Many Bulgarians went to light a candle in the Alexender Nevski cathedral in Sofia to mark the so-called Tsvetnitsa-Vrabnitsa holiday, which is the Orthodox equivalent to the catholic Palm Sunday. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia News Agency)
Bulgarians marked Sunday the so-called Tsvetnitsa-Vrabnitsa holiday, which is the Orthodox equivalent to the catholic Palm Sunday.
Held annually on the last Sunday before Easter, Tsvetnitsa is one of the biggest Bulgarian holidays, rich in a variety of customs, songs and melodies.
This year Orthodox Tvetnitsa coincided with the Catholic Easter.
Being one of the most beautiful spring holidays it celebrates the day of the entrance of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, when he was welcomed with palms and olive branches.
Early in the morning on Tsvetnitsa the young girls who have been ‘lazarki' on the previous day go to the nearest river. After they find a place where the water is calm they put pieces of traditional bread on willow barks and throw them into the water.
The girl whose bark outsails those of the others is pronounced for ‘kumitsa'.
On Tsvetnitsa-Vrabnitsa all those named after flowers, plants or trees celebrate their name day.