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Interesting facts about Bulgaria:

The Ancient Bulgarian calendar is recognized by UNESCO as the oldest and most accurate system for calculating time.

Established in 681 AD, Bulgaria is the oldest country in Europe.

Pliska - the first capital of Bulgaria, was the biggest city in Europe at that time - it had a land area of 23 sq-km compared to the 16 sq-km of Constantinople, the 11 sq-km of Rome or the 7.5 sq-km of Baghdad.

The Great Basilica of Pliska, build in 875 AD, had an area of 2,920 square metres (31,400 sq ft) and was one of the biggest Christian cathedrals at that time.

The Bulgarian ruler Tervel is known as the Savior of Europe for having defeated the Arabs in 717 AD and saved the rest of Europe from Islam. For this he was crown as Caesar the only such case of barbaric leader in medieval European history.

Bulgaria's Tzar Boris I established the Cyrillic alphabet with the goal to translate the Bible for all Bulgars, Slavs and other ethic people living on the Balkans and unite them under one Christian church. He gave the task of creating the script to the disciples of Cyril and Methodius. However Clement of Ohrid and Naum of Preslav compiled a new alphabet and was declared the official alphabet in 893 AD. Today over 300 million people worldwide use the Cyrillic alphabet.

Tsar Simeon the Great ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927 AD and created one of the most powerful empires in Europe at that time. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in medieval Eastern Europe. His reign was also a period of unmatched cultural prosperity and enlightenment later deemed the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture.

Tzar Simeon turned the new Bulgarian capital Preslav into a magnificent religious and cultural centre, intended more as a display of his realm's heyday and as a royal residence than as a military fortress. With its more than twenty cross-domed churches and numerous monasteries, its impressive royal palace and the royal Golden Basilica, Preslav was a true imperial capital.

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