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TRADITIONAL FESTIVALS AND ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUMS

ALONG THE STRUMA RIVER VALLEY, BLAGOEVGRADDISTRICT, BULGARIA AND SERRES, GREECE

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SERRES

SarakatsaniIn the recent past, the Sarakatsani were a semi-nomadic community primarilyengaged with livestock breeding. The specific way of life, requiring themigration of flocks and finding of pastures in the mountains of Macedonia andThrace in the spring and by the Aegean Sea in the autumn as well as theproduction of dairy products and fabrics, contributes to the creation of aninteresting everyday, social, material and festive culture, artifacts from whichwe can see in the Sarakatsani Museum in Serres. The museum is located in amodern building designed specifically for that purpose which allowsinteresting exposition.The first exhibit you will see to the right of the entrance is the mobile tentknown as tsiatoura, which the Sarakatsani use when they travel. It is simple tomake it - two vertical and one horizontal post covered with waterproof fabric

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made of goat's fur and sheep's wool. The indoor space is covered with colorfulfabrics and household objects.

A fireplace is displayed outside the tent: flat earthen baking dish with a lidcovered with smoldering embers is put on a trivet.

Another interesting exhibit is presented on the left side of tsiatoura - the guideof the caravan. Elderly people still remember how the Sarakatsani werepassing by their villages in the spring or autumn. The whole caravan was ledby a beautiful bride wearing her wedding dress and drawing all the attention toherself. And indeed this honor was given to the last married bride.

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We continue our walk in the museum and reach a restoration of a school builtbefore 1930. Having a class is recreated in the classroom. Students are seatedon their benches. In front of each of them is placed a small black board andchalk for writing, which allowed multiple use. You will also see notebooks,but they are just for writing the rules. The blackboard and the teacher are atthe front. Some of the benches are empty and invite the curious visitor to jointhe class.

We leave the school and continue to the next two exhibits that represent thepart of Sarakatsani life related to animal breeding and dairy production. Thelarge numbers of livestock required their division into herds consisting of fivehundred head of stock. Each herd had two shepherds who inhabit smallshepherds' huts. In the museum, you can see what the interior of the shepherd'shut looks like – a fireplace in the center and two mats on its both sides, and thescanty household objects are hung on the walls.

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The production of dairy products, used in the daily diet and also market-oriented, is at the heart of the Sarakatsani economy. For the milk processing,special rectangular chalets were built in which all necessary vessels and toolswere stored.

Bells are an important part of the Sarakatsani cattle breeding. Their use has apractical function as they serve as a sign for animals and for shepherdsthemselves. Animals, for example, could recognize the specific melody of thebells, and if one got lost, it was easy to find where the flock was. On one handshepherds recognized the nuances of the herd's melody and, depending onwhether it was calm or disturbing, could tell the condition of the animals. On

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the other hand, the bells were a way of demonstrating prestige and musicaltaste because of the tonal melody coming from the combination of bronze andcopper bells placed respectively on the goats and rams.

In the central part of the first floor of the museum the family home is exposed.The interior of the main and largest room is covered with colorful rugs andcarpets. At its ends, along the entire length of the walls, a bench is formed. Inthe center there is a fireplace, and there is a dining table next to it. To the rightof the entrance there are wooden shelves for keeping the household dishes andbread. Above them is the home chapel with icons of the Virgin Mary and thesaints, patrons of livestock breeding. The hut also has a special room wherethe loom is housed and the ready fabrics are stored.

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Please pay attention to the buildings' construction. They are made oflightweight wooden scaffolding with a hive, triangular or square shape,covered with wheat bundles in a way that allows upgrading. This constructionmakes the hut extremely waterproof.

We continue the tour of the museum and we go upstairs on the second floor.We go left and immerse in everyday women's labor. The whole woolprocessing is presented through photos and exhibits. Pay attention to thestraight and double wool carder, the hand spindles, the distaffs, the spinnerand the niddy-noddy. These tools were used by women to scour the wool andturn it into bunches of unspun fibers, which then were spun manually intothreads of varying thickness, depending on the fabric they would be used for.

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A presentation of weaving and fabric samples follows.In separate showcases, parts of Sarakatsani male and female clothing,ornaments, musical instruments, weapons, etc. are shown.

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The tour of the museum ends with display cases showing the magnificentwedding dress in the past, with samples of female Sarakatsani costumes fromdifferent parts of the Balkans, as well as festive men's and women's clothing.

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The Vlach MuseumThe Vlach Museum in Serres is located at the corner of Karaiskaki andGrigorio Rakitzi. The official opening was in 2008, but the idea of setting it upis much older. The implementation of the project began in 1994 with thepurchase of land. In the following years the building was built and the interiorwas made. At the same time exhibits, photos and archives have been collected.It is impressive that all the exhibits are donated by the personal archives andproperty of the Vlach families in Serres and the region.Visiting the museum is free of charge upon prior request.The customs and traditions of the Vlachs are represented in an ethnographicexposition in two halls. In the first hall you will dive into the childhood of theVlachs through the exposed toys which are small copies of the objects used bythe adults - children’s looms, niddy-noddies, spinning wheels for girls; slings,musical instruments, small balls, spinning tops, improvised horses made ofsticks for the boys and of course, little bones of a lamb's ankle performing thefunctions of the modern dice.

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The male activities of the Vlachs are outside and in the mountains. That iswhy they needed a well-kept and healthy livestock and a specific inventory.Next to the packsaddle and the saddle you will see the tools for horseshoenailing, then sickles, axes, reaping-hooks ... Please pay attention to the bellswhich with their specific and unique clang turned the Vlachs herds into anorchestra.

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The next showcase presents the woman in her traditional everyday role ofspinner and weaver but female work was not limited only to those activities.Since in the recent past the household fabrics were made by women, they havemastered the whole process of wool processing to perfection: cleaning,shaping wool, thread spinning with distaff and spindle, or with a spinningwheel and a niddy-noddy, followed by the weaving of colorful rugs, carpets,blankets for the house or for their daughters‘ trousseau.

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We see one of the most important moments in life of the traditional society -the wedding, recreated in the next room. There is a wedding processionaccompanying the bride to her new home. The bride is invisible behind the redveil covered with silver threads. On her right side is the bridegroom, and onthe left - the brother-in-law holding the wedding banner, ending with apples.In front of them is the mother-in-law, who meets the young couple with therespective rituals and the hope for recent continuation of the genus.

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The next window shows us how the traditional Vlach room looked like, and atthe same time, another important everyday life moment has beendemonstrated - a dinner at the table. The oldest woman is exposed frontally,surrounded by the young family – the husband on her right, his wife on herleft and two children running around. The place in front of her is empty,creating a feeling of invitation to the visitor to join the table as a dear guest.

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The museum houses many treasures: rich women's festive dress, jewelry,dishes, fabrics, a lot of photos. Look carefully at the people sealed in thephotos to feel the spirit of the people who lived in the past, leaving their willin the exhibits and archives of the museum.

PROMAHONASIf you are going from Bulgaria to Greece through the Kulata - PromahonasBCCP and you have free time, do not miss the chance to visit the village ofPromahonas and see the museum established by its residents.The museum is located in the building of the old school which was restoredspecially for that purpose and hosts several expositions.The exposition on the first floor consists of a restoration of a kindergartenfrom the recent past. Looking at the kindergarten is like a time machine,

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because you will see toys, cubes with letters and numbers, books from yourchildhood, or from your parents’ childhood.

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On the second floor there is a classroom with authentic chairs, a teaching deskand teaching aids: a blackboard with compasses hanging from its both sides, atriangle and a transporter, atlases of Greece, the Balkans and the world, aglobe, a transparent human body anatomy model etc.

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A special hall is designed as an ethnographic museum presenting exhibitsfrom different periods of the 19th and 20th centuries. Immediately to the rightof the entrance female and male manual labor tools are exhibited: sickles,mortar-boards, hayforks, wool carder, a yarn spinning-wheel and niddy-noddy,distaffs, spindles, etc., as well as traditional women's costumes.

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There is also an authentic gramophone with a funnel, musical instruments andurban clothing from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Finally, residential interior and various household items are presented.

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BLAGOEVGRADMasquerade games are one of the most traditional customs on the Balkans. Insouthwest Bulgaria and northern Greece these customs are mainly related tothe New Year, which of course coincides with the beginning of theastronomical year and the increase of daylight after the winter solstice markedin the calendar with the holidays between Ignazden and Yordanovden.An interesting calendar and ritual marker are also the Pagan days - the daysbetween Christmas and Yordanovden. In practice, this is also the time whencarnival games are taking place.The carnival is called by different names in the different regions: babugers,stanchinars, starchenars, araps and others. In the recent past, masqueradeactors were young men and bachelors, even when a female role had to beperformed. Today, such a requirement in Southwestern Bulgaria no longerexists, and women participate in the masquerade with men, while in NorthernGreece the main participants remain men.The babugers group in the past consisted mainly of the following personages:bride, accompanied by a son-in-law, i.e. bridegroom, maids, devil, gypsyfamily, old men, bear and bear handler, and of course masked babugers, whoin fact give the name of the whole group of participants. At the beginning ofthe 20th century the masquerade began to enrich with new personages andmasks related to the social changes and lifestyle - priest, forester, watchman,judge and others.

Strumsko district, BlagoevgradStrumsko is one of the districts of Blagoevgrad, established in the 70s of the20th century, when residential blocks of flats were built near the village ofStrumsko, and that way the village got connected with the town. Today theindigenous inhabitants divide Strumsko into two parts - the residentialneighborhood, and the so called Old Strumsko, located across the railwayconnecting Sofia and Thessaloniki.In Old Strumsko are celebrated several festivities - Simeonovden,Dimitrovden and New Year in old and new style, when a kukeri (mummers)carnival is organized. The kukeri group consists of masked participantswearing several types of masks.The most interesting and at the same time extremely expensive to make and tokeep are the masks and costumes made of long hair goat fur. The color of thecostumes varies from gray-white, dark brown to black.

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An important part of the participants in the carnival procession are also thepersonages who re-create the image of an old man. Most often they arewearing a traditional costume. The men wear breeches, a shirt, a belt, and theymust have an artificial hump on their back, they walk bent over and lame,leaning on curved long rods. The female personages are dressed in atraditional costume. They also walk bent over, but unlike men, they carry ontheir back a baby sling in which they have a baby (usually a doll) oragricultural products. The faces of old men today are hiding behind comicrubber masks.Among the main ritual personages in the masquerade group are also the brideand groom, as the re-creation of the idea of a wedding is an important part ofthe carnival.

Their zoomorphic version is one or two bears led by a bear handler; they oftenmimic sexual poses and sexual acts.

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Another important participant in the Kukeri group is the priest, dressed in apriestly garment and a kalimavkion. In his hands he is holding a copper full ofwater and a bunch of box shrub or wild geranium, with which he blessespeople.Along with the personages mentioned above, the Kukeri group often includesgypsy belly dancers, masks from the modern reality such as nurses, doctors,singers, etc. Last but not least, we should mention that animals bred inStrumsko, usually donkeys, sometimes cocks, goats and others, are still part ofthe carnival procession. Donkeys are usually pulling a plough, with whichthey are ploughing symbolically or the donkeys are harnessed to cartsdecorated with agricultural equipment and products.

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Today, the Kukeri group walks around the neighborhood three times a year.On December 8, they walk around only with bells in order to get practice forthe New Year. The next gathering is on Vassilyovden when all the participantsin the carnival gather in the square in front of St. Dimitar church at apredetermined time and depart on the usual route. The procession is led by themusicians, priest, bride and groom. Around them, the babugeri (another wordfor kukeri) dance, followed by the other personages. Their goal is to walkaround all the houses in Old Strumsko to wish for health and prosperity in theNew Year.

Finally, they return to the square again to play their final dance in front of theirwaiting spectators. It should be noted that even if they have removed theirmasks during the tour, in the final part of the procession to the square and atthe square itself, every babuger proudly wears his mask.

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The third march of the Kukeri group is on January 14, New Year's Eve in oldstyle. Then the ritual of January 1 is repeated: the band gathers, departs on theusual route, but does not enter the houses and finally dances again at thesquare.

January Kukeri FestivalsIf you have missed the Kukeri parade and dancing on Vassilyovden, you cantake time and watch the numerous January Kukeri Festivals.The Kukeri Festival in Blagoevgrad is municipal. Groups from Blagoevgradand the municipal villages participate in it. It takes place every first Saturdayof January. The parade passes along the central boulevard and performs acertain tradition, most often a wedding, on a stage which is specially designedfor the event. The festival has a competitive nature and the participants receiveawards in several categories: adherence to the traditions; massiveness;

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innovation; best mask and costume; artistry; best composition; best beargroup; best mask parody; best image of the devil.

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If you have missed the carnival in Blagoevgrad, you can visit the one inSimitli, which takes place a week later. The Simitli festival has the name"Simitliya - the Ancient Land of the Kukeri". It is international and theparticipants are numerous.

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Each group marches and performs a traditional rite in front of a jury, whichgives awards in several categories:

· The oldest participant· Best-presented Survakar custom· Best-presented traditional ritual· Best masked bear and bear cub· Best masked bear’s handler· Best choreography· Most original wedding couple· Most successful interpretation of an issue of the day· Most colorful old men· Best Babuger’s (kukers’s) mask· Most original kuker (mummer) costume· Best guest group

Copyright: © 2019

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Author and photographer:Dr. Dimitriya SpasovaSouth-West University "Neofit Rilski" Translated by:Dr. Ruska KrastevaSouth-West University "Neofit Rilski" Map data:Google