Albutin Monastery

A unique custom takes place every year on the second day of Easter at the rock Albutin monastery. Near the village, Gradec in Vidin region every year on that day people gather to play the traditional Bulgarian dance horo to honor the dead. This must be played for the deceased who died between the past and the current Easter. If the deceased is a man, then man must lead the dance. If the deceased is a woman – ahead of the horo stood another woman. The tradition dictates mourning people to start early in the morning at 9 a.m. and the dance to be completed by noon. Then the dance continues for the living. Along with the dancers, there are few brass bands, under whose sounds the people dance. The leading man or woman must keep in hand the flower dewy and the other dancers carry another flower distributed by the relatives of the deceased. In the rock monastery “Vaznesenie Gospodno” from 14th-century the relatives of the dead give out towels, cake, sweets and Easter Eggs and light candles. The ritual dates back to Thracian times and later became a tradition of the Orthodox, say researchers. Te dance help, the deceased in the past year to find the right way between this and the other world. And the closest relatives of the deceased should not dance. After the ritual, the relatives of the deceased stop mourning and carrying black towels. In the old days of mourning, people have invited the best musicians in the area, to concoct a special melody for the deceased. Today ill people go to the meadow before the ritual to heal. The very Arbutin monastery also jealously hides its secrets. It is said to have been a Bogomil refuge.