Day of the Great Martyr George the Victorious

St. GeorgeSt. George’s Day, or Gergiovden in Bulgarian, is one of the most famous holidays in the people. It is associated with agriculture (George in Greek means “farmer”) and with cattle breeding. In Bulgaria, St. George is considered the patron and protector of shepherds and their cattle.

On this day, women and children go out early in the morning to the meadow and collect wildflowers, which decorate the windows and doors in the house. It is believed that if you wash yourself this morning with dew, you will be healthy all year long and no disease can overcome you.

In particular, on this day livestock and especially sheep. Early in the morning, the shepherds go to the barn to milk the sheep, preparing in advance a motley ritual bread, which is added to the animal feed. In a bucket, where sheep are milked, they put a coin so that the whole year the bolt is high.

This day is associated with traditional rich feasts. For the festive table, the hostess prepares a special ceremonial bread (“the Goddess”), on which she sculpts figures of a shepherd and sheep from the dough. In honor of St. George, a young lamb is slaughtered in every house (in villages this is a tradition). Before that, a wreath of flowers collected in the morning is placed on his head, and a candle is lit on the left horn and a prayer is read. It is usually cut in front of the door, and the blood is poured into the river or into an anthill (so that the sheep reproduce like ants). Skin from the slaughtered lamb, according to custom, goes as a gift to the church temple. The traditional dish for the festive table is lamb roasted on coals on a spit. From the giblets, a dish "shot-sarma" is prepared (boiled giblets extinguished in the oven with rice). At the table, the river pours wine, singing songs.

It is also the Day of the Bulgarian Army. In the morning of this day, on the square in front of the Tomb of the soldier in Sofia, the President of the country hosts the parade of the representative part of the Bulgarian army, and the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Church consecrates the battle banners.

Since St. George’s Day, summer holidays begin, as well as summer suffering on the field and in the garden. In the old days on St.'s Day. George employed ploughmen and workers in the field (up to Dimitrov day - 26.10). If it rains on this day, it is believed that each drop brings altyn.