I heard the undying legend of the hero Grozdyo from the Mayor Tsetska Dimitrova. Heritage from the past, mixed with a tang of present-day optimism for the future, that despite the official 19% of unemployed population the craftsmen’s skills of the ancestors have been preserved. That today’s inhabitants of Teteven can count on the traditional woodworking and furniture production. On the unique nature and the proximity of the Ribaritsa resort centre. It is more than natural to develop tourism here. I shall add my impressions of the wonderful local cuisine and the famous plum brandy, which rivals only with the Troyan brandy. But when some guest mentions it, the hosts reply with a smile that with Troyan brandy they rinse the glasses before pouring in their own brandy.

For its one time glamour the town was called Altin (golden) Teteven, according to the Turkish register of 1421. There is a hypothesis that immigrants from Tetovo gave the name of the town. The legend of the brave fellow Grozdyo indicates the shepherd Tetyo as the originator of the town who gave it its name. There are versions Tetiven, Tetyovene, Tetovane. Many defend the thesis that seen from the peaks, where I think the saints are looking from, the town resembles a 12-kilometre bow-string drawn along the two banks of the river Beli Vit.

The bow-string of time has thrown out from here Romans, Thracians, Byzantine and Ottoman invaders. Only the Bulgarians have remained in this beautiful place called Teteven.

Traditions

St. Theodore’s Day celebration in the village of Bachevo, Razlog District

The life of the Bulgarian people has always been related with horses. An expression of the respect and the admiration granted to this faithful companion in toil and war is the St. Theodore’s Day celebration, also known as Todoritsa or Horse Easter, one of the first spring holidays, highly respected throughout Bulgaria. The festivities begin with a ring dance in the village square and with a ritual feeding of the horses with round buns. The newly-wed brides also give a piece of the bread as a ritual for health and fertility. The culmination of the St. Theodore’s Day celebrations is the race (known as “koushia” or “koshia”). The race winners – both the horse and the horseman – enjoy the admirations and compliments of all. Many villages also organize races with carts loaded with logs. Along its deep symbolism, which unites Christian and Pagan traditions, St. Theodore’s Day also has a practical dimension. The day makes a review of the horses in the village after the long winter – to see whether they are fast, strong and hardy.

Bachevo is one of the most picturesque villages in Razlog district. Located in the foothills of the Rila Mountain, it boasts an excellent climate, mineral spas, along with magnificent forests, rivers and waterfalls. Above the village, at the border of the Rila National Park lies the famous area of Perivol, which means a “nice and verdure place” in Latin. And it is by no means accidental that the people in the Razlog district say, “It is nice in Bansko, it is nice in Dobur, it is nice in Razlog, but they rank only after Perivol”.

The respect of these people for horses has long traditions, and the St. Theodore’s Day celebrations are declared an official holiday of the village. Even today you can see horses running freely in the streets of Bachevo village. Still an important part of everyday life, they are widely used in forestry and agriculture. In the Perivol Club for Horse Tourism, organized by Ivan Nakov, both the amateurs and the professionals can enjoy the pleasure of a horse-back ride in the mountain.

The holiday, which brings together young and old, each year revives the unique atmosphere and richness of the Bulgarian folk customs and traditions.

Rumen Stoichkov, Lyubomir Penev