The holiday of St. Trifon in Asenovgrad and the pehlivans’ wrestling tournaments today

The pehlivans’ wrestling tournaments are traditional on the holiday of St. Trifon in Assenovgrad (the 1th of February). And this year (2009) the tournament was held as ordinarily. After the St. Liturgy that was held by the metropolitan of Plovdiv – the Right Reverend Nikolai, the people were attracted by the wrestling tournaments.

The professional and the amateur wrestlers were fighting in different categories, and they were being watched by coaches from the wrestling school of Assenovgrad. Many wrestlers with different religions took part in the tournament: Christians and Muslims. As always the attraction was a free wrestling for a traditional prize – a big ram that was taken by a man from Assenovgrad.

The day passed with a lot of wine, meals and happiness.

1. The cauldrons with boiled beans

2. The wrestlers in different categories

3. The wrestlers in skirmish

4. Fighters and the crowd

5. The big prize - the ram

6. The ram and some drinking man

7. Skirmish in the heavy category

8. The fight was exhausting

9. But the Winner could be only one

10. The Absolute winner and his prize

I apologise for the photos but my position was not very well in this crowd…

The Inn of the Bachkovo monastery in Assenovgrad – another dimension of Bulgarian culture

The area of Assenovgrad is famous for its cultural monuments: old churches and monasteries that have preserved orthodox and history treasures for ages.

The Inn of the Backovo monastery in Assenovgrad is one of these monuments. It was built after the monastery had been established in 1083 by the great Byzantine military commander the Georgian Grigori Bakuryani, during the time of emperor Alexi I Komnen (1081-1118).

The Inn was created for pilgrims who traveled to the monastery. The complex of edifices included living buildings, a kitchen, а dining-room and the church of St. George.

After the Middle Ages the Inn continued its existence in the Ottoman period. But in the time of the late XVIIIth century when the violence in the Ottoman empire escalated, Assenovgrad was affected two times by these rebels. The Inn was burnt in fire and only the church survived. However, in the beginning of the XIXth century the Inn was built again. The new complex of edifices was bigger than the old one.

In the second half of XXth century when the complex was abandoned the archeologist Rossitza Moreva from the historical museum of Assenovgrad began archeological researches in the Inn. She found ruins of Middle Age edifices.

These researches in the 70s of XXth century allowed the complex to be declared a cultural monument with local significance in the 80s of XXth by the Culture Ministry. At that time the culture institutions in the town and the museum could begin the restoration of the early XIXth century buildings. But when the political changes came in 1989 and in the early 90s of XX century the Inn was restituted to the Bachkovo monastery. The restoration stopped. The monastery administration restored only the XIth century church of St. George.

And now the complex of the Inn is declining…

1. The Inn complex from the north (the 80s of XXth century)

2. The Inn complex from the east (the 80s of XXth century)

3. The edifice from the north-east (the 80s of XXth century)

4. The Middle Age Inn. From researches of Rossitza Moreva

5. The Inn complex from the south-west. THE DECLINE (the summer of 1997)

66. The chimney of the kitchen (magernitza) (the summer of 1997)

7. The Inn complex from east (October 2008)

8. The church St. George from the north

9. The Gate of the Inn

10. The remains of the Inn from the north-west

11. Welcome to the jungle inside the Inn

12. The kitchen from the north-west

13. The kitchen from the north

14. The pulled down dome of the kitchen

15. The broken fountain inside the kitchen

16. Destroyed wall by treasure-hunters

17. Another destroyed walls

Resources:

1. Pictures 1, 2 and 3 are taken from “Assenovgrad” – guide that was published in 1986

2. Picture 4 – plan is taken from “The possessions of the Batchkovo monastery in the Rodopes during XII-XIV centuries” by Rossitza Moreva – Bulletins by museums in South Bulgaria, vol. 16, 1990

3. Pictures 5 and 6 are taken from here

4. The other pictures are mine

5. Amateur movie for the Inn of the Batchkovo monastery in Assenovgrad by my friends from C.A.S.T. here

“The Transition period” or a freak of Democracy

„The Year is 9002. Already 7013 years Bulgaria has been passing from Communism to Democracy”

Unknown Author

Today the year is 2009 yet…

In the Bulgarian public space, for twenty years the media and the politicians have been talking about “The Transition period” between Communism and Democracy. Twenty years the governing circles have been excusing their political improvidence with this Transition period.

What is this Transition period and what are the problems of Bulgarian society and politics?

After 1989 in Bulgaria came the Democracy and the democrats promised that for Bulgarian society is coming a period of passage from Communism to Democracy whose purpose is the building of a new society – the civil society. This Transition period has been permanent for already two decades and now in the Bulgarian public space cultural critics and journalists are saying that in our country civil society is impossible for the lack of culture among politicians, the young and the elder people.

For these twenty years the Bulgarian society has been lead by governors who seem not to care about people’s social and cultural status. In the public space the media have been talking about how our politicians are favoring themselves and how they corrupted with their power and authority. In the last years the Bulgarian underground bosses are coming up from the underworld. They are present at the public space and some of them are meeting with Bulgarian politicians without embarrassment for both sides.

In the new Millennium Bulgarian politics looks like some freak of Democracy. It is not an Oligarchy in its classic Spartan model but it is some kind of a Political Oligarchy in which the governing circles are raised by democratic elections.

Now in this societal situation of protests and public dissatisfaction I think that Bulgarians, with their lack of civil-society mentality and lack of concrete demands and alternatives to this political government, can not change the reality…

I hope this is only a science fiction.

The holiday of St. Trifon in Assenovgrad and the pehlivans’ wrestling tournaments – аn example for religious syncretism between the Christianity and the Islam in Bulgaria.

The town Assenovgrad (old name is Stanimaka) is famous from the centuries with the vineyards that grow on the outskirts of the town and with the wine which the people produce. The old name of the one of the districts in the town is Ambelino, Abelino (from Greek – Vine). For the first time this district was mentioned in the year 1706 by the famous French doctor and explorer Paul Lucas. He said that it was a separate settlement on the other side of the river.

Nowadays, in the forest near this area there is a chapel which carries the name of St. Trifon – a protector of vine-growers and vineyards. The famous architect from Assenovgrad Stoil Stoilov dates this chapel back from the 18^th century, but may be it is even older. For many years on the holiday of St. Trifon (on the 1^th February (14^th February in old style)) the Christian tradition has been blending with some Islamic patrimony elements – the pehlivans’ wrestling tournaments. Both Muslims and Christians take part in this event.

The pehlivans’ wrestling tournaments are famous also in the other parts of Bulgaria – in the area of the town Shumen and the area of the town Kruovgrad, too. The most famous tournament is Kırkpınar in Edirne, Turkey. The pehlivans’ wrestling tournaments have their beginning in the Ancient Egypt, and in the following centuries they found a place for development in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey.

In the case of Asenovgrad the pehlivans’ wrestling tournaments on the holiday of saint Trifon were brought from Muslim colonists. In the second half of the 17^th century Evliya Çelebi mentioned a small Muslim’s suburb of Stanimaka with 100 houses, one mosque, a teke and a small religious school.

But how this syncretism has appeared here, and does it replace another more ancient tradition with competitions in honour of the awakening nature? These are questions for a future research!

The pehlivans’ wrestling tournaments in Assenovgrad in the begining of the 20th century

The monastery of Kuklen “St. st. Kosma & Damyan” near Plovdiv – аn example for religion syncretism between the Christianity and the Islam in Bulgaria.

The monastery of Kuklen was established probably in the XIVth century. Today, six hundred years later it’s an important spiritual center for the Christian people from the region and further districts. In these centuries the monastery has become a depositary of many important culture relicts: unique works of orthodox art (from XVIIth and XIXth centuryes), a special collection of liturgical books (from the end of the XVIIth century.), which are preserved in the Library of Plovdiv, and a particular blend between the traditions of the Christianity and the Islam.

This mix between traditions of the Christianity and the Islam traditions in the monastery of Kuklen is very interesting. They are connected whit an architectural monument of the monastery’s church and the sacred spring near the cloister.

The monastery’s church is a very interesting monument which was built perhaps in the end of the XVIth or XVIIth century (because the first frescoes were made in XVIIth century). Its size is 22 by 8 meters and has a form of a tight Grecian cross. The church is built with carved stones which are rounded by red bricks – a traditional cell construction which was used in Ottoman buildings. Outside the building the whole facade has arches which have the shape spire above. Inside the church there are an exonartex, which is built with mud and stones later from the basic building, a nartex and a naos. The doors inside are built like spire arches, and the walls are rounded by these arches. In the eastern side the church has a rope apse. The blind dome is held by four spire arches.

Inside the church near the south wall there is a grave of one Ottoman notable. This Ottoman leader wanted to be buried in the monastery as a sign for his gratitude for the healing power of the sacred spring near the cloister. The grave stone is created with white marble and decorated with spiral lines.

Nowadays, the monastery of Kuklen “St. st. Kosma & Damyan” is visited by people from whole Bulgaria because there are a sacred relict – one arm with three fingers, may be of one of the healers st. Kosma or st. Damyan, and the healing spring.

The church

The church from the south

The church from the south (closer)

The grave stone of the Ottoman’s notable

The church’s apse

The church from the north