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Enviado - 04 febrero 2007 : 01:03:22 |
Eco-turismo in Bulgaria
Da Sofia, scrive Tanya Mangalakova 01.02.2007
Lo sviluppo del settore turistico tradizionale comporta il rischio della distruzione dei paesaggi naturali, vero patrimonio del paese. Le potenzialità dell'eco-turismo in Bulgaria secondo gli esperti intervenuti a Sofia alla conferenza “Bulgaria, dream area”
“La Bulgaria ha la capacità di ospitare 7-8 milioni di turisti l’anno, raddoppiando i numeri attuali e le entrate provenienti da questo settore, ma per farlo è indispensabile il miglioramento delle infrastrutture”. E’ quanto ha affermato il ministro per lo Sviluppo regionale e i Lavori Pubblici Asen Gagauzov, durante la conferenza internazionale “Bulgaria – dream area”, svoltasi a Sofia il 10 e 11 gennaio e dedicata allo sviluppo del turismo alternativo.
Ad impedire lo sviluppo del settore, secondo Tzvetan Tonchev, presidente della Camera del Turismo bulgara, è innanzitutto l’insufficienza delle strutture aeroportuali, che in Bulgaria permettono l’atterraggio, su tutto il territorio nazionale, di circa 130 velivoli, quanti in generale accoglie un solo aeroporto europeo. Sempre secondo Tonchev, lo sviluppo del turismo in Bulgaria contraddice il trend mondiale, perché investe soprattutto in nuove costruzioni, andando a distruggere i paesaggi naturali, meta privilegiata dei cittadini in cerca di relax. La conferenza “Bulgaria – dream area” è stata pensata per guardare al futuro, ma è indispensabile saper guardare alle insufficienze del presente. Lo stato non riesce al momento a portare avanti una vera strategia di sviluppo del settore. Basti pensare che la Croazia investe ogni anno 10 milioni di euro per pubblicizzare le sue località turistiche, la Turchia 68 milioni, mentre la Bulgaria appena 3, equivalenti appena agli stipendi dei dipendenti dell’agenzia nazionale per il turismo.
Secondo Maria Marinova, gestore di due rifugi sulle cime dei Balcani, l’eco-turismo è un settore chiave per la nuova Bulgaria nell’Unione Europea, il modo giusto per preservare le identità locali e portare nuovi turisti stranieri a scoprire il paese. Il problema, sempre secondo la Marinova, è che esistono molti progetti, ma che non sono sostenibili, e perciò finiscono con l’esaurirsi dei fondi. Per non parlare poi della scarsa o nulla attenzione verso le fonti rinnovabili.
“Eko”, un marchio che nasconde non pochi problemi
“Non ci sono dati attendibili sul numero di turisti in Bulgaria, siano essi stranieri o locali. La stima di 4 milioni risale all’era socialista. Se parliamo di eco-turismo, sappiamo che i numeri variano intorno ai 10-11mila turisti l’anno, più 1.200-1.500 bird-watchers. La Bulgaria ha la più grande biodiversità in Europa, con 700-900 orsi, migliaia di lupi, 60 specie di orchidee”, ha dichiarato a Osservatorio sui Balcani Ljubomir Popjordanov, presidente dell’Associazione Bulgara per il Turismo Alternativo (www.baatbg.org).
“I pacchetti dell’eco-turismo sono quattro volte più redditizi di quelli del turismo balneare sulle coste del Mar Nero”, ha continuato Popjordanov. ”Un giorno di eco-turismo in Bulgaria costa circa 100 euro. Lo stato bulgaro però non è interessato in questo settore, non ha una politica a riguardo, ma è interessato soltanto agli introiti che può ottenere attraverso le tasse o la corruzione. La Bulgaria ha adottato una strategia nazionale sull’eco-turismo, ma il governo non ha fatto nulla per realizzarla”.
Orlin Chachanovski è uno degli alpinisti bulgari più famosi, oltre che guida e presidente dell’ong “Mountain and People” (www.planini.com). Alle domande di Osservatorio sui Balcani sul tema dell’eco-turismo ha risposto che “purtroppo il tema dell’eco-turismo in Bulgaria non è molto chiaro. Ultimamente il prefisso “eco” è stato anteposto a ogni tipo di proposta turistica, pur di renderla appetibile. Guardiamo ad esempio i sentieri ecologici, realizzati sui monti grazie a donatori vari e spesso ben attrezzati. Questi sentieri non hanno status legale, sono terra di nessuno, e quindi nessuno si prende cura di loro. Alcuni non sono legati a percorsi turistici, ma sono fini a se stessi. Spesso, proprio per mancanza di manutenzione, diventano pericolosi”. Altri problemi riguardano, secondo Chachanovski, sia il sistema di categorizzazione dei rifugi, antiquato e lontano dalle prassi europee. Ma forse il problema più sentito è la forte spinta all’edilizia turistica anche nei parchi nazionali, come ad esempio quello del massiccio del Pirin, dove il pur comprensibile desiderio degli abitanti di sviluppare il turismo locale sta creando delle vere e proprie foreste di cemento. Tanto che, secondo Chachanovksi, oggi è difficile spiegare che il Pirin è un parco sotto l’egida dell’Unesco.
Contro “Natura 2000”
Entro la fine di gennaio la Bulgaria dovrebbe adottare il piano “Natura 2000”, ma molte tensioni si stanno accumulando sul progetto, soprattutto nella zona del Pirin. Il 14 gennaio circa 5mila persone hanno occupato, per la terza volta in poche settimane, la strada che mette in comunicazione Simili e Gotze Delchev all’altezza del valico di Predela, in segno di protesta contro il piano, e per escludere la loro regione dai confini di “Natura 2000”. La protesta è durata più di un’ora, provocando disagi non indifferenti agli automobilisti. Migliaia di proprietari della regione di Razlog e Bansko e addetti all’edilizia impiegati nei cantieri della zona hanno alzato cartelloni chiedendo maggiori informazioni su come il network ecologico “Natura 2000” verrà implementato. Secondo Ljubomir Popjordanov, la protesta è alimentata soprattutto dai numerosi fraintendimenti nati dalla scarsa informazione data dal governo sulle caratteristiche del progetto.
Internet come strumento di promozione
Uno dei maggiori problemi per il turismo in Bulgaria, sia esso ecologico o tradizionale, è la mancanza di un sito unificato di prenotazione on-line, così come di un portale web dedicato. Il sito dell'Agenzia Statale per il Turismo sembra provenire da un’altra era geologica. Molti alberghi hanno il proprio sito internet, ma molto spesso le informazioni non sono aggiornate. Quando si discute di turismo alternativo come possibile attività per i centri rurali, bisogna menzionare proprio l’ostacolo della mancanza di internet e delle infrastrutture della comunicazione.
Da tutti i partecipanti alla conferenza “Bulgaria – dream area” traspariva la speranza di poter promuovere la Bulgaria come nuova destinazione per il turismo internazionale. Alcuni dei partecipanti hanno stampato cataloghi patinati sul turismo termale o quello alternativo, ma nessuno sembra essersi curato di lanciare un moderno portale che raccogliesse informazioni e servizi on-line. Alexandrina Alexandrova, della Travelstoremaker Company, specializzata nello sviluppo delle tecnologie di e-commerce, ha dichiarato ad Osservatorio che la compagnia “Destination Bulgaria” (www.destinationbulgaria.bg) ha in progetto proprio di raccogliere in rete tutti i dati riguardanti il turismo tradizionale e alternativo in Bulgaria. Oltre a internet c’è, naturalmente, anche la televisione. Dal 2005 trasmette da Sofia “Travel Tv International”, un nuovo canale tv dedicato al turismo e ai viaggi, una specie di versione bulgara del Discovery Channel. “Travel Tv International” vuole raggiungere il pubblico europeo interessato ai viaggi, al turismo e alla cultura. Può essere visto tramite internet negli Stati Uniti, in Canada e negli stati dell’Ue. Il canale è distribuito attraverso operatori via cavo anche in Germania, Serbia, Macedonia, Russia, Ucraina e Kazakhstan.
(Da OSSERVATORIO SUI BALCANI. - http://www.osservatoriobalcani.org/article/articleview/6704/1/51/) |
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Enviado - 22 octubre 2009 : 13:56:10 |
Guía para la hospitalidad y las aventuras en Bulgaria
Por Veneta Nikólova Versión en español: Mijail Mijailov Radio Bulgaria viernes, 25 de septiembre de 2009
Es cada vez mayor el número de los viajeros nacionales y extranjeros quienes se sienten tentados a disfrutar de la oportunidad de descansar en el regazo de la intacta naturaleza búlgara, lejos de las rutas turísticas bien trilladas. Suelen alojarse en coquetas y acogedoras casas para huéspedes diseminadas incluso en los rincones más recónditos de Bulgaria, para despojarse de la tensión de la vida diaria y asomarse a los ritos y costumbres bien conservados de sus anfitriones. ¿Cómo podrán orientarse estos viajeros en medio de la gran variedad de destinos que los llevan a zonas de turismo rural y ecológico de Bulgaria?
La respuesta a esta interrogante nos la ofrece la flamante publicación ”Guía para la hospitalidad y las aventuras”, de la Asociación Búlgara de Turismo Alternativo, ABTA. La publicación es bilingüe, con textos en búlgaro e inglés. La guía, plagada de fotos mapas y planos recoge las direcciones de más de un centenar de casas para huéspedes y pequeños hoteles familiares, sitos en los rincones más recónditos del país. Lo que los une es que garantizan una vivencia diferente y radicalmente distinta de las que ofrecen las rutas del turismo masivo. Una gran parte de las instalaciones recogidas por la nueva guía las integran casas pueblerinas reconstruidas a los efectos del turismo, de interior acogedor, que ofrecen cocina tradicional búlgara auténtica. Hay también oportunidades para familiarizarse con el folclore y las tradiciones locales.
Por entre las direcciones incluidas se pueden ver las de casas que ostentan el certificado “Green Lodge”, o sea “casa verde” en las cuales se sitúan el primer término la hospitalidad, el desvelo por la naturaleza y las conservadas costumbres hogareñas búlgaras. El certificado está acorde con los criterios de la Red Europea de Turismo ecológico y Rural , ECEAT. Liubomir Popyordanov, presidente de la ABTA aporta más detalles sobre la nueva publicación:
“El mensaje lanzado por esta guía es que viajemos en forma responsable y procuremos respetar la naturaleza y el patrimonio cultural de Bulgaria, con el fin de no perjudicar éste ni aquélla. es que Bulgaria cuenta con recursos limitados. Bulgaria es un magnífico país en cuyo reducido territorio se han concentrado todas las hermosuras de Europa. Sin embargo, no hay que olvidar que esta hermosura no es inagotable y hemos visto y comprobado los importantes daños que el desarrollo indiscriminado del turismo ha hecho en el litoral búlgaro de mar Negro. Las montañas nacionales tampoco son unos terrenos inagotables para los inversores. Es por esto que tratamos de cultivar en la gente una postura de mayor responsabilidad con respecto a nuestro patrimonio natural e histórico-cultural y respaldar, al mismo tiempo, a las personas que pretendan desarrollar un negocio turístico sostenible”.
La idea es fomentar más bien el turismo cognoscitivo que no perjudica a la naturaleza y evitar los afanes consumistas respecto al medio ambiente, tan difundidos tanto en Bulgaria como en el extranjero. Es que en Bulgaria abundan las ofertas de modalidades no tradicionales para el descanso y las vacaciones en medio de la naturaleza. Una parte de estas formas se halla recogida en la nueva guía. Nos referimos a la observación de animales salvajes, a la práctica de ciclismo en montaña y de parapente etc. Recorrer los senderos a lomo de caballo es igualmente una posibilidad de convertir las vacaciones en una aventura saturada de emociones.
Los interesados podrán acceder a información complementaria sobre las riquezas naturales y las posibilidades para el descanso activo en Bulgaria al dirigirse a los centros de información en los diferentes municipios y territorios protegidos. Sus direcciones están incluidas en la guía. No hay que subestimar tampoco las ofertas para el turismo vinícola y culinario cuyos partidarios no dejan de aumentar, sobre todo entre los turistas extranjeros.
(http://bnr.bg/sites/es/Lifestyle/Tourism/Pages/250909_Gu%C3%ADa%20para%20la%20hospitalidad%20y%20las%20aventuras%20en%20Bulgaria.aspx) |
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Enviado - 27 septiembre 2009 : 00:11:03 |
Le monastère de Rila, destination phare du tourisme en Bulgarie
BIRN, 10 septembre 2009 Traduit par Jacqueline Dérens LE COURRIER DES BALKANS Dimanche 20 septembre 2009
Le monastère de Rila, haut lieu de la spiritualité orthodoxe bulgare, fondé au Xe siècle, attire les touristes toujours en plus grand nombre. L’an dernier, ils ont été plus d’un million à le visiter, dont de nombreux étrangers.
Le maire de Rila, Georgi Kabzimalski, vient d’annoncer à la radio Focus, que le monastère avait attiré 1.002.204 touristes depuis le mois de septembre 2008, soit une augmentation de 22,5 % en un an. Ces statistiques ont été établies et publiées par la municipalité de Rila qui est responsable du parc qui entoure le monastère rapporte The Sofia Echo.
Dans cet article, l’auteur souligne que la beauté du site naturel et l’héritage religieux et symbolique du monastère sont les raisons de sa popularité.
Les mois de juillet, août et septembre, sont les mois de pointe pour le tourisme et l’an dernier, les touristes venus de France, de Grèce, de la République tchèque et du Japon ont été les plus nombreux.
En 2000, le monastère de Rila a été déclaré parc naturel et les alentours du monastère sont protégés et intégrés dans le Parc national de Rila.
On pense que le site a été fondé par l’ermite Saint Jean de Rila (Ivan Rilski) pendant le règne du tsar Pierre (927-968). Saint Jean a vécu dans une grotte, dénué de tout bien matériel, pas très loin de l’actuel monastère construit par ses successeurs venus dans la montagne pour suivre son enseignement.
Le monastère de Rila est considéré comme un des plus important monument culturel et religieux de la Bulgarie et a beaucoup contribué à préserver la culture et le patrimoine bulgares pendant l’occupation turque. C’est pourquoi il est considéré comme un élément fondamental de la conscience nationale bulgare.
La principale église du monastère a été construite au milieu du XIXe siècle. Son architecte Pavel Ionav a travaillé sur ce monument de 1834 à 1837. L’église possède cinq dômes, trois autels et deux chapelles adjacentes. Dans une des chapelles, on trouve la précieuse iconostase recouverte de feuilles d’or et les sculptures en bois qui ont exigé cinq ans de travail.
(http://balkans.courriers.info/article13627.html) |
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Enviado - 20 agosto 2009 : 00:07:14 |
New ferry line to link Bulgaria and Romania
Romanian Times 17. 08. 2009
A new ferry line will link Romania’s Turnu Magurele and Bulgaria’s Nikopol starting in October, it was revealed today (Mon).
The ferry line will begin to operate after completion of a ten-kilometre road, Nikopol Mayor Valerii Zhelazkov was quoted as saying by Bulgaria’s BTA news agency, according to Sofia Echo’s website.
"We are ready to launch the ferry once the Nikopol-Pleven road has been completed," he said, adding that there were ten kilometre remaining under construction.
Two ferryboats will make 12 round-trips daily, carrying up to six heavy and 30 light vehicles, with each crossing lasting up to ten minutes.
The project will have cost five million Euros upon its completion.
Contracts for construction of the new ferry complex were signed by Bulgaria and Romania in 2004, and work began a year later but encountered several delays.
There are three ferry lines between the two countries: Vidin-Calafat, Silistra-Calarasi and Oriahovo-Bechet. Another line may eventually provide service between Lom and Rastu.
The two countries are connected by the Ruse-Giurgiu bridge, and a second bridge, Vidin-Calafat, should be completed in 2010.
(http://www.romaniantimes.at/news/General_News/2009-08-17/2374/New_ferry_line_to_link_Bulgaria_and_Romania) |
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Enviado - 04 agosto 2009 : 01:12:39 |
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+ INFO and contact: http://apartrentplovdiv.freeservers.com/index.html
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Enviado - 22 julio 2009 : 23:58:56 |
VARNA MOBILE RENT Rent car in Varna (Bulgaria)
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Enviado - 22 julio 2009 : 23:52:09 |
Bulgaria’s Black Sea hotels laying off staff mid-season
by Clive Leviev-Sawyer THE SOFIA ECHO JulY 17 2009
Hard on the heels of figures saying that 20 per cent of Bulgaria’s hotels have closed, a new report says that some family hotels on the southern Black Sea have shut their doors and dismissed staff, while even those that have guests are reducing the number of their employees. Reporting from the southern Black Sea city of Bourgas, Bulgarian news agency BTA quoted hotelier Georgi Georgiev as saying that while there had not been many cases of hotels closing in mid-season, even in hotels where there were visitors, staff were being "streamlined". At Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) there were far fewer foreign tourists than in 2008, and worse, large tour operators had not started to sign agreements for summer 2010, Georgiev said. On July 14, Roumen Draganov, head of the Institute for Analysis and Assessment of Tourism, said that about 20 per cent of the hotels in Bulgaria, including those at the seaside, had been closed and 60 per cent of beds were not booked. Draganov said that revenue from foreign tourism in Bulgaria this year would be 25 per cent less than in 2008. During the campaign for Bulgaria’s July 5 2009 national parliamentary elections, Boiko Borissov’s party GERB promised new legislation to put the country’s tourism industry on a sound footing. Speaking in Veliko Turnovo on July 2, GERB chairperson Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that it was high time to adopt a serious Tourism Act that would lay the foundations for the development of the tourism sector. At the election event, GERB and tourism associations signed a co-operation agreement. Tourism associations were promised an active role in drafting new legislation that GERB would table in Parliament, Bulgarian news agency Focus quoted Tsvetanov as saying.
(http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/07/17/757233_bulgarias-black-sea-hotels-laying-off-staff-mid-season-report) |
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Enviado - 08 julio 2009 : 01:19:20 |
Paradise in Bulgaria
by Nick Iliev THE SOFIA ECHO JulY 03 2009
Some climbers generally tend to leave the best for last, so that they can enjoy everything else in between. In my case I had decided to leave both Vihren in Pirin and Moussala in Rila to the last as they appealed to me the most, and my expectations were proven right. Accordingly, it rather put me off when it was finally decided to climb Botev summit in the central Balkan range. I was at some point so reluctant to climb it, considering it substantially inferior to the likes of Vihren, Kutelo and Moussala, that I opted instead to return repeatedly to Pirin and Rila, scaling peaks there that I had already climbed, simply because I thought Stara Planina would be a total waste of my time. And, of course, it turned out that I was a complete, fully-fledged, card-carrying idiot.
The journey took us from Sofia to the town of Kalofer, following a mountain road running parallel to the River Iskar and the Iskar gorge, a trip which, in itself, deserves an article. The Balkan range divides the country in half and usually sets the standards for all rivers of the Balkan peninsula: north of it, they flow in the Danube, and south of it, onwards to the Aegean Sea. Not Iskar, though. Iskar slices right through the range, crossing most of Bulgaria, only to pour itself in to the Danube. Abandoning the car in Kalofer, our party of four set off with roughly 20kg of laden Bergens full of food, water, thick clothing, medical and survival kit towards the first destination on what was to be the first leg of the hike – Raiskoto Pruskalo waterfall and the Rai Lodge (Paradise Lodge).
At 124.5m, Raiskoto Pruskalo is the highest permanent waterfall in Southeastern Europe. Walking through fields, interspersed with scattered forests, we encountered farm animals, serenity and beauty, then embarked on a poorly maintained dirt road which eventually revealed the fearsome Southern Djendem gorge and the summit of Botev in the distance itself, with the silver waterfall visible from miles.
Make sure you are driving a Land Rover or something similar if you attempt going there with a vehicle. Alternatively, your city car will be disemboweled, battered and left for the scrap yard. Reaching a beautiful natural terrace overlooking the gorge and the towering summit ahead, we halted for a quick brew and realised that here, not even a third in hike, the road ends. From there on, it’s a mountain path, slicing through the ancient forest – the only route by which Rai is accessible. Several horses and mules, laden with food, drinks and other provisions were supplied by an army truck while we were having our brew, setting off for the lodge before us.
The Balkan Mountain Range, or Stara planina in Bulgarian, extends for more than 580km from the Vrshka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia, then running eastward, slicing Bulgaria in half, reaching the shores of the Black Sea at Cape Emine. The highest peaks of the Stara Planina are all centred in central Bulgaria, the highest of which is Botev at 2376m, dead in the middle of the Central Balkan National Park, and, of course, the main objective of this three-day expedition. It is flanked by Triglav (Three Heads) to the west and Vejen, to the east. The mountain range itself, instrumental and symbolic with the history and culture of Bulgaria, has a very prominent stature in the national consciousness of all Bulgarians, and subsequently has lent its name to the entire Balkan Peninsula.
Established in 1991 to conserve the unique natural scenery and heritage of the area, and protect the customs and livelihood of the local population, it is governed by the Park Directorate, a regional body of the Ministry of the Environment and Waters that manages the Park. The Directorate employs local organisations and engages volunteers and mountain climbers in preserving the habitat. We climbed the steep path towards Rai Lodge, passing primal forests, several hundred year old trees, rivers, small waterfalls, negotiating the path covered with piles of horse and mule excrement deposited from the caravan ahead. "Don’t worry, it’s only five turns to the ridge which overlooks the lodge," said our companion Dobrin Minkov. Right, mate! Multiply that by a factor of 10 and you are getting closer to the actual turns the path makes to the ridge. Every once in a while we would find a white metal box with a red cross nailed to a tree – a pharmacy, fully stocked with just about anything you can imagine. "Help yourself but don’t over supply" was written on the case.
Remarkable and renowned for its flora and fauna, it accommodates centuries-old forests of beech, spruce, fir, hornbeam, and durmast. More than half the flora of Bulgaria has been identified within the park, and of these, 10 species and two subspecies are endemic, which means they are found nowhere else in the world. It boasts more than 130 higher plants and animal species which are included in the Bulgarian and the World Red Book of Endangered Species. The beautiful, extremely rare and iconic Edelweiss grows there in the region of Kozyata Stena (Goat’s Wall) and the flower can also be found in Pirin’s Koncheto Ridge. Most of Europe’s largest mammal species can be found there, including the brown bear, wolf, boar, chamois, deer and others.
Read the complete article (2 pages) in http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/07/03/748171_paradise-in-bulgaria |
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Enviado - 22 junio 2009 : 12:31:51 |
Tra i misteri dei Rodopi
Da Sofia, scrive Tanya Mangalakova OSSERVATORIO SUI BALCANI 16.06.2009
Tra sorgenti curative, leggendari misteri e antiche credenze della tradizione si sviluppa il turismo sui monti Rodopi. Negli ultimi anni la località di Ognyanovo è diventata una delle mete più ambite della Bulgaria. Nostro reportage
Con le sue sorgenti curative, e i suoi misteri legati al mondo delle leggende e della magia Ognyanovo è una delle località termali più attive negli ultimi anni in Bulgaria. Gli hotel a conduzione familiare, qui costruiti negli ultimi 7-8 anni, così come le stanze in affitto nelle antiche case del paese, sono piene di turisti.
Lungo il fiume Kanina sono sorti molti alberghi dotati di piscina con acqua curativa, gestiti soprattutto da persone del luogo. Ad attirare i turisti è anche l'atmosfera intrisa di leggende. Gli abitanti di Ognyanovo credono che proprio di qui sia passato san Paolo. E se trovano una biscia in giardino, in casa o nei campi, dicono che si tratti di un “saybiya”, vero padrone della casa.
In questa regione, le antiche tradizioni e credenze diventano parte integrante dell'offerta turistica, e contribuiscono alla ricetta che sta portando ad uno sviluppo di successo del turismo culturale e alternativo a Ognyanovo.
Il “miro”, tra leggende e benessere
I nuovi hotel sono costruiti in armonia con le tradizioni ancora vive ad Ognyanovo, paese adagiato tra le montagne del Pirin, dei Rodopi, della Slavyanka e dello Stargach, lungo la valle del Mesta. Negli ultimi anni, qui si è assistito al boom del turismo termale.
L'hotel “Bohema”, lungo il fiume Kanina e un tipico esempio della formula di successo con cui si sta sviluppando Ognyanovo. La sua proprietaria, Violeta Pancheva, è vissuta da piccola nella vicina città di Gotze Delchev, per poi tornare al paese d'origine. Suo padre, come tutti i locali, ama immergersi nel “miro”, una piccola piscina creata intorno ad una sorgente di acqua termale. Ad Ognyanovo i “miro” sono cinque, utilizzati da secoli, e soprattutto d'inverno rappresentano la vera attrazione del paese. Il marito di Violeta ricorda il suo stupore quando, in pieno inverno, venne invitato per la prima volta a bere birra immerso nel “miro”, mentre intorno a lui cadeva fitta la neve.
Alla fine degli anni '90 Violeta e suo marito hanno acquistato una proprietà ormai abbandonata, trasformandola in un piccolo albergo familiare con due piscine esterne ed una interna con l'idromassaggio. Il loro figlio Nikolay ha deciso allora di trasferirsi anche lui a Ognyanovo, ed è diventato presto il gestore dell'albergo. Violeta e Nikolay sono convinti che la leggenda dei “miro” di Ognyanovo, che si crede siano stati benedetti da san Paolo, sia parte del fascino che ha portato successo al turismo nel villaggio.
Nell'ortodossia orientale la parola “miro” (olio santo) è legata alla cerimonia di unzione che segue il battesimo dei nuovi nati. L'olio santo viene prodotto durante la Quaresima, da ben 40 sostanze diverse, tra cui olio di oliva, vino e oli profumati. Ogni chiesa ortodossa viene benedetta con l'olio santo.
L'hotel di pietra
L'hotel “Petreliyski” rappresenta una storia di successo nel turismo termale, una storia cominciata grazie ai fondi europei del progetto SAPARD. E' stato soprannominato “l'hotel di pietra”, visto che è interamente costruito con pietre di gneiss, chiamato qui “tikli”.
Le grandi lastre di gneiss vengono utilizzate da secoli nella costruzione di abitazioni sui Rodopi, sia come tegole che come rivestimento esterno. Le formazioni rocciose intorno a Ognyanovo sono state letteralmente “mangiate” dal processo di estrazione del gneiss. Negli ultimi anni, questo materiale è diventato fonte di lavoro per molti, vista la richiesta per la costruzione di case e ville che molti bulgari benestanti vogliono proprio in questa regione.
Il “Petreliyski” è davvero tutto in pietra, e di gneiss sono anche le piscine. La proprietaria, Katya Petreliyska, spiega che l'hotel viene completamente riscaldato da acqua minerale, che scorre sotto le pietre che formano il pavimento. L'intera famiglia si occupa dell'albergo fin da quando venne comprato il terreno e cominciò la sua costruzione, finanziata dai fondi europei SAPARD per lo sviluppo dell'agro-turismo.
La Petreliyska somiglia alle bulgare di un tempo ormai scomparso, tiene tutto sotto controllo e tiene ad ogni dettaglio del suo albergo. Secondo lei, a Ognyanovo il turismo non è in crisi, ma al contrario arrivano sempre più clienti, soprattutto dopo l'apertura del vicino valico di frontiera di Drama, che permette il facile accesso dalla Grecia.
Leggete l'articolo completo a http://www.osservatoriobalcani.org/article/articleview/11411/1/51/ |
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Enviado - 10 junio 2009 : 20:59:41 |
APART HOTEL TOPOLA SKIES
DELUXE APARTMENTS ON THE BLACK SEA COAST INCREDIBLE SEA VIEW AND GOLF PANORAMA Topola Skies is a private ecological holiday complex, set across the plateau of the Topola village, one of the loveliest spots of the Northern Black Sea coast, just between the towns of Kavarna and Balchick, in 54 km north of Varna City. Topola Skies complex offers a marvelous view over the sea and the biggest golf course in the region – Thracian Cliffs, designed by Gary Player. It is also within a short distance of the other two smaller golf courses - Lighthouse Golf Course and Black Sea Rama, which where open last year.
Topola Skies apart-hotel offers 40 luxurious two- and three-room apartments situated in three buildings, located on a total area of 22 500 sq.m. The apartments are luxuriously finished, and all of them looking towards the seaside offering an incredible sea and golf panorama. The common parts of the resort include: entertainment sports playgrounds, two-level infinity swimming pool, children’s pool and playground, water slide, water bar, open-air fast food restaurant, business centre, commercial areas with restaurants and shops. The apartments are equipped with upholstered furniture, fully equipped kitchens, plasma TVs, separate air-conditioners, internet access, telephone, terrace with table and chairs. Luxurious bathrooms with a shower cabin or a bathtub, complete set of cosmetic accessories. The resort offers opportunities for entertainment and relaxation such as: yacht trips, fishing, diving, jeep-safari, paintball, etc. Topola skies disposes with conference halls with capacity up to 150 seats, suitable for business events and team-building programmes. Our guests have at their disposal a restaurant - 170 seats, suitable for wedding celebrations, company dinner-parties etc. Lobby bar – 60 seats with an open-air terrace and view of the sports playgrounds. The resort’s construction started in the end of 2007 and will be finalised in the summer of 2009.
+ INFO & photos: http://aparthotel.topolaskies.com/en/home |
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Enviado - 07 junio 2009 : 22:50:42 |
SMILEN HOTEL
9, Shumkov Kamuk Street Smolyan, Ezerovo Area Bulgaria, 4700
Hotel Smilen lies in a breathtaking location, surrounded by the fascinating landscape of the Rhodopes Mountain at the altitude of 1345 m. The place is 220 km away from Sofia and 120 km from Plovdiv.
The hotel is located just 5 km away from the city of Smolyan, yet away from traffic, in a quiet and sunny location at the south foot of Snejanka peak – the famous Smolyan lakes area. The ski tracks of Pamporovo resort are all around the peak of Snejanka. The chairlift leading to the tower on Snejanka peak is just 3 km away from the Hotel Smilen and can be reached by car in 10 minutes. Telephones T.+359 301 65551 F +359 301 65553 Mob +359 899 996035
E-mail: info@hotelsmilen.com
GPS: 41°60'60.57"N 24°67'46.92"E
+ INFO: http://www.hotelsmilen.com/home |
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Enviado - 04 junio 2009 : 16:11:11 |
Bulgaria's place in history is firm Art, metals and architecture are still honored
By EVELYN WELIVER Record-Eagle, Traverse City (Michigan, USA) May 30, 2009
In the middle part of our trip, our group of eight climbed into our silver van and went south into the Rhodope Mountains to the Bachkova Monastery.
It was founded in 1083, restored in the 20th century and is now on the list to become an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the old dining room, richly painted biblical scenes cover the low curved ceiling and damp walls.
We sat around a rough, white, 20-foot-long marble table with a raised edge to prevent the blessed food from dropping on the floor.
There is a small church across the courtyard. A wooden door inside has a deep carving of two eagles, back to back, with a crown over their heads. This is a symbol for the pope of Constantinople. People stood in a line winding out the front door, waiting to pray in front of the Virgin Mary's icon of vivid blues and silver with a golden halo.
We had lunch by a sparkling river -- grilled vegetables and mushroom tops with herbs, mixed bean salad, cold meats, cheeses and toasted bakery bread.
Driving on to Plovdiv we visited a Roman theater from the second century A.D. The steeply tiered marble benches made a semi-circle around the outdoor stage. Distant mountains formed a backdrop.
We walked on very rough and uneven cobblestones past restored 19th-century houses painted deep green, blue and fuchsia.
Near the shops, a young man in folk costume of dark trousers and embroidered shirt played small goatskin bagpipes.
In the morning we visited a museum that was built to cover and preserve the clay remains of the Neolithic village Stara Zagora, dating from the 6th millennium B.C. Two small houses shared a middle wall. Some of the first farmers in Europe lived here. They ground their grain in an oval clay basin with an outside channel for the grain to slide down.
There were pottery vessels of unusual shapes and copper implements. The oldest copper mine in Europe was just five miles away.
After they mined the ore with fire and cold water, they filled the holes with earth.
Later in the tour we visited Varna on the Black Sea. The Archeological Museum has amazing displays of gold artifacts.
Three thousand pieces of gold were found in the nearby Varna Necropolis dating to 4400 B.C. Nowhere else in the world has this much gold been found from this era. The museum states that this area was the "cradle of the earliest metal-production and processing in the Ancient World."
We stayed in Kazanluk, then had a full day in the wide, flat Valley of the Thracian Kings where we saw many grass-covered mounds that hide burial chambers.
The tomb of King Seuthes III, dating from the fourth century B.C., has never been robbed and yielded intricate gold jewelry, cups and bowls. One of the men who helped open the tomb in 2005 said the feeling of finding it was indescribable. They washed one of the gold cups they had found, poured a type of old Thracian wine and shared it to give respect to the grave. Small rooms were carved from huge slabs of stone, filled with treasures and buried in the mounds of earth. The nearby Kazanluk Tomb has well preserved paintings of daily life. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Thracian Rose, a strongly scented rose with 60 petals, is grown in this same valley. The rose bushes were carried by settlers from Asia about the first century A.D. Sixty percent of the world's rose oil is produced here. The soil and climate are perfect for roses. The Balkan Mountains block the cold air from the north; then the warm Mediterranean air from the south provides a February start to a new season of growth.
We visited the Museum of Rose Oil and saw copper distilling equipment and baskets for picking the roses by hand. Workers pick the blossoms in the early morning before the sun evaporates the aroma. There is a rose festival that takes place during the harvest in late May and early June.
The next installment will cover Nesebar on the Black Sea and Veliko Tarnovo Shumen's largest mosque outside of Turkey.
(http://www.record-eagle.com/archivesearch/local_story_150200236.html) |
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Enviado - 25 mayo 2009 : 12:30:44 |
Gulf medical tourists going to Bulgaria
TREATMENT ABROAD 11 May 2009
Bulgaria, a member of the European Union at the crossroads between the East and the West, is increasingly becoming a popular tourism destination for medical tourists from the Gulf.
Bulgaria meets the demands of Gulf travellers, says Hristo Barutchiev of Rola Complex on the southern Black Sea coastline in Pomorie, offering mud and saline treatments. The first Kuwaiti visitors at the Rola Complex are scheduled to arrive in September, arranged by local partners Kuwait International House.
The Rola Complex includes a medical centre, spa and anti-ageing centre, and balneology. It also offers an IVF service with a success rate of up to 65 percent, as well as medical dermatology, including laser procedures for the removal of uneven pigmentation and acne, in addition to other various manipulations. Also, the Complex will provide aesthetic dermatology applying a Brazilian anti-ageing patent, including fillers, surgical lifts, surgery-substitutes and rejuvenating therapies, plus balneology, kinesiotherapy, and rehabilitation.
Rola Complex features 106 fully furnished apartments and studios in different sizes. Each apartment is fitted with a kitchen, and a restaurant will offer Arabian cuisine. In addition, customers who own an apartment within the complex are entitled to discount prices in the medical centre,
When completed, some two years from now, adjacent to the Rola Complex will be the most modern hospital in Bulgaria fitted with the latest medical equipment. It will have four operation theatres for cardiovascular surgery, cardiology, transplants, aesthetic surgery and a modern and comprehensive diagnostic centre that will use the newest medical standards.
Related link
Rola Complex: http://www.rolabg.com/
(http://www.treatmentabroad.net/medical-tourism/news/?EntryId82=127431) |
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Enviado - 07 mayo 2009 : 23:14:17 |
Bulgaria, aumentano le visite turistiche di interesse culturale
Roberto Rais (www.novinite.com) PORTALINO Mercoledì, aprile 15 2009
Il turismo culturale della Bulgaria non sembra conoscere crisi, afferma la Sofia News Agency.
Secondo quanto dichiarato dal Responsabile dell'Agenzia di Stato per il Turismo, Anelya Krushkova, questo settore è uno dei pochi che non è stato influenzato negativamente dalla crisi finanziaria globale.
Contro una flessione del 6,5 per cento delle presenze nei resort invernali del Paese, la Krushkova ha infatti annunciato un incremento del numero di persone che hanno visitato i siti storici della nazione.
(http://www.portalino.it/nuke/modules.php?name=newsout&file=print&sid=36400) |
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Enviado - 23 abril 2009 : 23:16:35 |
Bulgaria’s tourism starts to lose price edge
by Dnevnik.bg THE SOFIA ECHO AprIL 06 2009
The Bulgarian tourism sector has began to lose its price advantage, which was one of the key factors in luring holidaymakers, a winter season survey by polling agency MBMD, commissioned by the State Tourism Agency (STA), showed.
About 16 per cent of foreign tourists said that Bulgaria was an expensive destination and more than half of them thought it was moderately expensive. Just one-third of the foreign tourists in Bulgaria’s ski resorts still believed the country was a budget destination, according to the poll. Only 2.5 percent named prices as the main reason for spending their holiday in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria was obviously losing its reputation as a low-cost destination, which meant that it was losing its competitive edge, STA chairwoman Anelia Kroushkova said.
Foreigners have spent an average of 168 euro a day in Bulgaria with a tourist package, the survey showed. This was a 15 per cent increase on the 153 euro in the previous season.
In contrast, tourists who arranged their own holidays paid 254 euro a day in the winter of 2008, compared to 121 euro in the winter of 2009. Industry experts said the decrease was caused by hotels launching price promotions due to slumping bookings and low prices offered by cash-strapped flat owners wrestling with the economic slowdown.
At the same time, the share of Bulgarians who bought packages for their winter holidays rose to 30 per cent, against six per cent for the winter of 2008.
The survey found that Bulgarian winter resorts have done little to improve on their main disadvantages, with more than 70 per cent of Bulgarians complaining of overconstruction and poor infrastructure, and almost 25 per cent unhappy with cleanliness. Taxi services were frowned upon by 14.5 per cent of foreigners, and 11.7 per cent had problems with the poor foreign language speaking skills of the staff. Tourists were also irked by slow Internet connections.
The tourism agency said that foreign tourist numbers in Bulgaria have fell by 6.5 per cent in the first two months of 2009, compared to the same period of the previous year. Revenues fell by 9.1 per cent.
(http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/04/06/700814_bulgarias-tourism-starts-to-lose-price-edge) |
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Enviado - 07 marzo 2009 : 22:12:42 |
Smolyan - Home of Orpheus
QUEST BULGARIA Friday, 06 March 2009
Smolyan lies at the very heart of the one of Bulgaria’s most awesome mountain ranges, the Rhodope Mountains with its fantastic views and laid-back pace of life, quaint mountain villages still rooted in tradition and close proximity to arrange of good ski pistes and all of this set against the magnificent backdrop of the Rhodope Mountain range covered in rich green pine and spruce. This is a haven for nature lovers, with clean, fresh air scented with pine and a diverse range of flora and fauna from rabbits and squirrels, deer, foxes, wild goats, grouse to brown bears and wolves and kingfishers and golden eagles soaring through the skies. Winters are mild with plenty of snow and sun and summers are cool with beautiful blue skies. At night the star spangled skies are clear and perfect for romantic evenings dining and chatting al fresco.
Getting There
Western Rhodope Mountains at 700 to 1,000 km above sea level in a narrow gorge carved out by the river Cherna. It is approximately 260 km from the capital, 103 km from Plovdiv, which is home to the nearest international airport, 46 km from the spa town of Devin and 16 km for the international ski resort of Pamporovo. The local bus service links Smolyan with Pamorovo and Chepelare and all of the neighbouring towns and villages. Another great way to get around the area is by car or if you like adventure a 4x4 is perfect especially if you want to explore some of the wonderful rock formations. Hitchhiking is also common practice here with locals and tourists thumbing lifts from all main junctions.
The Legend of Orpheus
Myths and legends are rife in this mysterious region, which is steeped in tradition and folklore. The most popular tale is that of Orpheus, the mythical singer who was said to charm people, birds and beasts with his magical music. He is fabled to have been born in the Rhodope Mountains and there are different variations of the story with the most common interpretation being something like this:
In ancient Thrace, Orpheus was born to a Muse of King Oeagrus from the Odrysae tribe. Orpheus played the lyre so enchantingly that it enthralled animals and even trees who would dance. His songs had already helped the Argonauts to resist the ensnarement of the Sirens. Now he sang in the hope of bringing his wife, Eurydice, back to life from the underworld. But it was Charon the ferryman, Cerebus, guardian of the River Styx, and Hades himself, lord of the dead and ruler of the underworld, who allowed the return of Eurydice. And this on one condition: the couple must never look back during their journey from the underworld. Orpheus fatefully turned to smile at his bride as they emerged into the sunlight, losing her again, this time forever. The heartbroken Orpheus then roamed the Rhodope Mountains singing mournfully of his loss until the women of Thrace, otherwise known as the Bacchantes, ripped him to pieces and threw him into the river. Allegedly his head didn’t stop singing as it was carried along by the current.
Even today, people recognise the echoes of his sweet music in the tinkling of cowbells, the babbling of the brooks and the sound of traditional bagpipes - the hills here are certainly alive with the sound of beautiful music!
A Dip Back in Time
Archeologists have found evidence of civilization in the Rhodopes dating back as far as the late Stone Age around 20-15,000 BC. During Neolithic times, the Rhodope people inhabited the region’s caves and archeologists have discovered evidence of this in the neighbouring caves like the Yagodinska Cave and the Haramiiska Doupka Cave in the Trigrad Gorge, amongst others.
In the second millennium BC, the Rhodopes became home to the Thracian civilisation, followed by the occupation of the mighty Roman Empire. There are many artefacts remaining in the Rhodopes, which date from this period. Parts of Roman roads which joined Aegean settlements to the Upper Thracian Valley are still in evidence in certain places like Gela and the Chairski Lakes.
The Middle Ages bore witness to long internal feudal clashes. Ruined fortresses dating back to the Second Bulgarian Kingdom stand near the village of Shiroka Lûka. And three fortress ruins, Turlata, Gradishteto and Vracha, can also still be visited today. It is believed that these are the last Bulgarian fortresses to be conquered by the invading Turks.
In 1345, the Turkish invasion signalled the beginning of the bloodiest and most oppressed time in Rhodopean, and indeed Balkan, history. Not only were churches, and cultural monuments raised to the ground, but entire monasteries and villages were destroyed. A huge number of the local population were brutally murdered or forcibly converted to Islam.
The Berlin Treaty meant that the Rhodopes did not cease their fight for freedom when most of Bulgaria was freed in 1878, as they still belonged to Turkey. It was not until after the Balkan War in 1912 that this region once again officially became reunited as part of Bulgaria. When the Communists came to power in 1944, the country’s industrialisation meant that many people left the Rhodope villages to seek work elsewhere.
Nowadays there are many small traditional villages which seem to have been left virtually unchanged through the ages. The main occupations are still agricultural; potato growing and cattle rearing are the most significant although the tourist industry is starting to flourish, as this gem of a region is beginning to be discovered and in some places, the locals are taking advantage of this and promoting their own style of eco-tourism. Eating and Drinking and Where to Stay
There are many traditional, warming Rhodopean dishes to taste, and fine wines to sup as you dry off and warm up around the hearth after a day’s skiing or sightseeing. In summer opt for the tasty fresh salads and Rakia. Patatnik is a typical potato-based dish. Klin is a deliciously filling rice pie type dish and for those who aren’t squeamish, the Cheverme is a lamb roasted on a spit, often seen at village fetes. Home-reared, home-grown, home-made - a large proportion of the food here is organic and very tasty. You can watch how certain products like yoghurt, butter, and feta cheese are made in some of the local working mills and you will see translucent rose and golden coloured honeys lined up for sale on benches along the roadside along with the fabulous Smilyan beans and a variety of sweet fruit jams.
There is a wide range of accommodation in this area. If it’s luxury you’re after you’ll be spoilt for choice with all the new hotels in the ski resort Pamporovo. Many of the older ones have undergone refurbishment to be able to compete. They have swimming pools, bars and restaurants, and lots of divine spa treatments are on offer. However, if you’d prefer something with a more regional character you’d be wise to stay in a traditional town house in one of the villages. There are real gems to found, steeped in local tradition with wood carvings and traditional home-spun, woven blankets as decoration but with all mod cons. Some of them have balconies with superb views over the mountains. Entertainment also comes in various forms like traditional singing, music and dancing the ‘horo’, bowling, clubbing or even karaoke – it’s up to you to choose what type of entertainment you prefer, but rest assured, there is something for everyone here.
(http://www.questbg.com/en/areafocus/seaski/989-smolyan-home-of-orpheus) |
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Enviado - 08 febrero 2009 : 22:29:42 |
Bulgaria, aumentano i turisti
by Roberto Rais (www.ice.gov.it) PORTALINO Martedì, gennaio 20, 2009
Secondo il rapporto dell'Agenzia statale del turismo, ripreso dall'ICE, 4.967.966 stranieri hanno visitato la Bulgaria nel periodo gennaio-settembre 2008, con un tasso di crescita del 18,2 per cento rispetto allo stesso periodo del 2007. Le visite provenienti dall'Unione Europea hanno registrato un aumento del 15,8 per cento, raggiungendo un numero di 3.661.911 arrivi.
Per il periodo gennaio-settembre i turisti provenienti dalla Romania sono in testa: 854.642 (+35 per cento). Seguono i greci (591.926) ed i tedeschi, che registrano un aumento nelle visite rispettivamente del 4,6 per cento e del 13 per cento. Gli arrivi dall'Italia nello stesso periodo sono stati di 79.796 turisti, con un aumento del 16,6 per cento nel confronto con lo stesso periodo del 2007. I viaggi dei bulgari all'estero sono incrementati del 37 per cento. Nei primi nove mesi del 2008, 2.786.277 bulgari hanno visitato i Paesi dell'Unione Europea, registrando una crescita del 70,2 per cento.
Le entrate del turismo internazionale ammontano a 1.943,6 milioni di euro nel periodo gennaio-agosto 2008, pari al +12,8 per cento rispetto agli stessi mesi del 2007.
(http://www.portalino.it/nuke/modules.php?name=newsout&file=print&sid=34706) |
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Enviado - 07 enero 2009 : 00:29:09 |
British skiers ditch Alps for Bulgaria as pound loses value
Gabriel Hershman SOFIA ECO.com 15 December 2008 With the pound and the euro now at virtual parity, the plummeting rate of exchange spells doom for many British holidaymakers this winter. Now many skiers, in particular, are looking to cut costs by travelling to slopes outside the euro zone – and that means that Bulgaria could well benefit.
Jonathan Brown and Kristina Backer, writing in British newspaper The Independent, report that the plunging value of the pound against the euro means that the French Alps, the destination of choice for four out of 10 skiers last winter, is no longer flavour of the season. Some estimates suggest that as many as three-quarters of skiers and snowboarders are looking to cut costs by venturing elsewhere.
The Independent also says that America's slopes have been struck off many British skiers' itineraries in the wake of a year of soaring aviation fuel costs. The article quotes ski writer and researcher Patrick Thorne as saying: "Talking to a few of the operators going to America, no one is putting any figures on it but it does look grim because the dollar is so strong and because of the credit crunch.”
The paper goes on to say that eastern Europe's so-called new frontier – Bulgaria in particular – offers better value for money than either the traditional European favourites or America.
“In Bulgaria's top resort of Bansko, a week's half-board in a four-star hotel, is a third cheaper than three-star accommodation in the French retreat of La Clusaz. But it is when you take off the skis that the savings really pile up. A three-course meal in Bansko sets you back six pounds per head while a bottle of beer costs 80 pence. At La Clusaz the same dinner and a beer would leave you 20 pounds poorer.”
The article quotes Betony Garner from the British Ski Club as saying that countries outside the euro zone are a more alluring proposition this winter. "They are particularly attractive to families who want to take young children for the first time. For beginners, the terrain is not as extensive as France or Austria but places such as Bulgaria are offering a good low cost alternative." (http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/british-skiers-ditch-alps-for-bulgaria-as-pound-loses-value/id_33606/catid_64) |
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Enviado - 06 enero 2009 : 22:18:03 |
“La ciudad pétrea del Dios Sol”: Perperikón desvela más secretos
Por Ivelina Vatova Versión en español de Kremena Túneva RADIO BULGARIA Diciembre 30, 2008
En los montes Ródopes, cerca de la ciudad de Kardzhali, en el sur de Bulgaria, se erige un pico rocoso. Las leyendas cuentan que en tiempos remotos lo llamaban “la casa pétrea del Dios Sol”. En este lugar elevado de la montaña se encontraba supuestamente el santuario del Dios tracio Dionisio, lugar sagrado en el cual se han realizado por lo menos dos profecías de importancia mundial.
En el siglo 13 el historiador bizantino Jorge Acropóli escribe que los búlgaros que hace mucho deseaban conquistar esas tierras, en poco tiempo se hicieron con el vasto territorio cerca del río Maritsa, se adentraron en los montes Ródopes y una por una conquistaron las murallas Stenimahos, Pérushtitsa, Kríchim y Tsépina. Después su armada victoriosa se dirigió hacia las rocas de los Ródopes orientales donde se erigía la antigua villa de Perperikón, el antiguo santuario de hace 6 000 años que se remontaba a la Edad de la Piedra y del Cobre, que había sobrevivido la Edad del Bronce, y en el siglo 3-4 después de Cristo se había convertido en enorme orbe romana que controlaba la extracción de oro de los yacimientos cercanos. Sin embargo, al final el ejército búlgaro se vio obligado a replegarse al norte más allá del monte Hemus.
En 1343 los búlgaros intentaron conquistar los Ródopes orientales cuando utilizaron las rivalidades por el trono del emperador en Bizancio. Mediante el método de las negociaciones y sin recurrir a la guerra el rey Iván Alexander conquistó la importante región de Plovdiv, en la actual Bulgaria del sur. El cronista Juan Cantacuzino señala que posteriormente envió un destacamento militar contra las murallas de Ahridos, el antiguo nombre del monte Ródope, que entró airadamente en Perperikón. El soberano búlgaro designó allí un archiconde cuya residencia fue localizada ya por los arqueólogos. Parece que este clérigo recibió una importante carta real sellada con el único cuño de oro del Rey Iván Alexander que se ha preservado a lo largo de los siglos hasta llegar a nuestros tiempos.
No mucho tiempo después de la victoria de los búlgaros, los bizantinos se espabilaron, se impusieron sobre los búlgaros y el archiconde se vio obligado a abandonar sin pena ni gloria Perperikón. No obstante, los romeos tampoco se quedaron por mucho tiempo en los Ródopes orientales. Los osmanlíes se apoderaron con fuego de toda la Península Balcánica. Las murallas en el monte Ahridos fueron destruidas una tras otra para que se sumieran en ruinas y olvido. Esos hechos se remontan al año 1362.
De esos sucesos cuenta ante periodistas el doctor Zdravki Dimitrov, del equipo del profesor Ovchárov, quien lideraba este año las excavaciones en Perperikón:
“Este año el equipo arqueológico se concentró ante todo en la parte occidental de la acrópolis, o sea en el período romano y medieval, precisó el arqueólogo. – Los complejos que descubrimos representan un sistema de fortalezas del siglo 3 y 4 después de Cristo, asimismo la acumulación de construcciones en la Edad Media, en los siglos 12-13, así como un enorme edificio representativo de la época medieval, que funcionaba en los siglos 12-14 en la parte sudoccidental de la acrópolis. Precisamente en esta parte de la acrópolis se descubrieron unos de los hallazgos más interesantes de la época medieval, cuatro de ellos son anillos de plata que presentamos ante los periodistas. Otra información relevante de este año es la investigación sobre el complejo palaciego de la Edad Media. Nos sorprendió el grado de conservación de las murallas de la fortaleza de su época más temprana. Ya podemos afirmar con toda seguridad que la muralla antigua de Perperikón de la época romana se remonta a la segunda mitad del siglo 3, o sea después de las primeras invasiones góticas en nuestras tierras. La propia muralla representa un monumento único, ya que hay tramos conservados de hasta 6 y 7 metros de altura sin casi ningunas destrucciones de la construcción. Se trata de la muralla mejor conservada de Bulgaria en estos momentos. Con las excavaciones de este verano concluyó la investigación de la parte occidental de Perperikón de este periodo. Como resultado de ello se perfila un sistema urbano bien fortificado con un sistema de calzadas perfectamente regulado, con acueductos y alcantarillado, un enorme depósito de agua, varias puertas y torres, así como grandes y espaciosos barrios residenciales que se van descubriendo y que datan de la época romana y de la temprana época bizantina.”
(http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission_Spanish/Theme_Historia/Material/08.12.18+Perpericon.htm) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 26 diciembre 2008 : 22:31:37 |
Aumento a doppia cifra per il turismo estero in Bulgaria
TTG ITALIA 18/11/2008
La Bulgaria conferma la sua posizione di primo piano nella rosa delle destinazioni internazionali emergenti. Lo sottolineano i dati diffusi dall'Agenza di stato per il turismo, che quantificano nel 18% il tasso di aumento dei turisti stranieri nel Paese nei primi nove mesi dell'anno. "Entro fine 2008 - aggiunge il direttore dell'agenzia statale Anelia Krushkova - è realistico pensare che riusciremo ad arrivare ad una progressione di 20 punti percentuali. Nei primi otto mesi dell'anno l'aumento è stato del 13%".
Forte la crescita dei cittadini dell'Unione europea che hanno scelto la Bulgaria: più 16% circa. Gli incrementi maggiori sono stati fatti registrare da Romania, Grecia, Germania, ma anche Gran Bretagna, Russia, Macedonia e Serbia
(http://www.ttgitalia.com/pagine/news_Aumento_a_doppia_cifra_per_il_turismo_estero_in_Bulgaria.aspx?id_news=244288&idx=0&L=IT) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 01 diciembre 2008 : 21:27:57 |
El pueblo Skortsite: una escapada del mundo moderno
Por Veneta Nikolova (Versión en español de Kremena Túneva) RADIO BULGARIA octubre 24, 2008
Skortsite es un pueblecito acurrucado en las laderas frondosas del monte Stara Planina, más conocido como la Cordillera de los Balcanes, en pleno corazón de Bulgaria, que divide el país en dos partes: norteña y sureña. A pesar de quedar cerca de la ciudad de Triavna, nada más a 7 km. de distancia, el pueblo Skortsite se sitúa a años luz del dinamismo y el frenesí del siglo 21. Por sus empinadas callejuelas no verían ustedes coches, ni carrozas tiradas por burros, ni peatones. Tampoco se ven las tabernas de densas humaredas de tabaco, típicas de los pequeños pueblos búlgaros, ni hay tiendas de 1 euro, habituales para las aldeas, donde se puede encontrar todo tipo de artículos a precios asequibles.
El pueblo de Skortsite no tiene ni un habitante permanente, la mayoría de sus casas están vacías, llegan turistas muy raramente. Pero una vez perdidos en las recónditas calles de este pueblecito, perdido en las frondas de la Cordillera de los Balcanes, se quedarían para siempre hechizados por su belleza virgen.
El visitante se queda con la impresión de que un hada de los cuentos hubiera hecho al pueblo Skortsite dormir un sueño secular. Una sensación insuperable de que el tiempo ha parado su correr invade al visitante cuando observa las casitas de tejado de grandes losas de piedra, las callejuelas polvorientas, las vallas envueltas por la hiedra, la abandonada iglesia del pueblo y el alma del viajero se llena de nostalgia y añoranza por una época pasada que jamás volvería…Cada casa guarda el recuerdo de sus antiguos habitantes, de sus alegrías y penas, de sus destinos. Hace menos de un siglo el pueblo contaba más de 2 mil habitantes junto con los barrios adyacentes. En el siglo 20 sus descendientes se esparcieron por toda Bulgaria y el pueblo se sumió así en el olvido, quedando lejos de la vanidad mundana y de las ansias de enriquecimiento desmesurado de los grandes inversores. Gracias a ello Skortsite conservó su ambiente auténtico e intacto de pueblo renacentista. Se supone que fue fundado a finales del siglo 14, después de la conquista de la capital medieval búlgara Veliko Tarnovo por los dominadores otomanos. Para huir de los invasores, los cortesanos de la corte del rey Ivan Shishman se establecieron allí, entre las cimas inaccesibles de los Balcanes y fundaron su propia población.
A lo largo de los siglos Skortsite fue creciendo y sus habitantes se iban enriqueciendo. En la época del Renacimiento búlgaro, siglos 18 y 19, el pueblo alcanzó su auge. En invierno los hombres se iban a otros sitios, siempre en el marco del Imperio Otomano, para trabajar temporalmente en la construcción. En primavera regresaban a su tierra natal para erguir sus hermosas casas de vallas altas y grandes pórticos de madera.
“La arquitectura del pueblo Skortsite es típica renacentista y guarda las características de nuestra región”, cuenta el sacerdote, padre Ludmil Manev, quien nació y creció en el pueblo, y actualmente oficia misas en el cercano monasterio de Pláchkovo.
“Así como Bulgaria se divide en regiones folclóricas, de la misma manera se pueden distinguir regiones arquitectónicas, explica nuestro locutor. – En este sentido, Skortsite podría servir de manual de arquitectura de la época renacentista en Bulgaria. Son muy pocos los pueblos conservados en este aspecto en Bulgaria. Aquí se pueden apreciar los exponentes típicos de la llamada casa de los Balcanes de dos pisos, el segundo piso ostenta obligatoriamente una veranda o galería. La piedra se utiliza para construir el primer piso y el segundo normalmente se construye mediante un cercado de tapias. Se blanquea con cal por fuera y por dentro. El tejado está cubierto, por costumbre, de losas de piedra.”
El lugar de interés más emblemático en el pueblo de Skortsite es la iglesia de San Demetrio. Su silueta solitaria destaca sobre el telón de fondo de los recodos suaves del monte de Stara Planina, o sea los Balcanes, e impresiona con su suntuosa fachada y rica decoración en el interior. Sin embargo, el templo se ve abandonado a los estragos del tiempo y expuesto a las fuerzas naturales. El padre Ludmil nos cuenta más sobre esta singular obra de la arquitectura local:
“La iglesia ha sido santificada en el año 1876. Se supone que fue edificada nada más en un año. Lo curioso es que el arquitecto principal es el maestro Guencho, conocido maestro renacentista, constructor de edificios y puentes. Son obras suyas las catedrales en la capital marítima búlgara Varna, en la costa norte del Mar Negro búlgaro, y la catedral en la ciudad danubiana de Vidin, en el norte de Bulgaria. Obviamente en aquel entonces los vecinos del pueblo eran lo suficientemente pudientes como para permitirse invitar a un maestro de la construcción de la talla del constructor Guencho. El templo de San Demetrio es una iglesia típica para esta parte de Bulgaria. Pero lo que impresiona es que las piedras de las cuales está construida son tan lisas al tacto que parecen pulidas, lo que es algo raro y que no se da en otros templos de la región. El templo es único también por sus inapreciables frescos que datan de la época del Renacimiento. Son unos de los más antiguos de esta parte del país. Una parte de los iconos en la iglesia están expuestos en los museos de la cercana ciudad de Triavna.”
En los últimos años Skortsite se va despertando para una vida nueva. Muchas de las casas aldeanas se están restaurando y se convierten en acogedoras casas de huéspedes, y sus habitantes animan este pueblo olvidado por Dios. A veces al pueblo llega un bus turístico que lleva a un grupo de turistas. Los visitantes trepan por las calles empinadas, echan miradas furtivas por encima de las altas vallas, toman fotos con sus cámaras y no pueden llegar a comprender de dónde ha venido semejante belleza.
Por lo visto el pueblo de Skortsite va adquiriendo popularidad entre los amantes del turismo rural porque el número de sus visitantes crece cada año. Próximamente se van a inaugurar dos casas de huéspedes donde uno podría descansar tranquilamente lejos del caos de la civilización moderna. Un pintoresco sendero une Skortsite con la reserva arquitectónica Bozhentsi, que queda a unos kilómetros de distancia del pueblo. A unos 15 minutos en coche se encuentra una base para practicar la equitación. De allí se puede alquilar un caballo de equitación para llegar a los lugares más recónditos del monte. La colecta de hierbas silvestres y las caminatas de senderismo en bicicleta de montaña podrían hacer más divertidas las vacaciones en el pueblo de Skortsite donde el tiempo parece haber parado hace más de un siglo.
(http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission_Spanish/Theme_Turismo/Material/08.10.24+Scortsite.htm) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 16 septiembre 2008 : 23:13:13 |
Accommodations in Bulgaria keep increasing
Svetlana Guineva SOFIA ECHO.com Mon 25 Aug 2008
Bulgaria’s accommodation capacity has increased by five per cent for the second trimester of 2008, compared with the same time a year ago, a study published by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) indicated.
The research provided data for the total number of beds and rooms offered by hotels, motels, lodges, private rooms, holiday villages, cabins and even camp sites. The number of rooms in those accommodations was 105 500, with 234 000 beds.
Availability in hotels has increased by 6.6 per cent, with 91 new hotels open in 2008. In addition, the number of private rooms and other accommodations has been hiked by 4.3 per cent.
NSI also revealed that in 2008, fewer of the bigger hotels have been occupied, with smaller accommodations such as lodges and camp grounds having been preferred by holidaymakers.
Close to 39 per cent of the hotels are located on the Black Sea shore and they offer about 67 per cent of the country's beds. Out of 1477 hotels in Bulgaria, 272 of them are in the Bourgas region, 223 in Varna region and 81 in the Dobrich region.
In the second trimester of 2008, the number of overnight stays in all types of accommodations increased by three per cent (or 128 000), compared with 2007. For the same time period, Bulgarian holidaymakers number two per cent more than they were a year ago.
Foreign tourists from Malta, Latvia and Estonia have marked a significant increase, followed by Croatia, Poland and Slovenia. Fewer holidaymakers from Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Spain have used accommodations in Bulgaria for 2008.
Most foreign tourists preferred overnight stays in hotels, as opposed to lodges and camp sites, the research showed. (http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/accommodations-in-bulgaria-keep-increasing/id_31371/catid_67) |
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Enviado - 11 septiembre 2008 : 13:17:43 |
Il mare è bello anche quando è Nero
Irene Fazio CAFE'BABEL.com (*) 18/08/2008
La Bulgaria, grazie ai bellissimi paesaggi e ai prezzi modici, negli ultimi anni è testimone di un’esplosione del mercato turistico. La costa del Mar Nero, invasa in estate, offre una vita notturna molto vivace. Nesebâr, città-gioiello sulla costa è collegata alla terra da una sottile lingua di terra, è uno delle località più visitate. Nel 1983, grazie al ricco incontro di cultura ellenistica, romana e ortodossa, è stata dichiarata Patrimonio dell’Umanità dall’Unesco.
(*) Estratto dall'articolo "Spiagge d’Europa: il turismo all’ultima moda": http://www.cafebabel.com/ita/article/25962/spiagge-deuropa-il-turismo-allultima-moda.html |
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Enviado - 02 septiembre 2008 : 21:37:58 |
Turismo a misura d'uomo
Da Sofia, scrive Tanya Mangalakova OSSERVATORIO SUI BALCANI 14.08.2008
Mentre il turismo di massa fa segnare una battuta d'arresto, dovuta soprattutto alla speculazione, in Bulgaria sta muovendo con grande successo i suoi primi passi un modo alternativo di conoscere il paese, sulle orme di tradizioni storiche e culinarie e le bellezze naturali
Durante il 2008 i turisti bulgari, per le proprie vacanze, hanno scelto le località turistiche dei paesi vicini, Grecia, Turchia, Macedonia, a causa dei prezzi più abbordabili e delle condizioni più attraenti. Il Mar Nero, invece, è diventato troppo caro e inospitale. All'inizio della stagione estiva la giungla di cemento degli enormi hotel spuntati lungo le coste bulgare è rimasta al buio, a causa del sovraccarico elettrico. I proprietari dei grandi complessi si sono subito lamentati, incolpando lo stato e i media per le perdite subite, questi ultimi perché avrebbero rovinato l'immagine del turismo bulgaro con una campagna votata al negativismo.
Ma a causare la crisi nel turismo “classico”, sono stati piuttosto la cementificazione selvaggia, l'eccesso di offerta rispetto alla domanda, la mancanza di infrastrutture e problemi cronici nel numero e nella preparazione del personale di servizio.
In Bulgaria ci sono in totale 1,1 milioni di posti letto, ma nel corso dell'anno in media solo il 30% delle risorse alberghiere viene utilizzato, e il prezzo per posto letto si aggira intorno ai 20 euro a notte, secondo i dati dell'Agenzia Nazionale per il Turismo (DAT). Molti degli imprenditori nel settore hanno serie difficoltà a sostenere i crediti richiesti alle banche, ed ogni settimana si segnala il fallimento di 3-4 alberghi. Secondo Aneliya Krushova, presidente della DAT, la crisi crescerà ancora nel periodo settembre ottobre. Il maggiore problema del settore, sostiene la Krushova, intervistata dall'Osservatorio, è originato dalla presenza di investitori che non hanno sensibilità per il prodotto turistico.
“Il turismo è sensibilità, non imposizione di punti di vista”, ritiene convinta la presidente della DAT. “Il nostro paese è al terzo posto in Europa per eredità storico culturali, dopo Italia e Grecia. Per quanto questa eredità sia di valore inestimabile, questa deve essere proposta e descritta in modo attraente ai turisti”.
Sebbene ancora timidamente, sul mercato del turismo bulgaro si stanno affermando agenzie e alberghi che puntano all'eredità storica, alle tradizioni e alla cultura della Bulgaria. E nonostante la crisi generale, proprio grazie a questi pionieri ci sono offerte turistiche bulgare che sono diventate molto popolari anche in Europa occidentale.
“Un turismo a misura d'uomo”
Ivelyna Kyuchukova è una giovane imprenditrice, che vive tra Sofia, Shumen (la sua città d'origine) e Parigi (suo marito è francese), dove il nome della sua agenzia turistica “BalkaNova” è diventato in breve molto conosciuto. Ivelyna ha studiato storia, e la sua passione per l'archeologia emerge chiaramente dal website della sua agenzia, regolarmente aggiornato. “BalkaNova” nasce nel 2006, ed in pochi anni ha fatto scoprire l'ospitalità bulgara a centinaia di turisti provenienti da Francia, Olanda ed Italia. I suoi clienti soggiornano di solito per 7-10 giorni, al prezzo di circa 1200 euro.
Turisti occidentali, solitamente appartenenti alle classi medie, che vogliono conoscere il paese, sin dal loro arrivo all'aeroporto di Sofia vengono accompagnati in un tour archeologico per la capitale, che comprende la chiesa di Sveti Georgi (San Giorgio) del VI secolo e la “rotonda” sempre intitolata allo stesso santo, del IV secolo, insieme alla cattedrale di Sveti Aleksandar Nevski (Sant'Alessandro Nevski), che nasconde nella sua cripta un museo delle icone. Ivelyna organizza anche “tour volanti”. Turisti francesi con diploma di volo prendono in affitto piccoli velivoli con i quali sorvolano il paese, atterrando poi in piccoli aeroporti periferici.
Secondo la Kyuchukova, al momento la Bulgaria è una destinazione in rapida crescita sul mercato turistico francese. “C'è una forte battuta d'arresto nel turismo di massa. Il futuro della Bulgaria è nel turismo personalizzato, a misura del cliente. Noi siamo il paese delle rose e, ad esempio, il pacchetto intitolato “La festa delle rose” raccoglie un particolare successo, come anche “Sulle orme di Orfeo” e “Le festività di Dionisio”. In genere i nostri clienti hanno letto molto sulla Bulgaria, e arrivano già preparati. I turisti occidentali cercano l'atmosfera autentica della Bulgaria, le antiche case delle città-museo di Bozhentzi, Tryavna, la 'capitale' della Valle delle rose e dei re traci Kazanlak, le trattorie del centro sciistico di Bansko, l'antica capitale della Bulgaria medievale Veliko Tarnovo, le case rustiche dei Rodopi, la degustazione di vini locali. Amano poi acquistare per ricordo olio ed acqua di rose, gioielli tradizionali, abbigliamento fatto a mano e ornato di ricami, ceramica tornita a mano e copie di icone”.
Secondo Ivelyna ci sono tre tipi di albergatori alternativi. I primi sono persone semplici, con gusto e voglia di fare, che hanno restaurato la propria antica casa familiare e producono vino e rakiya fatti in casa. Di questo tipo è la vecchia “Sveshtarova kashta” nel villaggio di Osmar, nella provincia di Shumen, dove da generazioni si produce il caratteristico “pelin” (liquore di assenzio). Il secondo gruppo è rappresentato da imprenditori che hanno costruito hotel seguendo le tradizioni dell'architettura classica bulgara, come le “Shulevite kashti” nella città-museo di Koprivshtitza. Il terzo raccoglie invece albergatori che hanno creato dei prodotti turistici con l'aiuto di finanziamenti provenienti da diversi progetti e fondi, come i proprietari dell'hotel “Smilen” nei pressi dei Laghi di Smolyan.
Villa “Kibela”, con Yovkov sulle coste della Dobrugia
Per molti turisti francesi una delle mete più ambite è la Villa “Kibela”, situata sulle coste della Dobrugia bulgara, sul Mar Nero, non lontano dal confine con la Romania. La villa si trova nel villaggio di pescatori di Krapetz, vicino alla natura incontaminata dei laghi di Durankulak e Shabla.
Sull'isoletta al centro del lago di Durankulak si trova il complesso dedicato alla dea-madre Kibela, una grande necropoli preistorica risalente a circa 2500 anni fa. Krapetz è fuori dalle grandi rotte turistiche, ma è uno dei pochi villaggi a potersi vantare di un website aggiornato, nel quale i turisti possono trovare informazioni utili. Qui si trovano circa 15 chilometri di spiagge semi-deserte, e tempo soleggiato per la maggior parte dell'estate, un clima descritto nei racconti dello scrittore Yordan Yovkov.
La Villa “Kibela” assomiglia ad una delle antiche locande di cui spesso scrive l'autore, ed è costruita in pietra. Il prezzo per la pensione completa è di 40-45 euro. “La nostra cucina è biologica. Pesce e frutti di mare sono di giornata, il pollame viene dal nostro allevamento, i frutti e le verdure dal nostro orto. Produciamo anche formaggio e yogurt”, racconta la proprietaria Margarita Kaisheva. “Proponiamo antiche ricette di pesce, tra cui una riportata alla luce dagli archeologi, che risale a tremila anni fa. Facciamo poi conoscere ai nostri ospiti la cultura dei popoli che hanno abitato queste terre, sarmati, traci, frigi e coloni miletini”.
Turismo alternativo in cifre
Krapetz attira non soltanto con le sue dune sabbiose, ma anche con le opportunità di foto-safari e birdwatching. Circa settanta specie di uccelli nidificano nel lago di Durankulak, situato lungo la principale grande rotta migratoria denominata “Via Pontica”. In inverno, poi, il lago è rifugio per il pellicano bianco ed altre specie a rischio di estinzione.
Secondo Dobromir Domuschiev, membro della Associazione Bulgara per il Turismo Alternativo e direttore dell'agenzia turistica “Spatziya Wildlife”, oltre cinquemila turisti stranieri vengono ogni anno in Bulgaria per esplorare modi diversi di conoscere il paese. Gli stranieri arrivano soprattutto per ammirare specie animali in pericolo di estinzione e piante rare, per il turismo a cavallo, la speleologia, il deltaplano, le traversate con gli sci, il kayak e il rafting. I costi per un pacchetto turistico alternativo in Bulgaria, per due settimane, vanno dai 1500 euro alle 1500 sterline. Le località più richieste sono i Balcani centrali, i Rodopi, i laghi di Shabla e Durankulak, la riserva di Srebarna, il promontorio di Kaliakra, e le città di Melnik e Trigrad.
I “turisti alternativi” sono piuttosto pochi, ma spendono molto di più rispetto a quelli “all-inclusive”, che tendono invece ad essere molto più attenti alle spese. Ogni anno il turismo alternativo muove in Bulgaria un volume d'affari di circa 30 milioni di leva (15 milioni di euro). Sul mercato, al momento, sono presenti circa dieci agenzie che si occupano del settore, e gli affari vanno a gonfie vele. La maggior parte di queste sono state create negli ultimi due o tre anni, e secondo gli analisti, questo significa che questa forma di turismo sta ancora muovendo i primi passi, e conoscerà uno sviluppo non indifferente.
(http://www.osservatoriobalcani.org/article/articleview/9984/1/51/) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 15 julio 2008 : 23:31:21 |
R.Unido.- easyJet lanzará en octubre una nueva ruta entre Madrid y Sofía (Bulgaria)
EUROPA PRESS, Madrid 15 Jul. 2008
La aerolínea británica de bajo coste easyJet lanzará el próximo 27 de octubre una nueva ruta entre Madrid y Sofía (Bulgaria) que contará con tres frecuencias semanales (lunes, miércoles y sábados), informó hoy la aerolínea en un comunicado.
[...]
(http://www.europapress.es/internacional/noticia-runido-easyjet-lanzara-octubre-nueva-ruta-madrid-sofia-bulgaria-20080715112007.html) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 24 abril 2008 : 01:27:59 |
Hemus Air: compagnie aérienne fondée en 1991 desservant Varna en Bulgarie depuis Roissy CDG
Article écrit par Gabrielle Web-Libre.org 18 Avril 2008
C'est en 1991 que la compagnie aérienne Hemus Air vit le jour. Il s'agit actuellement de l'une des compagnies aériennes les plus importantes de Bulgarie. En 2001, Hemus Air sera privatisée suite à son rachat par le groupe Chimimport. C'est au sein de l'aéroport de Sofia que la compagnie aérienne Hemus Air propose des vols à destination de l'Europe, de l'Asie, du Moyen-Orient et de l'Afrique du Nord. Entre Athènes, Bucarest, Le Caire, Dubaï, Oslo, Tripoli ou encore Vienne, vous n'aurez que l'embarras du choix. En voyageant par l'intermédiaire d'Hemus Air, il vous sera possible de profiter d'un grand nombre de services. Afin de répondre au mieux aux besoins de chacun, Hemus Air propose également un service de vols charters. Les services proposés offrent la même qualité que ceux pour les vols réguliers. A bord des avions de la compagnie aérienne Hemus Air, il vous sera possible d'acheter un certain nombre de produits. Vous trouverez ainsi des idées cadeaux telles que les bijoux, les cigarettes, les alcools, les parfums et bien plus encore.
Sur le site officiel de la compagnie Hemus Air, il vous sera possible de consulter les horaires de vols afin d'organiser au mieux tous vos déplacements. La compagnie Hemus Air met aussi à votre disposition une série d'informations pratiques. Vous trouverez les diverses formalités en ce qui concerne l'enregistrement, les bagages, les passeports, visas et bien plus encore. Vous pourrez également découvrir les offres spéciales qui vous permettront de profiter de billets d'avion pas chers.
Si vous souhaitez réserver votre vol, vous pourrez contacter les agents d'Hemus Air ou vous adresser auprès de l'agence de voyages Balkan Holidays. Cette agence de voyages vous permettra également d'effectuer une réservation d'hôtel. Balkan Holidays est un tour opérateur spécialisé dans les séjours en Bulgarie, Slovénie, Croatie, Monténégro, Roumanie et Turquie. Vous pourrez réserver votre chambre au sein d'un hôtel low cost. Entre les vacances au ski, les séjours à la mer et autres formules, le choix sera complet. Grâce à la compagnie aérienne Hemus Air, il vous sera possible de vous envoler vers Londres, Varna et autres destinations. Afin de réserver votre vol, Hemus Air propose les services d'Opodo. Il vous suffit alors de sélectionner certains critères tels que la destination, les dates de séjour, la classe ou encore le nombre de passagers. Sur le site en ligne Opodo, vous pourrez également effectuer une location de voiture afin de vous déplacer en toute tranquillité.
Vous pourrez partir à la découverte de destinations telles que Bangkok, Amsterdam, Belfast, Genève, Las Vegas, Istanbul, Miami, Madrid, Stockholm, Toronto, Washington, Zurich ou encore Lisbonne. Sur le site officiel d'Hemus Air, il vous sera possible d'accéder aux offres proposées par la compagnie aérienne Bulgarie Air UK. Pour les réservations au départ de la France, les vols se font en partance de l'aéroport Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle. A l'occasion d'un séjour en Bulgarie, vous pourrez découvrir des villes plus attrayantes les unes que les autres telles que Plovdiv, Bourgas et Roussé.
(http://www.web-libre.org/dossiers/hemus-air,3735.html) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 23 abril 2008 : 23:33:58 |
'I am starting to love this dirty town' Bulgaria has been named the world's best-value tourist destination. Not only that, but the food is delicious, you can smoke everywhere and even the rabbits are special. Tanya Gold on her heavenly holiday in Varna
Tanya Gold The Guardian Monday April 21 2008
I have taken a holiday to the year 1977. I am in bare, square room in a concrete block, staring past a hungry seagull, out at a vista of cranes, ships and grey water. On the streets outside, everyone is wearing black leather jackets and smoking high-tar cigarettes. Somewhere, Night Fever is echoing.
According to a study by Teletext, this is the best-value holiday money can buy. As a tourist destination, Bulgaria has Spain in a headlock, and has beaten France to a pulp. With the Euro stronger by the day, the Bulgarian lev looks ever more appealing. And then there are the prices. A Bulgarian pint of beer is 49p. A Bulgarian Big Mac is £1. A Bulgarian hotel room is £45. A desirable Bulgarian holiday-home is £12,000.
So what is it like, this former eastern bloc paradise on the Black Sea, squashed between Romania and Turkey? I have come in low season, and I land in Varna, the biggest city on the Bulgarian coast. It looks like Paris spliced with Cardiff - part pleasure resort, part port - all concrete towers, battered villas and barking dogs. It is full of traffic jams and dental surgeries. The men look like James Bond baddies. The women look like Rita from Corrie. They have dyed red hair, and they smoke.
My hotel is a tower block with a neon sign, overlooking the sea. It looks like a council office and smells faintly of cabbage. The carpet has a burst eyeball motif, and the television shows Desperate Housewives in Bulgarian and adverts for inflatable saunas in German. It also shows the Bulgarian version of EastEnders, which seems identical to our EastEnders, except that all the men wear black leather jackets and all the women have dyed red hair. And they all smoke.
The following morning, I go down to the sea. The Black Sea sits in the middle of eastern Europe like a big, fat radioactive lake. Four of the world's most polluted rivers flow into it and all the dolphins have died in protest. The Bulgarians have honoured the lost dolphins by placing statues of dolphins everywhere, but it's too little, too late. I ignore the fact that after I last swam in the Black Sea I had an ear infection for two years, and plunge in. And plunge right out again. It's not cold. It's arctic. It's a block of ice pretending to be a sea. The dolphins weren't poisoned. They died of hypothermia.
So I go to the swimming pool next to the beach. It looks fine, except there is no water in it. There are men in it instead, drilling holes and smoking. When I squeal in disappointment, they wave at me and shout, "There is another swimming pool next door." I wander over, and it is so lush and gorgeous it doesn't look as if it is in Bulgaria at all. It has a piece of mown grass next to it - possibly the only piece of mown grass in Bulgaria. I approach the ticket booth. "Please may I swim?" I ask. "Only," says the woman, blowing cigarette smoke into my eyes, "if you are a member of the Bulgarian national swimming team. Are you a member of the Bulgarian national swimming team?" She grinds out her cigarette in triumph.
I cast my net wider. I take a taxi 15 miles north to Golden Sands, the premier resort on the coast. This is where the bargain hunters will flock in the summer, like big, pink, lager-drinking birds. Golden Sands looks wonderful in the brochures, full of happy Germans and giggling Romanians playing inter-former-eastern-bloc volleyball and toasting each other with cocktails. But today, out of season, Golden Sands does not look like a resort. It looks like downtown Basra, but with forgotten inflatable toys knocking against piles of rubbish. It is also empty. "Welcome to Golden Sands," says my taxi driver, dumping me outside a building site. The shops are shut and the amusement park is deserted, apart from a small group of Bulgarian hoodies, doing the international hoodie skulk.
It is a bit like turning up 200 years after human civilisation has been wiped out, to have a holiday. There is a mini Blackpool tower - as if they started to build it and got bored - and a very communist-sounding Ministry of Cocktails. Golden Sands is full of swimming pools - rectangular pools, square pools, round pools, pools in the shape of bananas, pools in the shape of question marks. But none of them have any water in them. Instead, they have leaves, or men drilling things. Even though it is 24C (75F), the men are all in leather jackets and smoking. So there is no functioning swimming pool on the Black Sea coast, unless you are an Olympic standard swimmer. I spend the rest of my holiday swimming in the bath.
But there is always sightseeing. I go first to the Varna Museum, which sits in a creaky Gothic house by the sea. When I arrive there are five people standing outside, smoking. I explain I would like to see the museum and they jump for joy. They are the staff. "Do you really want to see the museum?" they scream. "Are you sure?" I am obviously the only visitor they have had in recent memory. Ana shows me around. She keeps touching me, as if to check I am real. I want to ask if I can smoke but I know I am being ridiculous. You can smoke everywhere in Bulgaria.
Ana says things such as: "The people of Varna organised different types of exhibitions for light industry and technology." And she shows me relics of everything that has ever happened in Varna. By the time it is over I feel that a small piece of my brain will remain here for ever, next to the "exhibit" that is in fact just a dead woman's shoe. The caption on the piece of my brain would say, "British Tourist 2008". Then the staff arrange a cocktail party in my honour. "We will now have a drink," says Ana as a happy-looking colleague opens a bottle of wine.
I stumble out and go to visit the Ethnographic Museum. They open it especially for me, but they forget to turn the lights on. I am trapped in an exhibition of Bulgarian peasant costumes in near darkness. The dummy peasants glare at me, their eyes glowing in the void. I scream, and flee.
To calm my nerves I go to the zoo at the edge of the Pleasure Gardens. Again I am the only customer; the staff outnumber me six to one. The zoo has lions, tigers, bears and, strangely, rabbits. "Why rabbits?" I ask one of the attendants. "Rabbits are normal and do not belong in a zoo."
"They are special rabbits," she says, lighting a cigarette. "Special Bulgarian rabbits."
After admiring the special rabbits, I decide to eat their relatives. Bulgarian food is marvellous. The tomatoes really taste of tomato. The rabbit really tastes of Thumper. You can almost hear the lambs bleating as you tear their flesh. And the names are marvellous too - one dish of aubergines is called "Burst Priest". But Bulgarian restaurants are strange. The staff stare at you when you go in, as if they are incredibly surprised to see you. "I would like dinner," I say, and the waiter looks at me as if I have announced, "I am an alien queen from the planet Zog and I come in peace to the great land of Bulgaria to sample Burst Priest."
In Bulgarian restaurants you never eat alone. As you pick up your cutlery a man picks up his musical instrument and dances over. Each Bulgarian musician plays 10 musical instruments; only nine and he would be really letting himself down. So it only takes four Bulgarians to produce a full orchestra. As I eat my starter he is playing a flute. By the time I start my main course he is on the violin, then the xylophone. By dessert he is caressing a zither. And something strange is happening to me. I am starting to love this dirty town.
I get lost a lot in the tumbled streets, looking for the Museum of Bulgarian Spoons. But I discover that Bulgarians love to give directions. It is a sort of national pastime. It goes like this - you approach one and ask, "Where is the Museum of Decommissioned Nuclear Weapons?" They look intensely interested; some of them even drop their cigarettes. And they stare at your map, deliberate, phone a friend and draw in passers-by to join in the discussion. And then, eventually, after pondering your problem for half an hour, they turn to you with mournful eyes and say, through reams of fag smoke, shrugging, "We don't know".
Eventually, I find the British expat community. They have been hiding in O'Neill's, a subterranean Irish pub in central Varna, next to a strip club. There is an ancient Bulgarian doorman standing outside, in a red doorman's uniform (possibly stolen from the Ritz) and a St Patrick's Day themed hat, complete with clover motif. I give him a large tip for opening the door, which is clearly a mistake, because he grabs the note and sprints into the strip club to spend it.
O'Neill's is run by Michael, who came on holiday to Varna two years ago, and stayed because he could open his own bar so cheaply here. "Varna has the potential to go crazy and become a top tourist destination," he says, indicating his three customers, who are slumped over pints of Guinness and watching television. What is so wonderful about Bulgaria, I ask. "Cheap flights, cheap food, cheap accommodation and cheap beer," he says.
Michael introduces me to the regulars, Tom, an unemployed Irishman, and Dave, an east Londoner who used to be a builder but is now in property development. I ask Dave if I can interview him about the appeal of Bulgaria. "Be-have!" he screeches. Then he relents and explains, rather mysteriously, that, "in London everyone bothered me. No one bothers me around here." Tom slurs, "I never have an ounce of trouble here either. I love it here. The people are all lovely."
After O'Neill's I check out the local nightlife. And I discover that bouncers are as horrible in Bulgaria as they are everywhere else. They too go to the International School of Shaving Your Head to Scare People in Leisure Situations for Fun. The bouncer in the Black Sea Casino - catchphrase "Irreproachable Service, Pleasant Atmosphere, This is the Place for Your Business Meeting" - shouts at me when I ask how much it is to enter (£1.20). Inside, in a casino inspired by Joan Collins's boudoir, the local gangsterati are playing poker and smoking. There is an air of menace. They stare with intense concentration at the roulette wheel. The doorwoman is fast asleep, with a cigarette in her hand.
It is all so empty, and seems so far from everywhere I know. And I love it. If there is an opposite to the Groucho club, it is Varna. There is something wonderful about this country that feels like the edge of the world. I don't have a black leather jacket and I only smoke 40 cigarettes a day, but I still I feel I belong. If you want to come somewhere where nobody will find you, come to Bulgaria, where it's always 1977 - and great value too.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/apr/21/bulgaria?page=all) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 12 abril 2008 : 15:12:53 |
Sofia's landmarks
When you come to Sofia, start your tour outside the capital. The magnificent mountains that surround Sofia are one of the most preferred places to visit. Vitosha, Liulin and Plana mountains all surround Sofia. They feature both magnificent nature and unique culture sites.
Liulin is placed 3km southwest of Sofia. This area is preferred for its tranquility and the suitable places for (family) picnics and outings.
To see Kokalianski Monastery you have to take a walk 10km away from central Sofia into Plana Mountain. It was built in the 10th century by Tsar Samuil. Pancherevo lake is located only five km away. It provides opportunities for water sports, sun bathing and swimming.
roskoVitosha is the most popular of the three mountain parks. Boyana church and the Dragalveski monastery are both located in this mountainous area. They were built during the 13th and 14th century and are regarded as predecessors of European Renaissance. The Boyana church is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Besides cultural landmarks Vitosha is known for its ski runs found only a short trip from Sofia. If you need a place to stay- Aleko and Zlatnite Mostove are some of the Vitosha resorts that offer accommodation.
The Boyanski Waterfall, Vitosha’s stone rivers and Bulgaria’s longest cave Duhlata are some of the natural phenomena found within the Vitosha area.
The little town of Bankia is about 20 km west from Sofia. Bankia is famous for its mineral water springs. It features spa resorts as the mineral springs found there are said to cure cardio-vascular diseases.
(http://www.expatinbulgaria.com/articles/Sofia's-landmarks/62/1247) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 12 abril 2008 : 15:05:46 |
LLOGUER D'APARTAMENTS A BULGÀRIA ALQUILER DE APARTAMENTOS EN BULGARIA APARTMENTS FOR RENT IN BULGARIA
- Villa Tsarevets (Veliko Tarnovo): http://www.holidayproperty.org/object1/11080_Villa_Tsarevets.htm
- Villa Zahariev (Veliko Tarnovo region): http://www.holidayproperty.org/object1/11082_Villa_Zahariev_for_rent.htm |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 25 febrero 2008 : 00:03:51 |
Les Rhodopes, écrin pacifié des Balkans
Jean-François Rust TOURM@GAZINE.fr Vendredi 22 Février 2008
Au sud de la Bulgarie, jouxtant la Grèce et la Turquie, ce massif montagneux isolé abrite des traditions rurales et culturelles que l'on croyait oubliées. Une enclave hors du temps, qui se nourrit d'une cohabitation tranquille entre bulgares orthodoxes, bulgares musulmans et turcs. Découverte d'une terre des Balkans méconnue, à l'ambiance étonnement paisible.
Chiroka Laka, au cœur des Rhodopes. Ils ont entre treize et dix huit ans, tout au plus. Par cet après-midi de mai, la fébrilité des élèves de l'école de musique est palpable. Entre leurs mains, ils tiennent les gaïdas, gadukas et kavals, ces drôles d'instruments archaïques aux sonorités aiguës, avec lesquels ils répètent des ultimes accords dans le hall blafard de l'établissement. Dans un instant, débute la grande répétition, un moment clef dans le cursus des jeunes. Cette école unique cachée au beau milieu des montagnes, à près de trois heures de route de Sofia, enseigne depuis des générations les techniques les plus pures du chant, de la danse et la musique bulgares, Un sanctuaire taillé à la mesure de l'incroyable préservation des Rhodopes, que des centaines de jeunes tentent chaque année d'intégrer. Et le symbole parfait d'une région à l'identité immaculée.
Passion musicale
C'est sur la route de Smolyan, plein sud en venant de Plovdiv, qu'on immerge brutalement dans la réalité du massif. Passé le monastère de Batchkovo, la plaine de la Maritza a fait place à un relief plus tourmenté. Immenses forêts de conifères, hameaux perdus au fond de vallées humides, charrettes attelées qui tractent foin et pommes de terre : les images d'une ruralité archaïque se succèdent sans répit. En chemin, on croise aussi des Mercedes dernier cri, glissant sur l'asphalte flambant neuf qui mène à Pamporovo, la « grande » station de ski des Rhodopes. Elles appartiennent à ces « nouveaux riches » bulgares, émigrés de passage au pays ou affairistes aux relations sulfureuses...
Smolyan est une ville bizarre. Cité-rue déstructurée, coupée du monde, elle étale sur des versants abrupts des immeubles sans charme, étendus sur près de quinze kilomètres.
Un peu capitale administrative des Rhodopes centrales, cette ville de 40 000 habitants est aussi un creuset culturel, qui unit dans une même passion musicale bulgares orthodoxes et musulmans. Tanya Mareva, la directrice du musée de Smolyan, nous convie avec enthousiasme au centre culturel Tchitalichté, vaste bâtiment de béton années cinquante froid et lugubre, posé au bord de la rivière Tcherna : « Deux fois par semaine, les membres du groupe Kaba Gaïdi se réunissent ici pour répéter après le travail.
L'appartenance des uns et des autres à une religion différente n'a alors plus aucune importance », assure-t-elle. Sur scène, une trentaine de femmes, en arc de cercle. Au signal du chef de cœur, des voix cristallines s'élèvent sous la coupole, amples, profondes, des mélopées aux intonations magiques : les fameuses voix bulgares. A l'étage, les hommes répètent aussi. Une quinzaine d'entre eux, jeunes et anciens au coude à coude, soufflent à en perdre haleine dans les gaïdas, étonnantes copies de cornemuses à trois tubes souples dont l'outre en peau de mouton se gonfle au rythme des expirations. Notes stridentes, sons suspendus, élévation de l'âme : mais qui sont au juste ces habitants, qui du fond de leurs vallées « alpines » ont su préserver des coutumes que rien ni personne ne semble avoir altérées ?
Imbrication communautaire
L'histoire des Rhodopes est avant tout une affaire d'influences. Aux confins du pays, collé à la frontière grecque et à la partie européenne de la Turquie, ce massif de quatre cents kilomètres de long et cent de large a été soumis à tous les soubresauts politiques de la région. Ce sont d'abord les Thraces qui occupent l'est du massif, bien avant J.C. Les Romains prennent ensuite le relais et transforment l'ancienne Thrace en provincia romana, laissant au passage quelques vestiges d'importance, comme le théâtre antique de Plovdiv. Les Slaves s'installent alors dans la péninsule balkanique et conduisent à la formation du premier royaume bulgare, en 681. Après une période très agitée, marquée à la fois par de multiples affrontements avec l'empire byzantin et l'extension territoriale du royaume bulgare, ce dernier voit son pouvoir affaibli par l'invasion des Tatars.
Les Ottomans en profitent et envahissent la Bulgarie en 1396, longue emprise qui durera cinq siècles et marquera à jamais les esprits et le paysage. Islamisés de force dès le début de la conquête, de nombreux bulgares slaves deviennent musulmans. Ils donneront naissance à un peuple unique, clef de voûte des Rhodopes : les pomaks. La défaite de 1878 – les bulgares aidés par l'armée russe vainquent les turcs – marque le terme définitif du joug ottoman en Bulgarie. Mais pas la disparition totale des turcs, puisque une vaste minorité prospère aujourd'hui dans le sud-est du massif. Cette étroite imbrication communautaire – bulgares orthodoxes, pomaks, turcs - aurait pu se révéler explosive, à l'heure de l'éclatement du bloc socialiste. Il n'en a rien été. Malgré quelques tensions inévitables, la conciliation l'a toujours emporté, aidée par des comportements de tolérance et des pratiques intensives d'échanges culturels.
Tolérance religieuse
Il faut aller au fin fond du massif pour rendre compte de ce « miracle ». Jusqu'à Smilian, village mixte pomaks-orthodoxes, au sud de Smolyan. L'imam Sabri Arifov-Chekirov, la cinquantaine poivre et sel, nous reçoit dans sa mosquée flambant neuve, vêtu de la traditionnelle djellabah surmontée de la chéchia d'officiant islamiste. Comme dans les autres nations d'Europe de l'est, la chute du régime communiste de Todor Jivkov, en 1989, a rendu possible la restauration et la mise en chantier de nouveaux lieux de cultes. L'argent ? Sorti des poches des deux communautés, qui ont tour à tour financé la construction des mosquées et la rénovation des églises orthodoxes, comme à Smilian ! Déjà au XIX° s., il n'était pas rare qu'un Hodja - autorité religieuse musulmane - cède l'un de ses terrains aux chrétiens pour leur permettre d'édifier une église... Cette tolérance semble ici quotidienne. Le radicalisme religieux est absent et bien malin celui qui peut distinguer en ville un orthodoxe d'un musulman. Milchov Zaïmov incarne parfaitement cet islam modéré.
Pomak, il vit à Bukata, à cinq kilomètres de la frontière grecque. Il reçoit dans sa grande maison aménagée en « guest house », dont les pièces sont recouvertes au sol de magnifiques tapis kilims. Artisan d'intérieur, tout chez lui à été fait main, coffrets-bancs, asmak – cheminée -, jusqu'à la superbe rosace en bois clair sculptée au plafond du salon. Musulman, il ne semble pas faire grand cas de sa religion. « Non, pas de problème ! » coupe-t-il invariablement lorsque nous nous inquiétons des relations pomaks-orthodoxes, en hochant curieusement la tête de haut en bas, à la manière de tous les bulgares. A vrai dire, il n'y a guère que les prénoms – les Mahomet et Mehmet abondent dans les villages pomaks – pour trahir une appartenance formelle à la communauté islamique.
Fourmilière paysanne
La route plein est qui relie Zlatograd à Krumovgrad offre un spectacle d'une autre nature, tout aussi étonnant : celui de la réalité rurale des Rhodopes. Collines adoucies, végétation rase, vues dégagées et air sec, il flotte ici comme un parfum de Méditerranée. Le printemps a attiré dans les champs tous les paysans des villages. Une véritable fourmilière, affairée et paisible. Des pomaks, dans l'immense majorité, qui arborent l'habit traditionnel. Pantalons rouge bouffants et foulards multicolores serrés sur la tête, les femmes sont partout. Beaucoup sont blondes, avec de magnifiques yeux clairs et des sourires qui en disent long sur leur sérénité.
Courbées en rangs sur les champs de pommes de terre, elles ressemblent aux semeuses des tableaux de Manet. Les pomaks labourent avec des attelages dignes du XIX° s. Chevaux couplés arborant le pompon rouge traditionnel de Pâques, araire archaïque : la terre est fertile mais les moyens dérisoires. Sur les routes, peu de véhicules. Ou alors d'une autre époque : camions Tatar, vieilles Skoda, Moscovith rafistolées, rares tracteurs soviétiques des défuntes exploitations collectives... Plus tard dans la saison, les attelages serviront à ramasser le tabac, qui sera étendu près des fermes sur d'immenses claies en bois bringuebalantes, le temps du séchage. Les pomaks portent bien leur nom : pomatchi, les « hommes de peine »... Ce sont les véritables architectes du paysage rhodopien.
Mais la campagne pomak, c'est aussi cette incroyable profusion de minarets. Effilés, altiers, colonnes blanches ou bleues coiffées d'un croissant doré, en dur, en fer, en bois, posés sur un toit ou simples armatures métalliques accolées à une maison, ils sont partout, dans les villages ou au milieu des champs, à Roudozem, Madan, Milevsko, Djebel... A l'heure de la prière, lorsque le chant du muezzin emplit la campagne de sa complainte lancinante, les femmes s'arrêtent de travailler et se tournent en direction de la mosquée. Image édifiante en plein coeur de l'Europe...
Images d'Anatolie...
Krumovgrad, dans l'angle sud-est du pays. On se croirait en Turquie, dans une cité d'Anatolie. Les pomaks et les slaves ont presque disparus du paysage. En ville, toutes les rues sont rendues aux piétons. Remplis à craquer, exclusivement par des hommes, les bars aux murs nus ne payent pas de mine. Dehors, les femmes arborent la longue robe claire et le foulard des turques. Au marché, alternent étals de primeurs, marchands de vêtements et artisans de pacotille, des tsiganes souvent, leurs ferrailles à même le sol.
Le café aussi s'est mis à la mode turque, épais et sirupeux. Combien de turcs vivent en Bulgarie ? Près d'un million, au bas mot. La majorité parle exclusivement turc. Beaucoup travaillent dans des entreprises textiles, émanations de consortiums turcs qui produisent nuit et jour pour le marché grec, allemand ou français. Musulmans, ils inspirent aux bulgares une méfiance atavique. On n'oublie pas ainsi cinq cent ans de domination. Parmi les griefs, l'influence supposé de l'Etat turc sur cette minorité. Dans cette Bulgarie si loin de Sofia, beaucoup de villages sont gérés par des municipalités d'obédience turque. Les autorités les soupçonnent d'entretenir plus de relations avec la mère patrie qu'avec l'Etat hôte. Une menace pour l'équilibre du pays, aux dires de certains slaves bulgares.
Mariages mixtes
L'ouest du massif a moins d'états d'âme. Vers Devin, Dospat ou Goce Delchev, les turcs sont plus dispersés et les villages se fondent dans une cohabitation tranquille entre pomaks et slaves. Georgui est animateur de groupe musical. Pour lui, la tolérance entre les deux communautés est simple : « Les pomaks et les chrétiens s'entendent bien parce qu'ils sont avant tout bulgares. Et puis pendant les cinquante ans de communisme, aucune religion n'était officiellement autorisée. Tout le monde était sur la même ligne ». Depuis 1990, chacun a pu choisir sa religion mais cette liberté retrouvée s'est opérée dans le calme. Les mariages mixtes sont maintenant légion, les jeunes ayant adopté des styles de vie standardisés. Une anecdote illustre cette imbrication. Lors de la cérémonie de mariage, les couples s'adonnent à un petit jeu. A un signal, les futurs époux doivent taper le sol avec leurs pieds. Celui des deux qui aura été le plus prompt prendra alors, selon la coutume, les commandes du couple ! S'il est mixte, l'une des deux religions s'imposera à l'autre...
Immensités et isolement à l'ouest
Cette partie occidentale des Rhodopes est la plus « alpine » du massif, avec un ambiance qui évoque curieusement le Vercors. Vastes plateaux aérés, champs labourés battus par les vents, brouillards qui envahissent les cols : les plus hauts sommets dépassent rarement deux mille mètres. Montagne tranquille, qui étale entre la route Smolyan-Kulata au sud et la plaine de la Maritza, au nord, des milliers de kilomètres carrés de forêts et de lacs, territoire des bûcherons et paradis de la faune. L'ours, le lynx et le loup y sont omniprésents.
Vers la frontière grecque, au delà des gorges vertigineuses de Tirgrad, berceau d'Orphée, selon la légende, il faut affronter un tout autre isolement. Celui d'une ligne de crêtes infranchissable, encore jalonnée par une incroyable clôture métallique de quatre cent kilomètres de long, entre Kulata et Ivaïlovgrad. Vestige des verrouillages communistes, elle n'a fait que confirmer une réalité historique : grecs et bulgares n'ont jamais tissé de liens profonds. Quelques trocs de bois, un peu de braconnage inter-frontalier, rien de plus. La clôture désormais ouverte, on envisage de construire des routes transversales. L'Europe pousse à la roue et finira bien par venir à bout des réticences grecques qui, dit-on ici, craignent « l'invasion » soudaine de musulmans bulgares qui pourraient rejoindre les quelques pomaks isolés du versant sud du massif...
Concentré de Balkans
La plaine de Golce Delchev, au pied du massif du Pirin, marque la bordure finale des Rhodopes, à l'extrême ouest. Sorte de monde perdu, coincé entre la Grèce et la Macédoine voisine, elle condense tous les clichés archaïques de la région. La route de Germen à Kovatchevitza est à ce titre édifiante. Sur vingt kilomètres, on trouve dans l'ordre : un campement tzigane – le dernier de Bulgarie, tous les autres roms ont été sédentarisés dans les villes sous l'ère communiste -, un village bulgare orthodoxe – Lechten – et un bourg exclusivement pomak – Gorno Drianovo. Un vrai concentré de Balkans. Gorno Drianovo, en particulier, a de quoi séduire : ballots de foin devant les maisons, paysannes pomaks multicolores et leurs enfants emmaillotés sur le dos... Devant une petite échoppe, des tziganes au visage de cuivre patientent dans une vieille guimbarde. Ils attendent qu'on leur paye la récolte de champignons qu'ils viennent d'apporter. Partout des enfants qui courent, plus blonds les uns que les autres. Plus loin, une vieille femme chargée de fagots de bois monte une sente boueuse, un âne à ses côtés. Odeur d'étables, d'urine et d'eau mélangées. Cette effervescence n'est pas trop miséreuse. Tout juste un peu brouillonne.
Elle tranche avec la propreté de Lechten, le village slave orthodoxe en contrebas. Là, les maisons « balkaniques » ont été savamment restaurées. Souvent par des sofiotes – habitants de Sofia -, qui viennent pour les vacances. Fondations de pierres grises surmontées de maçonneries blanches, balcons de bois, toitures de schistes, grands porches à auvents que prolongent des murs de jardins clos : Lechten a tout d'un village musée.
En comparaison, le campement tzigane de Germen fait figure de bidonville. Quatre cent d'entre eux vivent ici, en haillons, maigres, édentés. Ils survivent dans des maisons de torchis, au milieu de la boue et des animaux domestiques. Leur vie n'est pas rose en Bulgarie. Ils sont cantonnés dans les travaux les plus pénibles, quand seulement ils travaillent... Bûcherons, ferblantiers, cueilleurs, ouvriers à la tâche. D'autres, montreurs d'ours, vont de village en village avec leurs animaux faméliques. Beaucoup se disent Agupti - prétendument venus d'Egypte – ou Tursi. Certains s'affichent orthodoxes, d'autres musulmans. Des marginaux de toute façon, malgré tout tolérés : les épouses bulgares ne font-elles pas appel aux femmes tziganes en cas de stérilité, celles-ci offrant alors un oeuf d'acier supposé leur rendre leur fertilité ?
Pauvreté et fêtes indissociables
Aliya Chamov, le maire pomak de Dolen, autre de ces innombrables villages mixtes, est bien conscient de l'incroyable équilibre culturel de sa région. Elu depuis plusieurs années, il a traversé toutes les épreuves du pouvoir communiste et confirme que l'âme rurale de ses concitoyens l'emporte sur toutes les divergences qui auraient pu naître d'une pratique religieuse différente. Pragmatique, il pointe aussi du doigt le manque criant de moyens. Son village classé réserve architecturale depuis 1977 peine à retrouver son lustre d'antan : « Ici beaucoup d'habitants sont au chômage et les jeunes s'enfuient à Sofia dès leur majorité. La culture traditionnelle du tabac et de la pomme de terre ne sont pas suffisamment rentables ». Et le salaire moyen mensuel ne dépasse pas cent euros...
Alors, pour transcender la pauvreté, les habitants s'enivrent de fêtes et de musique. A la Saint Georges, à Pâques, lors de la fête de Lazarouvane, à la fête des masques de Chiroka Laka, on chante, on danse, on boit, on joue de la musique. Des rites gaillards qui subliment le quotidien et cimentent les communautés.
Les Balkans peuvent parfois aussi être synonymes d'entente et d'équilibre.
(http://www.tourmagazine.fr/Les-Rhodopes,-ecrin-pacifie-des-Balkans_a6106.html) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 31 diciembre 2007 : 22:25:39 |
BULGARIA TRAVEL - Welcome to Bulgaria
http://www.bulgariatravel.org/eng/index.php
Pàgina oficial del turisme a Bulgària, on podreu trobar la informació essencial per conèixer el país i visitar-lo. En búlgar, rua, anglès i alemany.
Página oficial del turismo en Bulgaria, donde podréis encontrar la información esencial para conocer el país y visitarlo. En búlgaro, ruso, inglés i alemán.
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| alazaro |
Enviado - 13 agosto 2007 : 15:33:32 |
Bulgaria tries to avoid mass-tourism of Spain
BUSINESS NEW EUROPE (bne) August 13, 2007
Bulgarian vacation spots along the Black Sea are in a quandary. They are drawn to the short-term money mass tourism brings, but don't want to make the same mistakes as the Spanish. Yet without a significant change in direction, that seems to be the way the country's coastline is headed, Deutsche Welle reported.
"Investors have built gigantic hotel complexes, significantly increasing the number of beds along the Black Sea Coast. This has caused a price war. A night in a holiday apartment costs on average 25 euros ($34.50) while a night in a single room can be as little as 2 euros. Hotels without a water view sit nearly empty," it reported.
Empty beds are only one of the Bulgarian tourism industry's problems. During the recent building spree, the accompanying infrastructure never materialized, said Marin Neschkow, head of the tourism board and a tourism expert at the university in Varna, the largest city on Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast. Businesses have invested millions of euros to build beautiful hotel grounds, bars and other amenities. But the corresponding transportation and communication networks are lacking. There's also insufficient water supply and sewage treatment, Neschkow said.Hotels are built so quickly that skilled workers can not be trained quickly enough. Their apprenticeships take several years. But the problem, according to Neschkow is not the dearth of places in Bulgarian training programs, it's the fact that many students no longer stick around in the summers to work in the Bulgarian tourism industry. Instead, they go abroad.
(http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch.php?id=1655#23111) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 11 agosto 2007 : 01:09:20 |
easyJet añade Bulgaria a su red de destinos a partir de noviembre
finanzas.com 09/Ago/2007 (EUROPA PRESS)
LONDRES, 9 (EUROPA PRESS).- La aerolínea de bajo coste easyJet anunció su expansión en Bulgaria, así como siete nuevas rutas para este otoño, incluyendo nuevas frecuencias destinos que ya opera, según señaló en un comunicado.
A partir del 6 de noviembre, la 'low cost' unirá Londres-Gatwick con Sofia tres veces a la semana, lo que para la aerolínea refleja su compromiso con la Europa del Este después del anuncio de su entrada en el mercado rumano y polaco.
(http://www.finanzas.com/id.9181647/noticias/noticia.htm) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 12 junio 2007 : 14:09:18 |
DISCOVER BULGARIA
http://www.discover-bulgaria.com/
Informació sobre allotjaments i activitats turístiques.
Información sobre alojamientos y actividades turísticas. |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 13 mayo 2007 : 18:18:33 |
BULGARIA HOLIDAY RENTALS
http://www.bgholidayrentals.com/PropertySearch.aspx
Una pàgina des de la qual es pot llogar qualsevol cosa per passar unes vacances a Bulgària, des d'aspartaments a la platja, la muntanya o les ciutats principals, fins a pistes de tennis, televisors, bicicletes... passant, és clar, per reserves d'excursions o de bitllets d'avió.
Una página desde la que se puede alquilar cualquier cosa para pasar unas vacaciones en Bulgaria, desde apartamentos en la playa, la montaña o las principales ciudades, hasta pistas de tenis, televisores, bicicletas..., pasando, claro está, por reservas de excursiones o billetes de avión. |
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