The Comenius Trip to Bulgaria – 19th
September to 24th September 2013
Building
Bridges, a most suitable name for a project that has successfully built bridges
with various countries in Europe from the north, south, east and west through
the various meetings in the respective countries, Challans - France , Pisa -
Italy, Nikopol – Bulgaria.
Malta,
Poland, Italy and France were hosted by Bulgaria in Nikopol, a small,
picturesque town enriched with history
situated right on the Danube where four countries meet and exchange cultures,
language, teaching practices, new friends and long lasting memories.
Ms.Marie
Louise, Ms. Claire, Ms Joanne and myself were warmly welcomed by the Bulgarian
teachers Maya, Valeria, Marin, the school principal and their colleagues, who ensured
that our stay in Nikopol would be a positive experience. Our hosts realised that
we needed a good rest after a long journey, they let us have a good rest, so as
to be prepared and fresh for the upcoming, packed programme of cultural and
historical visits.
Nikopol
or interestingly written in the Bulgarian alphabet known as Cyrillic –Никопол, is a town in northern Bulgaria, on the right bank of the Danube river.
It spreads at the foot of steep chalk
cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley. After the decline of the Roman
Empire, the
town was located at the northern border of the Byzantine
Empire. In
1059, it was named Nicopolis, Greek for "City of Victory" hence well-known
sports brand name Nike. During most
of the Middle Ages, it was part of the Bulgarian Empire. After the fall
of Tarnovo in 1393, the town was conquered by the Ottomans
in 1395. During these two years, Nikopol is therefore, sometimes, considered
the capital of Bulgaria. It was
the site of the Battle of Nicopolis, the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages, in 1396.
We managed to find just enough time to take a
stroll around this town and visit Nikopol’s main cultural and historical sites, such
as, the medieval fortress, the richly-decorated 13th or 14th-century Church of Saints
Peter and Paul, the rock-hewn Church of Saint Stephen, the Bulgarian National Revival Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God from
1840, the Elia water fountain with an immured Ancient
Roman gravestone featuring an epitaph, and the Vasil Levski museum house. We also witnessed the beautiful
sunset over the Danube River with the opposite river bank of Romania as
background.
The
following day was a packed one. First, we visited the architectural ethnographic
complex, Etar. This is an open air museum featuring a typical Medieval Bulgarian
Town, studded with artisan shops each producing and selling the typical
products of the region varying from the delicacies of Bulgarian cuisine to woodcarving,
pottery, coppersmith crafts, cutlery making, furriery and needlework, not to mention the hot bread which reminded us
of the Maltese mouth-watering “ftira”.
This was a hands on experience of presence vision, scent, taste and
communication at its best. It was truly a knowledge enriching achievement. It
felt like going back in time.
On
the same day, we visited the quiet Sokolsky Bulgarian Orthodox Monastery, which
is five minutes away from Etar. This monastery is situated in the heart of the
Bulgarian countryside on the slopes of the Balkan Mountains, engulfed in a sea
of all shades of green, with scattered patches of the beautiful colours of the
Bulgarian Rose, the country’s national flower.
Tarnovo
was our next stop. The city was vibrant with all sorts of festive paraphernalia. Bulgaria was celebrating Independence Day, come
to think of it, similarly, in Malta we were also celebrating Independence Day. It
was befitting to celebrate this important date in the Bulgarian history in this
town. Tarnovo is the old Bulgarian capital city. It features a medieval town
and is often referred to as the
"City of the Tsars".The old part of the city is situated on
the three hills: Tsarevets,
Trapezitsa, and Sveta Gora rising amidst the meanders of the Yantra River. Its
architecture and the medieval town make this town a unique cultural heritage.
Bulgaria’s history is an old, rich and complex one, made simpler and
comprehensible to us with a visit to the Wax Figures Museum in this town. The highlight of the day, after a good meal
and some folklore street dancing, was the beautiful light and sound show at
night. Watching this show was like being
thrown into a magical world of light and sound akin to fairytales.
After
the interesting weekend, now more knowledgeable about Bulgarian history,
tradition and culture, a visit to the school “Hristo Botev” in Nikopol was a
must. We were welcomed by students in the Bulgarian traditional costume. Each of us was given a bunch of roses whilst
we watched the folklore dancing prepared by the students. The school is big,
colourful and cheerful. Here, all five countries discussed the progress of the
project and its future plans. In addition, we also had the honour to meet
Nikopol’s mayor. The mayor stressed on the importance of investing in education.
He added that educating the young is also building and improving the future of
Bulgaria.
Nikopol
belongs to the Provence of Pleven, a modern, busy town. Here we visited the
Pleven Panorama, a tower, featuring a 3D painting depicting the battle against
the Turks known as the Siege of Pleven which took place in 1877 on the hills surrounding
Pleven. This panoramic circular 3D painting is a masterpiece, to say the least.
The detail is amazingly accurate. We ended the day with a visit to the Regional
Historical Museum.
Our
trip to Bulgaria ended with a dinner, purposely organised for us in a
traditional Bulgarian restaurant. We tasted the typical Bulgarian cuisine and
home-made dessert and we danced to the traditional Bulgarian music. In just
four days, we saw Bulgaria’s landscape and vast countryside, we lived its
history through its architecture, museums visits and historical sites, we
savoured its mild climate, and its food, we smelt its roses and we touched the
Bulgarian’s warm welcome in Nikopol. We were united through dance and music. It
was an experience where all five countries built a bridge using the five
senses.
Comenius
projects such as Building Bridges through the Five Senses succeed in providing
opportunities for lifelong learning.
Lara
Muscat
Teacher
of English
