Bachkovo Monastery

Our last afternoon in Bulgaria (where did those two weeks go?) and a little time to blip a couple of photos.  On Sunday we made our way back to the capital Sofia and en route we visited Bachkovo Monastery in the Rhodope Mountains which was founded in 1083.  It was destroyed by the Ottomans in the 16th century and then restored in the 17th century.  It is the second largest monastery in Bulgaria after Rila which we visited a couple of years ago.

Yesterday we visited the National History Museum in the foothills outside Sofia which houses a huge collection of treasures. My first extra shows three of the seven items unearthed by the Deikov brothers in 1949 near a town called Panagyurishte.  They are solid gold Thracian drinking vessels from the 3rd century BC and the craftsmanship is astounding.  At first the brothers thought they were metal objects of some sort but after washing them they discovered they were in fact solid gold!

One of the joys of coming on these organised trips with Iliana and Todor are the special things we wouldn't normally get to see in the way of Bulgarian traditional dancing and music. Yesterday evening was no exception and we were given a wonderful concert by the childrens' ensemble in the town of Bobov Dol, about an hour's drive from Sofia.  They ranged in age from about four to sixteen and they sang and danced beautifully for over an hour.  Some of the older girls also played the tambura - and some of the younger ones got decidedly bored with the whole experience by the end!

Thanks for your comments on some of my earlier blips.  It's been a wonderful trip - lots of adventures and lots of laughs - and it's back to the UK tomorrow!