Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Following in the footsteps of three prominent Bulgarians in Rome

Students from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts and the Bulgarian Sunday school in Rome are working on a new documentary about Bulgarian Catholics in the eternal city

Photo: Veneta Nenkova

The Bulgarian Sunday school Asen and Iliya Peykovi and students from the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia are working on a joint project – a documentary about three prominent figures who fought for the national independence of Bulgaria – the Bulgarian Catholics Petar Parchevich, Filip Stanislavov and Petar Bakshev.

“The eternal city is a place where history is treasured, a place where you can touch history, that is why we have been photographing the physical locations connected with the Bulgarian Catholics – the Papal colleges where they studied, the place where Petar Parchevich lies buried, i.e. everything that is physically located in Rome,” Veneta Nenkova, founder of the Bulgarian school in Rome and chair of the Parallel 43 cultural association in Rome said in an interview with Radio Bulgaria. The students Blagitsa Stoimenova, Zdravko Menchev, Petya Sergieva and Georgi Momchilov have been working on the documentary film.

“One of the most prominent researchers of Bulgarian Catholics in Rome, Prof. Krassimir Stantchev, is also involved in the film. He has been working with the Vatican archives for years. A book he has been working on for 30 years is to be released soon – it is about the Bulgarians who studied at the Papal colleges in Rome, Assisi and Loreto, and who were active, during the 17th century, on the territory of Bulgaria and elsewhere,” Veneta Nenkova says.


Petar Parchevich is the first diplomat of Bulgaria. The first printed book in the modern Bulgarian language in Rome in 1651 is the work of Filip Stanislavov, while Petar Bogdan Bakshev wrote a history of Bulgaria approximately 120 years before the famous Slavonic Bulgarian History by Paisius of Hilendar.

“We find all this in the Vatican archives. Our school has, for years been making efforts to unravel the history of Bulgaria using the Vatican archives, and where possible, buying pages from the Papal newspaper,” Veneta Nenkova says, as quoted by the Bulgarian news agency BTA. As to the new project, she says:

“We have been working with students from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, under Erasmus+ for years, and this year we decided to make a film about Petar Parchevich, Filip Stanislavov and Petar Bakshev because 2024 marks 350 years since the death of the three. The life of Petar Parchevich ended here. He came to Rome in 1674 to ask for the Catholic church’s help for the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman domination, and stayed at the Sant'Andrea delle Fratte monastery which is in the centre of the city. He died and was buried in the church crypt, where there is a memorial plaque.”


The documentary will be in Bulgarian, with subtitles in Italian. It should be ready by 2024.

Photos: Veneta Nenkova



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

Todor Zhivkov

Bulgaria marks 35 years since the fall of communism

On November 10, 1989, a plenum of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party ousted its General Secretary and Chairman of the State Council, Todor Zhivkov. This marked the symbolic beginning of the transition from a one-party system to..

published on 11/10/24 11:18 AM

Archaeologists have discovered intriguing finds in the Kavatsi area near Sozopol

Archaeologists have explored a necropolis in the Kavatsi area near Sozopol. The perimeter in which it is located is part of the history of Apollonia Pontica and is dated to the 4th century BC. "This is a site with interesting burials in which a nuance..

published on 11/10/24 10:05 AM
Dr. Petar Beron

Dr. Petar Beron speaks about the first steps of the Bulgarian transition and democracy today

On November 10, 1989, at a plenum of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Todor Zhivkov was removed from the position of General Secretary - the highest position in the party and the state. What happened at the..

published on 11/10/24 6:45 AM