There are such lucky towns that offer their visitors the opportunity of time traveling. For instance, when I entered the Byzantine Art Museum in Thessaloniki, I was met by a large print with what seemed to be a drawing after a crossing between an ancient temple and a modern church. While looking at that wall-size […]

This over a hundred years old unfinished project is the expression of the dream to present Serbia as the exponent of Orthodox Christianity in central Europe, or even Serbian exceptionalism. It is no surprise that Hagia Sophia was taken as a model, as that is the archetype of Eastern Christian architecture, but also the emblem […]

One day, in the 18 century, a bullfighter decided he will not face the beast on a horseback, like everybody else at the time, but rather unmount and stand before the bull protected only by a piece of rosy cloth. It happened here, in Ronda, in a round arena that is now a Corrida Museum, […]

Pamporovo is one of the finest ski resorts in Bulgaria, found in the southern part of the country, in the Rhodope mountains, next to the border with Greece. It is a long way coming from capital Sofia, to Plovdiv, but the road gets spectacular when going to the smaller town of Chepelare and going higher […]

Some say that this might be the oldest Christian church in the world that is still in place, while others admit that this is just the oldest monument of this type in Greece or in the city. However, the Rotunda from Thessaloniki, built in 306, is a witness to almost two millenniums of history. It […]

With a history of a thousand years, the monastery of Rila is a favorite pilgrimage place for Bulgarians and a tourist attraction for foreign visitors. Pope John Paul II visited this monastery during his stay in Bulgaria. It is located in the SW of the country, near Blagoevgrad, south the capital Sofia, in the beautiful […]

The tradition of monasticism comes from Egypt and Syria, with the patron of this reclusive lifestyle, St Anthony. In the most extreme form of abandoning the world and its temptations, monks would seek the most remote places, living in the wilderness only by the means provided by nature. The rocky hills of Meteora were ideal […]