Discover your Bulgarian roots

Questions to ask the older generation

Memories fade faster than photos. Ask these over a meal or a phone call, and write the answers down.

1. Which town or region of Bulgaria did our family come from? Was it near Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas?
2. Who was the first in the family to leave Bulgaria, when, and why?
3. Which dishes from Bulgaria were cooked at home? Did anyone make Banitsa or Shopska salad?
4. Does anyone in the family still speak Bulgarian, or use a few words of it?
5. Were there songs, prayers, games or holidays from Bulgaria that the family kept?
6. Are there old photos, letters or documents from Bulgaria? Who has them?
7. If you could visit Bulgaria together, where would you go first?

A short history of Bulgaria

Bulgaria's story runs from what is often called the oldest worked gold in the world and the Thracians, through two medieval empires and almost five hundred years of Ottoman rule, to rebirth in 1878, communism, and today's place in the European Union.

1. 4500 BC

   The gold of Varna

   People of the Varna culture buried their leaders with rich gold ornaments. The graves, dated to between about 4600 and 4200 BC, were found by chance in 1972 and hold what is often called the oldest gold treasure in the world.

2. AD 864

   Boris I adopts Christianity

   Khan Boris I was baptised and made Orthodox Christianity the religion of his state. A shared faith and, soon after, a written language helped join Bulgars and Slavs into one people.

3. 1185

   The Second Bulgarian Empire

   After more than 150 years under Byzantine rule, the brothers Asen and Peter from Tarnovo led a revolt and restored the Bulgarian state, with Tarnovo as its capital.

4. 1762

   Paisius writes his history

   At the Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos, the monk Paisius of Hilendar finished his Slavonic-Bulgarian History. Copied by hand and passed around, it helped wake a new national pride.

5. 1885

   Unification with Eastern Rumelia

   The Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, around Plovdiv, joined the Principality of Bulgaria. Bulgaria then defended the union in a short war with Serbia.

6. 1943

   Deportations halted

   Bulgaria was allied with Nazi Germany. In March 1943 it deported 11,343 Jews from the lands it occupied in Macedonia, Thrace and Pirot, and almost all of them were murdered. Protests by the deputy speaker of parliament Dimitar Peshev, other politicians and the Orthodox Church stopped the plans to deport the Jews of Bulgaria itself, who survived the war.

7. 1989

   The fall of communism

   On 10 November 1989 the long-time leader Todor Zhivkov was forced to resign. In February 1990 the Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power, free elections followed that June and a democratic constitution was adopted in 1991.

8. 2026

   The euro arrives

   On 1 January 2026 the euro replaced the Bulgarian lev after 146 years, making Bulgaria the 21st member of the euro area. A year earlier, on 1 January 2025, it had become a full member of the Schengen area.

Family recipes to cook together

Banitsa 1 h 15 min · serves 6Shopska salad 20 min · serves 4Tarator 15 min · serves 4Kyopolou 1 h · serves 4Mish-mash 35 min · serves 4

Bulgarian words to teach the grandchildren

Towns and regions

• Sofia, Sofia City: The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Boyana Church on the city's edge.
• Plovdiv, Plovdiv Province: The Roman theatre, The restored Old Town.
• Varna, Varna Province: The Gold of Varna in the Archaeological Museum, The Sea Garden park.
• Burgas, Burgas Province: The Burgas Lakes, home to hundreds of bird species, The Sea Garden and sand sculptures.
• Ruse, Ruse Province: The Friendship Bridge to Romania, Birthplace of the Nobel Prize winner Elias Canetti.
• Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province: The Neolithic Dwellings Museum, Roman ruins in the centre.
• Veliko Tarnovo, Veliko Tarnovo Province: Tsarevets fortress, Houses stacked up the river cliffs.
• Shumen, Shumen Province: The Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, Shumen fortress.
• Kazanlak, Stara Zagora Province: The Rose Festival every June, The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak.
• Nesebar, Burgas Province: Medieval stone churches, Wooden houses from the 19th century.
• Bansko, Blagoevgrad Province: Skiing on Todorka peak, Pirin National Park next to the town.
• Blagoevgrad, Blagoevgrad Province: The American University in Bulgaria, A lively student life.