Baba Marta and National Independance day
On the 1st of Marsh, Erasmus Students Network (ESN) of Veliko Tarnovo (VT) invited us at a Martenitsa workshop.
Martenitsa is made with red and white twisted threads. They take the form of bracelets but also of pompoms or characters : Pizho in white color (the man) and Penda in red (the woman).
Martenitsa are used to hunt winter and speed up the coming of spring. They are worn on the wrist or chest and can only be removed if you see a stork, a swallow or a flowering tree, signs of the arrival of spring.
This tradition is drawn from many legends, but here is the one that I liked the most.
"Grandmother Marta and her granddaughter Martitchka take the sheep to the pasture. Once there, the little girl starts playing with the lambs. But the wind rises and the little girl's red and white apron flies away. The wool of the apron hangs in the trees. The little girl then begins to cry. Grandmother Baba Marta collects the wool from the trees, then twists a red thread and a white thread and winds it all up on Martitchka's wrist."
On the 3rd of March, we hiked to Mount Shipka/Шипка (CH-I-P-K-A) in the Balkan central. (at the center on the map)
Why at this place ? Why on this day ?
The 3rd of March is the National Independance Day of Bulgaria. At this day in 1878 was the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman Empire.
Now, a little history! (read this article to understand better :)
To win the war, Russia decided to force the passage of the Balkan (Chipka is in the Balkan) in winter. Something that was not imaginable for the Ottomans because the winter is extremely hard and the passes narrow, steep and dangerous. I can confirm it from my experience !
The defense of Shipka lasted 5 months. 6,000 Bulgarians and Russian soldiers repelled the assaults of the Ottomans for 3 days pending the arrival of reinforcements from the Russian army. The resistance arrived at the end of its strength, without ammunition. Then another wave of attackers attacked the mountain, and the Bulgarians threw themselves on the Ottomans with their bare hands. This battle is a symbol of the liberated Bulgaria.
Immediately after the war, a memorial was built to preserve for the generations to come the heroic memory of the 11,000 dead soldiers.
The Chipka memorial was built and inaugurated in 1934. It is 31.5 meters high. To get there, you have to climb some 894 steps.
The bronze lion, symbol of the Bulgarian state.
On the 3 sides of the monument are inscribed the names of Chipka, Chéïnovo and Stara Zagora - the important battlefields in this military defense in the Balkans. Inside, on the ground floor, is the sarcophagus containing the bones of soldiers who died in defense of Chipka. Several paintings showing scenes of the war are exhibited on the upper floors, as well as numerous artifacts. (Some paintings that I showed you in the Short stroy of Bulgaria Article.
THE HIKING
We walked all the day on the land where the fighting took place. The morning was rather foggy and it was very cold.
At noon, we stoped in an inn and there, I didn't understood everything very well, but we ate bread cooked by our host (see the extract in the video!) (HOLD ON, French break is still the best 😅) and we drunk a delicious tea.
Then, we went to the memorial monument and we did traditional dances. (see the pics! I couldn't film, so no extract of this in the video).
Other pic are on my Instagram : @nickys37 and if you want to do hiking in Bulgaria : @TarnovoRuns
It was an amazing day. Looking forward to the next hiking by TarnovoRuns.
Thanks for reading, seeing pics and wathcing the video.
See you in an other article !
Nicolas