Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Feast of St. Ivan Rilski is also marked as Day of Bulgarian-Hungarian friendship

Szandra Miskedi, Director of the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Sofia
Photo: Filip Danchev

For the fifth year, October 19 is celebrated as the Day of Bulgarian-Hungarian Friendship. The two nations have always maintained good relations over the years, which has given the opportunity for active cultural exchange between our countries,  Szandra Miskédi, director of the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Sofia, said in an interview for the BNR.

"This year we will show the magazine called Hemus, which is published in Budapest. It is bilingual and it is written by Bulgarians living in Hungary and Hungarians connected with Bulgaria. The illustrations are also made mostly by Bulgarians living in Hungary," Miskedi said.

The day of St. Ivan Rilski was chosen as a day to celebrate the Bulgarian-Hungarian relations because in 1183 the Hungarian king Bela III conquered Sredets (present-day Sofia) and transferred the miraculous relics of the saint to his capital. In 1187 the Hungarians returned the relics of the Bulgarian heavenly patron to Sredets.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Bozhidar Bozhanov

Bozhidar Bozhanov: Mariya Gabriel allegedly tried to have sanctions lifted for Peevski and other individuals

Mariya Gabriel from GERB allegedly tried to have sanctions lifted for Delyan Peevski and other individuals. This took place while she was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Nikolay Denkov’s government, said in Parliament Bozhidar..

published on 10/29/25 6:45 PM
New speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament Raya Nazaryan (GERB)

Raya Nazaryan from GERB is the new Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament

The ruling parties GERB-SDS, BSP-United Left and ITN signed an annex to their coalition agreement, specifying the rules for the rotation of the Speaker of Parliament. The new mechanism provides for each of the three political formations to nominate its..

published on 10/29/25 4:14 PM

41.5% of Bulgarians expect their personal finances to deteriorate in 2026

More and more Bulgarians fear about the future security of their finances . This is shown by a survey by the sociological agency "Measure", conducted between October 5 and 13, 2025 among 801 adult Bulgarian citizens.  Almost 60% of workers in..

published on 10/29/25 3:23 PM