
Free Plovdiv TourFree Plovdiv TourFree Plovdiv TourFree Plovdiv Tour
  • About
    • Team
    • Spread the word
    • The Association
  • Free Tours
    • Free Plovdiv Tour
    • Plovdiv Graffiti Tour
    • Free Sofia Tour
  • Other Tours
    • Plovdiv Arts & Crafts District Tour
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • F.A.Q.
  • Partners
  • Support us
  • Testimonials
  • F.A.Q.
  • Partners
  • Support us

Search

Palm Sunday In Bulgaria
April 24, 2016
10 Quick Facts about Bulgaria you Might not Know
QUICK FACTS ABOUT BULGARIA
June 4, 2016

“Hristos Voskrese” or Happy Easter from Bulgaria

Published by freeplovdivtour at May 1, 2016
Categories
  • Traditional Bulgarian
Tags
  • Christian
  • Easter
  • egg
  • holiday
  • sweet bread
  • tradition

photo: Dimitra Lefterova

Easter is one of the most important Christian holidays.

Easter is the day when Jesus Christ has risen from the dead three days after his crucifixion on Good Friday. The date of the holidays changes every year as it is connected to the first full moon after the coming of the spring. But it’s always on Sunday.

Easter is the time of springtime festivals, a time to welcome back the tulips, the crocuses and the daffodils.

Happy Easter from Bulgaria
photo: Dimitra Lefterova

It is also the holiest day in the Christian calendar (followed by Christmas). Easter is recognized as a legal holiday in most countries with a significant Christian tradition.

The preparation for Easter starts the week before – Holy Week

On Great Thursday all the families paint eggs in different colors, predominantly in red (as a symbol of the blood of Jesus Christ). That can be done on Saturday before sunrise too. The first egg is always painted red to symbolize the blood of Christ and should be put aside – either to be buried in the fields to ensure fertility or kept in the home to bring good luck.

Happy Easter from Bulgaria
photo: Dimitra Lefterova

Together with the eggs, people make Easter bread – sweet bread filled with raisins, walnuts or chocolate. In Bulgaria, we call it Kozunak. The recipe for sweetened or “honey-leavened” bread may date back as far as the Homeric Greek period based on anecdotal evidence from classical texts that mention this type of special food. It is also widely known that sweetened bread desserts similar to panettone were a Roman favorite.

Happy Easter from Bulgaria
photo: sladea.bg

On Friday people go to church. According to the Bulgarian Orthodox tradition, they should pass under the table in the church for good health. The fasting on this day is especially strict – believers must not drink even water.

On Saturday at midnight, the real celebration starts

There is a holy liturgy in the churches and hundreds of people gather. They greet each other with the words: “Christ has risen” – “Hristos Voskrese”. The answer that follows is: “He has risen indeed” – “Voistina Voskrese”. After this everyone tries to go around the church three consecutive times and if their candle remains lit the whole time, this means that all their sins are forgiven and they take the flame home.

Happy Easter from Bulgaria
Easter 2019

In the end friends and families gather, eat kozunak and perform a special kind of game with the painted eggs. It’s called egg-tapping or egg-fighting. The rules are pretty simple. One tries to knock the competitor’s egg by using his own egg. In the end, the person whose egg remains unbroken is said to be the winner and will be fortunate and healthy the whole year.

After all, Easter is a holiday to bring families together

On behalf of the 365 Association and the Free Plovdiv Tour team, Happy Easter and may you have the strongest eggs!

Happy Easter from Bulgaria
Free Plovdiv Tour Easter
Share
1
freeplovdivtour
freeplovdivtour

Related posts

photo: Dimitra Lefterova

March 2, 2021

Significant places associated with the Liberation of Bulgaria – Part 1


Read more

Casting a bullet, photo: pzdnes.com

September 28, 2020

Bulgarian superstitions and curious traditions – Part 2


Read more
September 16, 2020

Bulgarian autumn – colorful fairytale near Plovdiv


Read more

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • TripAdvisor

A great Tour! We joined the tour on 25.11.2012 and we are very happy and satisfied with what we heard and learned. We reccomend the tour! It’s the best way… Read more “”

A good way to discover the city! It,s a very good way to discover the city and the places to see absolutly, especially when you don’t stay a long time… Read more “”

A must do Kris was an amazing tour guide, even though we had (crazy guy) in our group she still handle everything very well. It was extreamely informative and this… Read more “”

Must see We had a great tour with Adi and her colleague. This tour is a great possibility to see the main things in town in a quite short time,… Read more “”

Must do. Yes, it’s FREE and in English. You are finally understand all that you are seeing and have the ability to ask questions and delve further. This is a… Read more “”

CONTACTS

+359 886 993 977

info@freeplovdivtour.com

WRITE A REVIEW ABOUT US
HTML Sitemap
FIND US IN

FOLLOW US

© 2021 Free Plovdiv Tour. All Rights Reserved. Muffin group