From September 5 to 7, 2022, the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Tracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences presented the LABedia project: an encyclopedia of Late Antiquity in the Balkans. A series of events were organized in cooperation with the Regional History Museum - Silistra and the Regional History Museum in Dobrich, and were held in the cities of Silistra, Dobrich and Shoumen. Residents and guests of the cities were shown different methods of using medieval swords and battle bows. The participants of the events had the opportunity not only to observe, but also to participate in the "combat" with swords and archery. In the city of Shumen, experiments were made to prove or disprove the methods of transmitting commands in the heat of battle described by medieval authors.

In all cities, the practical part was followed by a scholarly one. After the presentation of the LABedia project by its Project Manager, Assoc. Prof. Zlatomira Gerdzhikova, PhD the participants in the wokshop "Military Affairs and Armament in Antiquity and the Middle Ages" gave short lectures presenting their scholarly interests. Assist. Prof. Mario Filipov, PhD delivered the lecture "The sword in the European fencing tradition in the 12th - 15th centuries", Nikolay Zhelev, PhD Student presented the topic "The Byzantine cavalry between Preslav and Druster", and Borislav Pavlov gave lecture "The horseman and the treasure. A comparative analysis of the realia from the Madara rock relief and the treasure from Malaya Pereshtepina".

Presentation of the project will continue in the city of Sofia from September 9 to 14, 2022.

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The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology and the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences organize a conference with international participation The Cult of the Ruler in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The scholarly event is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Madara Horseman forscholarship by Felix Kanitz in 1872.

The conference will be held in the town of Pliska and the village of Madara on June 30 and July 1, 2022.

The event will include the exhibition BULGARIAN MONUMENTS UNDER THE PROTECTION OF UNESCO with the cooperation of the State Institute for Culture at the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria. The exhibition is dedicated to the 65th anniversary of Bulgarian membership of UNESCO and the 75th anniversary of the founding of UNESCO.

Link for online participation: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82584178769

PROGRAMME

The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is pleased to invite you to the lecture of Prof. Achim Rabus (Universität Freiburg i. Br., Deutschland) "Introduction to Computer-supported Handwritten Text Recognition".

The event is organised under the initiative Every Second Tuesday and will be held on June 28, 2022 (Tuesday) at 17h00 at the IBSCT-BAS (45, Moskovska Street) and online in Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89489470402

We are looking forward to welcoming you!

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On June 10, 2022 in the city of Montana a scholarly conference "Bulgarian Northwest: Past and Present" was held. It aroused great interest among the local community. The event was organized by the branch of the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology (IBSCT) and the Regional Academic Centre at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in the city of Montana in cooperation with the Municipality of Montana, the Regional History Museum and the State Archives - Montana. The important regional forum was held under the leadership of Prof. Alexandre Kostov, Sc.D., Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences who is Director of the branch of IBSCT in the city of Montana.

The participants in the conference were greeted by Mr. Zlatko Zhivkov - Mayor of Montana and by Assoc. Prof. Borislav Velikov, PhD - Chairman of the 39th National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria and member of the Board of Trustees of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Greetings were given by Prof. Mitko Dimitrov, PhD - Chief Coordinator of the National Academic Network at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Mr. Valeri Georgiev - Coordinator of the Regional Academic Centre in the city of Montana. Acad. Yachko Ivanov gave a presentation at the opening of the event.

27 researchers presented papers during the conference. The participants are affiliated with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, archives, museums and other institutions from Northwestern Bulgaria - Montana, Vidin, Vratsa and Lom. The scientific forum was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. An exhibition was opened in the city of Montana and was presented by Assoc. Prof. Ivo Topalilov, PhD, Acting Head of the Centre of Thracology.

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The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences presented its latest editions on June 8, 2022 at the Mission Gallery. These are the album "101 Paintings from Bulgaria" in Bulgarian and in English, the collective volumes "Cities in the Balkans: Spaces, Faces, Memories" in Bulgarian and in English, and "Cinnabar - The Royal Colour in Thracian and Roman Cultures in the Bulgarian Lands”, as well as the jubilee edition ofStudia Tracica, prepared on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

During the event the director of IBSCT-BAS Prof. Roumiana Il. Preshlenova, PhD and the Director of the State Cultural Institute to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria Mrs. Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova signed a memorandum of cooperation.

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On June 10, 2022 a scholarly conference "Bulgarian Northwest: Past and Present" will be held in the City of Montana. It is organized by the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology - Branch Montana, Bulgaria and the Regional Academic Centre at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in the city of Montana in cooperation with the Municipality of Montana, the Regional History Museum and the State Archives - Montana. Scholarly Adviser is Prof. Alexandre Kostov, Sc.D., Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Scholars affiliated with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and researchers from the Southwest region of Bulgaria will take part in the conference (Please see the program bellow).

The scholarly event is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and an exhibition will be presented on this occasion. The scholarly conference is part of the celebrations of the city holiday Holy Spirit.

Programme in Bulgarian

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The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences will present its latest editions on June 8, 2022 at 17h30 at the Mission Gallery (2 Alfred Nobel Street, Sofia). These are the album "101 Paintings from Bulgaria" in Bulgarian and in English, the collective volumes "Cities in the Balkans: Spaces, Faces, Memories" in Bulgarian and in English, and "Cinnabar - The Royal Colour in Thracian and Roman Cultures in the Bulgarian Lands”, as well as the jubilee edition of Studia Tracica, prepared on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The event is organized in cooperation with the State Cultural Institute to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.

On May 25, 2022, a workshop was held under the project "Austrian-Bulgarian relations during the Cold War", funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund (BNSF) and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economics (BMWFW), via the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research.The participants in the forum presented the preliminary results of their research on the topic of the project and discussed their further work.

The members of both teams took part in the workshop:

• from Austrian side: Assoc. Prof. Peter Ruggenthaler, PhD (Project Coordinator), Dr. Maximilian Graf and Anna Steiner.
• from Bulgarian side: Prof. Alexandre Kostov, Dr. habil., Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Project Coordinator), Prof. Nadia Boyadzhieva, LL.D., Bisser Banchev, PhD and Assist. Prof. Dimitar Dobrev, PhD.

The workshop was attended by scholars who do not participate in the project. Those are experts who are individual partners in the research activities - Prof. Mark Kramer (Harvard University, USA), Prof. Stefan Karner (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War, Austria), Dr. Arno Wonisch (University of Graz, Austria) and Dieter Bacher (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the Study of the Consequences of War, Austria).

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The best young scientists of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences were awarded at a solemn meeting on the occasion of May 24 - the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture, and Slavic literature. The Speaker of the National Assembly Nikola Minchev presented the awards to the winners of Professor Marin Drinov Award for Young Scientists and Ivan Evstratiev Geshov Award for Youngest Scientists.

Assist. Prof. Alexandra Milanova, PhD with the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology received the Professor Marin Drinov Award for Young Scientists for achievements in the field of Cultural and Historical Heritage and National Identity.

Georgi Yuri Dikin, a full-time doctoral student at the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, received the Ivan Evstratiev Geshov Award for Youngest Scientists for achievements in the same field.

The awards aim to discover and stimulate talented young scholars at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, to enable them to make earlier and successful international scientific contacts, to support their development and growth, as well as to make work in science and especially in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences more attractive for young and talented professionals.

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On June 2, 2022 (Thursday) at 18.30 in the Regional History Museum of Varna the official opening of the exhibition "Egyptian Cults on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast" will be held. It is organized by the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Regional History Museum of Varna, New Bulgarian University and the Embassy of Egypt in Bulgaria.

The monuments presented in the exhibition originate from the ancient cities located on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast: Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol), Messambria (Nessebar), Anhialo (Pomorie), Odessos (Varna) and Dionysopolis (Balchik). They are divided into five sections according to their type: AMULETS, EPIGRAPHIC MONUMENTS, TERRACOTTA, BRONZE, NUMISMATICS. They are selected to illustrate the penetration of Egyptian cults into Ancient Thrace. Due to the communicative location of these cities, this penetration first took place here probably as early as the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The earliest known monuments with Egyptian influence are the amulets found in the Greek colonies of Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol) and Mesambria (Nessebar).

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On May 16, 2022 in the Great Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences a celebration on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Thracology at the BAS, now Centre of Thracology "Prof. Alexander Fol”at IBSCT-BAS was held.

The director of the IBSCT-BAS, Prof. Roumiana Preshlenova, PhD, reminded that for 50 years more than 50 prominent scholars have been working in the academic institution. According to her, the research of the great Bulgarian scholars Ivan Velkov, Hristo Danov, Gavril Katsarov, Georgi Mihailov and many others created the foundation on which Prof. Alexander Fol standed to set the beginning of the independent institutional development of this science at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She added that thracology has always developed in close cooperation with the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski”, as well as with the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, where systematic archaeological research of Thracian history sites was carried out.

Prof. Stefan Hadjitodorov, Sc. Dr., Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, greeted the audience on behalf of the Academy's management and presented the IBSCT-BAS with an honorary plaque - silver, for high scholarly achievements in research and promotion of history, culture and language of Ancient Thrace.

Assoc. Prof. Mira Markova, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of History of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", greated the audience on behalf of the rector. She presented to the Director of the ISBCT-BAS Prof. Roumiana Preshlenova the honorary badge of the Rector of Sofia University for contribution to the development of academic cooperation between the two institutions and on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Thracology.

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On May 16, 2022 at 17:00 in the Great Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences a celebration on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Thracology at the BAS, now Centre of Thracology "Prof. Alexander Fol”at IBSCT-BAS will be held. Among the foreign guests at the jubilee celebration are Prof. M. Sayar, President of the International Council of Indo-European and Thracian Studies, and Professor O. Picard, a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts.

The official program includes presentation of three editions: the book specially prepared for the event, containing researches of more than 30 scholars who have worked or are currently working in IT / CT. The collective volume is compiled and edited by the acting Head of the CT Assoc. Prof. Ivo Topalilov, PhD. Another edition is the collective monograph on cinnabar in Thracian and Roman culture in the Bulgarian lands by Prof. Dr. Valeria Fol, as well as the next issue of Thracia, dedicated to Prof. V. Fol, compiled by Prof. Vanya Stancheva-Lozanova, D.A.

Two exhibitions in the central foyer of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences will accompany the celebration - "50 years since the establishment of the Institute of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences" and "Thracology and other sciences".