Tourism in Bulgaria

The country is rich in tourist sights and historical artifacts, scattered through a relatively small and easily accessible territory.

Bulgaria attracted over 13 million foreign tourists in 2024, according to the latest data from the National Statistics Institute.

[5] Nestinarstvo, a ritual fire-dance of Thracian origin,[6] is included in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Thracians made beautifully ornate golden and silver objects such as various kinds of vessels, rhytons, facial masks, pectorals, jewelry, weapons, etc.

They used to bury rich hoards of precious objects both to hide them in times of enemy invasions and unrest as well as for ritual purposes.

From the outside they had high stone walls reinforced with counterforts, and from the inside there were galleries with several stores which led towards the dwellings of the monks.

[9] The earliest written records about the caves in Bulgaria are found in the manuscripts of the 17th century Bulgarian National Revival figure and historian Petar Bogdan.