Spring holidays in Bulgaria

Symbols of the spring, love and women

beauty those are the heralds of Easter
Lazarice and Tsvetnitsa.

Lazarice
Lazarovden or
simply Lazarice is
always celebrated
on Saturday before
Tsvetnitsa.
The holiday takes its
name from Saint
Lazar, who was
resurrected by
Christ on the fourth
day after his funeral.
On these holidays the maidens have the
more important role (compared to
Koleduvane and Survakane in which
participate only men).
Upon tradition on
Lazarice people tear
green willow
branches, which will
decorate doors on
the next day
Tsvetnica.
This day is also
Lazarova Zadushnitsa
- people visit the
graveyard to honor
their dead and give
away boiled wheat and
prusurki (special type
of bread for this
occasion). It is believed
this is preparation for
Tsvetnitsa when the
dead come back to
bring gifts to the living.

Even though its fasting the table is still full.
Traditional meals are the boiled wheat,
prusurki, spanachnik (banitsa with spinach).
Fish is allowed.
500g wheat
1 lemon peel
1 tea cup grated nuts
2 tsp bread crumbs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tea cup powder sugar
tsp salt
Tsvetnitsa
(Branch Sunday, Flower day, Vaya)
Tsvetnitsa is the
Sunday before Easter.
The feast
commemorates Jesus
triumphal entry into
Jerusalem.
The willow branches
from Lazarice are taken
to church to be blessed.
The girls who have
been lazarki on the
previous day retain
their leading role.
The branches are often fashioned into crowns by
young girls and worn to church until they are thrown
in a river. Some people bring the blessed willow
branches at their homes for health.
All people named after flowers or plants, like Violeta,
Roza, Lillia, celebrate their name day.
The traditional meal for this holiday is white
fish, which isnt against fasting.
How to prepare fish for Lazarice
and Tsvetnitsa
Products:
1kg white fish
125g butter
300g tomatoes
300g onions
garlic
1 lemon
parsley
Black pepper, bay leaf and salt

Preparation:
Chop fine the onions and stew them in the butter. Add the grinded
tomatoes, the black pepper, the bay leaf, garlic and salt. Stew it for 10
more minutes. Pour the mix in suitable baking dish and put the fish on
top of it. Sprinkle with fine choped parsley and decorate with lemon
slices.
Bake it in the oven on 180 degrees.
Easter
Easter celebrates
the resurrection of
Jesus.
For Easter in
Bulgaria people
decorate boiled
eggs, bake special
kind of sweet bread
called Kozunak.
Traditional meal is
the lamb stew.
The bulgarians have
reached such mastery
that decorating eggs
and kozunak is an art
form in itself.
The first egg is always
red.
There are more than
100 ways to braid
and/or decorate the
kozunac.
The most
popular
meal for
Easter in
Bulgaria
roasted
stuffed lamb





Project TralSud Traditional
Lifestyle as a Model of Sustainable
Development has been funded with
support from the Grundvig
Partnership program of the European
Commission.





Prepared by Yana Andreeva