This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Camels came to Kavakli (Topolovgrad of today) from Western and Eastern Thrace banished from their villages after the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly in the period from 1923 to 1925 camel breeding took root in Southeastern Bulgaria At the time there were more than 1,000 camels travelling in these parts but they were to be found in greatest numbers in Topolovgrad Local camel keepers at the time were no less expedient than the freight forwarding companies of today and their caravans delivered goods to the farthest corners of Sakar Mountain and the Eastern Rhodopes Truck and bus transport made its way into Bulgaria in the 1930s but camels had the advantage of going where there didn’t even exist roads these hardy animals were engaged in delivering bread salt and all kinds of other commodities across the entire southeastern part of Bulgaria Director of the Municipal Museum of History in Topolovgrad and adds that these exotic animals were also actively involved in the building of the Holy Mother of God church of the market hall and the tobacco monopoly building in Topolovgrad that was why they were used to carry building materials – sand “Only rarely were they used to till the land Nothing that had anything to do with camels was ever thrown away Even their dung was highly valued as fertilizer by the local tobacco growers and farmers As to their wool people would say: “If you have a camel wool blanket in the house In 1934 there were more than 300 camels in Topolovgrad But as World War II loomed closer roads were being built and machine transport gradually took over from these beasts of burden The camel keepers started selling their faithful beasts Camels were used for the last time to transport ore in wooden crates in the region of Madzharovo but in 1947 their owner sold them to… butchers from Haskovo “But when their work was over the fun began,” Veselin Kalvachev explains The camels from Topolovgrad were actually hired for the film Hitar (cunning) Petar in 1960 after which they were used in the tourist industry: “The last camel keepers Krustyo Karpezanov and Dimitar Gadakov went to the resorts along the Black Sea and their camels were transformed – into actors,” Veselin Kalvachev says Sveti Vlas tourists would get on the camels’ backs to have their picture taken grandpa Gadakov sold the last of his animals to the zoo in Kyustendil and that is how the tale of the Topolovgrad camels ends.” Photos courtesy of the Municipal Museum of History "You must have strong faith and pray - then the saint will help you and carry your prayer to God," says Father Georgi Markov of the Church of St Athanasius the Great in Gorni Lozen near Sofia He adds that he has often witnessed the miracles of St. marks 1160 years since the baptism of our Bulgarian people into the Orthodox faith and 1170 years since the creation of the Bulgarian alphabet and Slavic literature the Varna and Veliki Preslav Bishopric Metropolis. Bulgaria celebrates 149 years since the April Uprising – an event that led to the liberation of Bulgaria after almost five centuries of Ottoman rule we must not forget that every participant in the April. english@bnr.bg A partial state of disaster has been declared in the municipalities of Hisarya Bulgaria has been affected by a heat wave that hasn't eased for a week now and the forecast is for more scorching temperatures The fires have affected the villages of Pesnopoy Declaring a partial state of emergency will allow the mayors to take swift measures to fight the fires the Directorate of Fire Safety and Civil Protection and the emergency medical services The teams of the Unified Rescue System are working round-the-clock to completely extinguish the fire The state of disaster will last for a period of seven days locals and workers from the local administration.  two large fires occurred in Gornoseltsi village the Haskovo District Administration reported One fire burned down more than 10 houses in the village of Gornoseltsi and is now moving in the direction of the neighbouring village of Pokrovan Ivaylovgrad Mayor Diana Ovcharova told BTA the village is surrounded by pine forest” The fires can harm people's health and cause significant damage to agricultural crops More than 15 teams of firefighters are participating in the efforts to extinguish the Gornoseltsi fire Contacts +359 2 9262 210 By accepting cookies you can enjoy a better experience while browsing pages HOT: » What kind of news would you like to see more of? A partial state of emergency has been declared in three municipalities in the Haskovo region of Bulgaria due to a large fire near Svilengrad with the fire originating in the village of Studena The strong winds are exacerbating the situation and the road to the village has been closed using heavy machinery to create clearings and prevent the fire from reaching populated areas a fire has been brought under control but teams remain to monitor for re-ignition The situation is similar in the village of Strem where the fire is now under control with no danger to populated areas and evacuated residents have returned home safely part of the forest and dry grasses are still burning but the fire department has control of the situation with helicopters assisting in dousing the flames the fire in the village of Radovets is localized and under observation A significant fire has also erupted near Plovdiv affecting the villages of Pesnopoi and Mihiltsi Over 70 forest employees and firefighters are battling the blaze which has consumed nearly 2,000 decares in a pine forest located in the rugged inaccessible terrain of the Chukorliyski Bair area a partial state of emergency has been declared in Hisarya and Kaloyanovo with local authorities warning residents to keep windows closed and stay indoors due to heavy smoke Volunteers are urgently needed for firefighting efforts in the Miromir area are experiencing significant fire activity A red code for fire danger has been issued for 21 regions across Northern and Southern Bulgaria with an orange code for Central and Eastern Bulgaria prompting local authorities to impose partial states of emergency in some areas fire safety and protection teams are actively working to safeguard affected populations and properties with the fire spreading over more than 10,000 decares and resulting in the destruction of three houses Over 25 individuals in the Haskovo region have been fined for starting fires with 25 people sheltered at the Ustrem Monastery Authorities are urging the public to avoid activities that could start new fires such as discarding unextinguished cigarettes or lighting dry grass The Ministry of the Interior has listed several active and localized fires across multiple regions emphasizing the ongoing firefighting efforts and the significant areas affected Farmers are particularly concerned about the risk to agricultural produce and are advocating for a fire alarm system in small settlements to enable quicker response times and minimize damage We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria An 18-year-old girl who had been reported missing in Haskovo has been found dead The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) allows Bulgarian citizens to receive emergency medical treatment free of charge while traveling within the European Union in the industrial zone near the Meden Rudnik district in Burgas A partial state of emergency has been declared in the Nedelino Municipality by Mayor Boyan Kehayov due to power outages affecting three villages with certain regions expected to soon reach epidemic levels Moldova will introduce a state of emergency nationwide for a duration of 60 days due to concerns over a potential halt in Russian gas supplies starting January 1st Israel has turned to Bulgaria for assistance in battling the rapidly advancing wildfires in areas near Jerusalem The Bulgarian mobile operator A1 has confirmed that it is experiencing technical difficulties affecting both calls and text messages across its network A series of minor earthquakes were recorded in the Nessebar area with the strongest tremor measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale A woman sustained serious injuries after being attacked with pepper spray and an electroshock device and subsequently set on fire inside a hospital in the Bulgarian town of Botevgrad A 25-year-old man is in critical condition following an accident at the amusement park in Yambol A serious traffic accident in the Bulgarian town of Harmanli has left a 13-year-old child in critical condition after he was struck by a car while riding an electric scooter Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase Sakar is a mountain in Southeastern Bulgaria It is the lowest mountain and one of the most sparsely populated regions in the country There have been claims that Sakar used to be a cradle of an ancient civilization that has still not been researched extensively by scientists sanctuaries and dolmens scattered across the remote and inaccessible corners of the mountain kindle the fantasy of explorers and mystery seekers No wonder that lately Sakar has started to be referred to as the Megalithic Park of Europe there is an exceptionally rich concentration of facilities that date from the dawn of humanity Among them prevail the so-called dolmens - horizontally-fixed massive stone slabs supported by vertically-situated megaliths These monolithic “chambers” have been inexplicably fixed in their position by a human hand astronomical observatories or sanctuaries… Their real purpose remains unknown director of the Municipal history museum in the town of Topolovgrad Our ancestors have constructed them on that specific location due to the massive deposits of granite plutonium “The archaeologists who research the dolmensclaim that these are the earliest monumental buildings and that they were ancient Thracian tombs that the Thracians did indeed use some of them as funeral chambers the most likely purpose of these dolmens was for meditation and astronomical observations The most widespread thesis is that the dolmens in Sakar date back to 12th-6th century BC the Thracian funerary artefacts found in them are from this period but whether the chambers themselves were constructed in that period or earlier Dolmens are also sometimes called “dragon holes” or “dragon houses” There are many songs and legends of young maids having being abducted by dragons with golden wings the dolmens possessed healing powers and women who could not conceive had to go through the opening of the stone holes with the hope of having a child they understood the force of the Cosmos,” claims Veselin Kulvachev “They used to feel the forces of the natural properties of the granite And they were searching for a connection with the gods These are extraordinarily ancient and unexplained constructions