site.btaThe New Masters of Kyustendil Create Mural in Bosilegrad Honouring Prof. Yordan Zahariev

For the fourth year in a row, artists from the Kyustendil (Southwestern Bulgaria) art school The New Masters brought their vibrant vision to the streets of Bosilegrad, this time painting a large mural entitled “Hometown” in honour of renowned Bulgarian scholar Prof. Yordan Zahariev (1877–1964).

The initiative was carried out at the invitation of the local civic association GLAS, which officially unveiled the mural on August 23.

Zahariev, born in Bosilegrad on March 3, 1877, was a distinguished teacher, ethnographer, geographer, historian, and folklorist. He is considered one of the foremost researchers and experts on the Kyustendil region. In 1937, he was elected a corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 1998, he was posthumously named an honorary citizen of Kyustendil.

“This year marks the 60th anniversary of Zahariev’s death, and we had long set our sights on completing this project in the summer of 2025,” representatives of GLAS said at the opening ceremony. They also expressed deep appreciation to the New Masters artists, noting that such initiatives strengthen cultural ties across the region.

The mural project was made possible through funds raised during GLAS's most recent Christmas charity campaign.

Yordan Zahariev, his brother Todor Zahariev, and poet Emanuil Popdimitrov were among the key figures who led protests in the Bosilegrad region against the enforcement of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine and the occupation of the Western Outlands in 1920. Zahariev took part in the refugee movement and chaired the Founding Congress (1924) of the Supreme Committee for Refugees.