On the sidelines of celebrations of the Day of Bulgarian valour, May 6 marks also the national feast Gergyovden.

The day of holy martyr St George the Victor has been traditionally celebrated on Bulgarian Orthodox calendar.

It is celebrated by farmers, who see St Georges their patron for centuries. The saint is considered by the national beliefs to be the guardian of shepherds and herds.

Each Gergyovden there is a ritual offering of a young lamb to the patron saint (which is called "kurban") - the lamb is butchered after being ritually fed and decorated with a Gergyovden wreath of a mulberry branch woven with nettle and some red thread.

St George has been considered one of the most important Saints ever since Christianity became the official state religion in this country 11 centuries ago.

The Saint is among the few venerated by both Christians and Muslims. He is also the patron of spring verdure and fertility, a patron of shepherds and farmers.

The day is believed to set in summer and the new farming cycle.

By tradition the whole family gathers and eats lamb. Special place on the table is attributed to the ritual Gergyovden bread. All sorts of bread are made for the feast - the cross bread, the shepherd's bread, the large ring-bread, as well as small ones, or the special ring-shaped bun baked by the young wife in the house.

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