The Orthodox Church celebrates the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The holiday celebrates the miraculous finding of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. It is one of the 12 major Christian holidays of the year.
When the cross was discovered, it revived a dead boy, and since then Christians believe that if they seek God's mercy on this day, they will be cured of any disease. Folk custom connects the day with the beginning of autumn when the grape harvest begins. In the Rhodopes, thousands of believers gather with a prayer for healing in the area "Krastova gora" (Forest of the Cross) near Asenovgrad the night before the holiday.
For Bulgarians, Krastovden is also connected with the beginning of the last stage of the Ilinden - Preobrazhenie Uprising, when in 1903 the rebellion against the Ottoman rule covered the region of Pirin Macedonia and Serres.
On 19 October 2025, the day on which Orthodox Bulgarians commemorate St Ivan Rilski the Miracle-Worker, the newly renovated St Ivan Rilski Church in Chicago will officially reopen its doors. Named after Bulgaria’s heavenly patron , the church will host..
Archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov on Thursday announced the discovery of a large circular temple at Perperikon, the early-historic rock complex in the Eastern Rhodopes, BTA reported. Dating to the 3rd–4th centuries AD , the structure is believed to..
This summer, archaeologists once again breathed life into the legends woven into the rocks of Kaliakra . Among the ruins of the once majestic fortress above the Black Sea, over 400 artefacts were discovered, shedding new light on..
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