site.bta"Tourists Should Learn Bulgaria Is Spiritually Rich Country," Priest Says at BTA Forum

"Tourists visiting Bulgaria should leave knowing they have spent their holiday in a spiritually rich country with a spiritually rich people," Father Doncho Alexandrov of the Varna Metropolitanate said here on Monday. He spoke at a forum on "Bulgarian Tourism - Summer 2026", organized by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in the coast resort.

At the beginning of his remarks, Father Doncho conveyed the blessing of Metropolitan Yoan of Varna and Veliki Preslav for a successful season and good work for everyone in the tourism sector, as well as for the participants in the discussion.

"All of you are professionals and will provide the best product along our Black Sea coast, but we also have a rich Christian culture, and it is good for tourists to leave with more information about it," the priest said. He stressed that Varna has much to offer in this respect.

According to him, the Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral in Varna is undoubtedly the city's gem and is widely visited, but there are also other churches that deserve greater attention from tourists. Father Doncho cited as examples the Dormition of the Theotokos Church, built in 1602, and the St. Athanasius Church, whose present building is the fourth housing a place of Christian worship on the same site since the 4th century.

The priest also recalled that Varna is home to a Museum of Revival Iconography, which also has much to offer visitors.

Father Doncho emphasized that tourists from Romania show strong interest in the Church and in faith, noting that both Bulgaria and Varna preserve fragments of the Holy Cross and holy relics. "Faith creates virtues and moral values, but also a cultural heritage," the priest said.