site.btaBulgarian-Greek Relations Highlighted in BTA-Hosted Lecture in Athens

A meeting and public lecture on Bulgarian-Greek relations in history and today took place at BTA’s newly opened National Press Club in Athens on Sunday.

Prof. Yura Konstantinova from the Institute of Balkan Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, an established researcher of the historical and cultural ties between Bulgaria and Greece, delivered a lecture titled “Bridges between Worlds”, in which she recounted episodes from the lives of historical figures such as Grigor Parlichev, Georgi Rakovski, the brothers Dragan and Kiril Tapkov, and Petar Neikov, whose lives were connected with Greece.

The event was part of the project “Bulgaria and Greece: From the Ancient Civilizations to Contemporary Relations.” The project is implemented by the Ivan Seliminski Cultural Centre, a Greek-Bulgarian association in Athens, under the National Programme “Untold Stories of the Bulgarians” of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science.

The meeting concluded with a discussion on cultural dialogue between the two nations.

Among those present were the Consul of Bulgaria in Athens Martin Dimov, Cultural Attache Mariana Petrova, the Chair of the Board of the Ivan Seliminski Cultural Centre Maya Lungolova, representatives of the Bulgarian community, pupils from the Bulgarian Sunday schools, and Greek students of Bulgarian Studies.

Attendees were able to view an exhibition displayed at the BTA Press Club, which presents the history and significance of Slavic literacy through documents, books, photographs, and archival materials from the collection of the Bulgarian News Agency. It traces the work of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius (the creators of the Glagolitic alphabet and inspirers of the Cyrillic script) and the development of Bulgarian letters and cultural tradition over the centuries.