Today, in combination with the celebration of Bulgarian education and culture, we announced and awarded the winners of the exhibition-contest "the Cyrillic script".

We chose the date of May the 24th, as it is a day that we love to call the "Celebration of Letters" and it is special for all of us, Bulgarians. It reminds us of the great deed that our people accomplished 1200 years ago : the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and its diffusion around the world, which today helps over 300 million people around the world to read and write.

For a month, the Historical Park hosted the second edition of the international exhibition-contest for historical painting, which has become the largest exhibition in the world on the topic "the Cyrillic alphabet".

More than 300 artists from 20 different countries around the world took part in it, and on their canvases they sealed various themes and interpretations of this great deed.

The purpose of such events is to accumulate more fine art on the topic of Bulgarian history, as well as to help Bulgarians regain their self-esteem.

In the world, people who believe that they are strong, that they can, that they succeed, succeed. Such people are always looking for something to contribute and thanks to them the world becomes better.

When we know our history, when we pass it on to our children, we regain our self-esteem. Undoubtedly, our people have done great accomplishments that had an impact on world history. When we have self-esteem, each of us is able to find the creator in himself : each in his field!

How did we mark the paintings participating in the exhibition-competition?

We included one artist, one archaeologist and one art critic in the jury.

• Prof. Aksinia Dzhurova is the greatest connoisseur of the Bulgarian alphabet in Bulgaria and around the world.
• Andrey Yanev is the artist who best appreciates the artistic performance of the paintings.
• Prof. Margarita Vaklinova is the archaeologist whose knowledge in this science guarantees the historical authenticity of the winners.

The professional jury formed half of the evaluation of the best paintings. The other half was determined by you, the audience, with your votes (online and physically) in the last month. As a result, the winners in our exhibition are the artworks that reaches people and at the same time meet the highest criteria of specialists.

The choice was extremely difficult and therefore in addition to the first 3 places, the Historical Park awarded 12 more artists with special prizes. Here they are:

• Margarita Ivanova received a special award for the calligraphy in her work "Chernorizets Hrabar".
• Odile Escolier, from France, receives an award as a foreign author for her work "Cyril and Methodius"
• Bozhidar Chantarski - "Clement of Ohrid debates with his students".
• Rumen Dimitrov, with his work - "Welcome".
• Gennady Petukhov, from Russia with his painting - "Cyril and Methodius"
• Vesselin Chakarov, and his work - "Pope Adrian II blesses the Bulgarian alphabet"
• Dobri Gyurkov, from Germany and his painting "In the beginning was the word"
• Elena Litvenenko, from Russia with her painting "Cyril and Methodius"
• Selma Todorova, with the painting "The creation of the Bulgarian alphabet"
• Valchan Petrov, with his painting "Letters - a path towards the light"
• Sofia Amperidou, from Greece with the work "In the beginning was the word"
• Milana Galahova, from Russia with the painting "In the midst of joy"

And now it's time for the big winners of the competition. Those whose art is understood by the general public and highly valued by professionals.

Dimitar Dimitrov, mayor of the village of Vetrino personally presented the awards to the winners, namely:

the 3rd place, a bronze statuette and a cash prize of BGN 2,000 was won by Kiril Vedernikov from Russia with his painting "Cyril and Methodius";

the 2nd place, a silver statuette and a cash prize of BGN 3,000 was won by Bozhidar Chantarski with his painting - "Clement of Ohrid debates with his students"

the 1st place, for the second year in a row, was awarded to Miroslav Yotov and his painting "Faith". He won the hearts of the audience and the jury, wished the Bulgarians a happy holiday and shared: "Art can not be a competition except against yourself" Miroslav did not wish to claim the cash prize and thanked the organisers and the audience for the event.

The winning painting of the competition "the Cyrillic Alphabet", awarded by the professional jury and the audience is the work entitled "the Bulgarian Alphabet" by Boyan Yanev. He left with a golden statuette and a cash prize of 10,000 levas. He thanked all the organisers and shared that he was really happy for the opportunity to present his idea and contribute to Bulgarian history through art.

The team of the Historical Park would like to congratulate the winners and reminds you that the exhibition will be available until May the 31st, included. Share with your loved ones and use this opportunity to visit us.

See you soon!