The grannies from Lyulyakovo

The grannies from Lyulyakovo



In the eastern slopes of the Balkan Mountain, 60 km northwest of Burgas, on the river banks of Kamchia there is a village blooming called Lyulyakovo (Keremetlik). The name of this old Bulgarian village is mentioned in Turkish records already in 1488. After the Bulgarian liberation the village became even bigger after the settlment of Thracian refugees from Asia Minor villages such as Chatal Tepe and Kodzhabunar who live together with other Bulgarian immigrants from Malak Dervent, Sofliysko (1913 - 1914).

The large variety of different cultures can be seen not only in the traditional costumes of the people living in Lyulyakovo but also in their customs, which they strictly follow to this day. The tradition continues thanks to the support of the local community center "Prosveta", founded in 1929 and awarded the "Cyril and Methodius" medal - first degree in 1979 for its active cultural and educational activities. In 2001 the community center participated in a project for collecting, preserving and promoting folk traditions back in the households and the festive calendar of Lyulyakovo "12 steps in the past" financed by the National Fund "Culture". Three generations - from 4 to 84 years old, were involved in the formation of the folklore ensemble founded in 1956. They took part on festivals abroad, national councils and from Koprivshtitsa always returned with a gold medal.

In 1981 the community center had a great number of members and the costumes were not enough, so they bought from the local population 23 authentic costumes and the rest made their own. They bought 40 kg cotton from a factory in Burgas and at five meetings, which includes all women of the village, the cotton was spun. Zlatka Angelova woven the canvas, Maria Teneva sewed sagya (overcoat). Every woman embroidered her own costume.


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Rosica Топалова and Krasimira Dubarova, curators in department "Ethnography"