Yesterday, Plovdiv hosted the Day of the refugees who fled in the beginning of the 20th century from the once-Bulgarian territories known as the Aegean Thrace region – the so-called “Thracian Bulgarians”. The Thracian Bulgarians celebrated March 26th, a day appointed by the BG government as the Day of the Thracian Bulgarians in respect to those people and their contribution in the preservation of one of the greatest BG historical and cultural heritages ever to be found in Europe. This year is the 110th anniversary of the creation of the first Thracian Association in Bulgaria by the Captain Petko Voyvoda and his supporters. That day is also connected to the liberation of the Thrace territories back in 1913, during the Balkan War and the victory of the battle for Adrianapolis (today’s Edirne, in Turkey).
On the occasion of that day celebrations, the heirs of the then-refugees, now members of the Thracian Association, received by the Plovdiv Municipality the original blueprints and the documents of ownership of their new center in Plovdiv – the building of the former “Trakia” Cinema in the southern area of Plovdiv. The Chairman of the Thracian Association, General Nonka Matova (see the photo above) laid floral tributes to the bas-relief monument of Captain Petko Voyvoda and declared the celebrations on the occasion open. Citizens of Plovdiv of Jewish, Macedonian, Greek and Karakachan origin spent together with their Bulgarian fellow citizens the Day of Thracian Bulgarians. The celebrations finished with a long and winding horo (i.e. ring chain dance) that gathered everyone together….