Citizens and guests of Veliko Tarnovo are presented with the unique opportunity to celebrate Easter at Tsarevets Fortress. This is one of the most important celebrations of the year and the most significant feast in the Orthodox Church calendar.
This year it falls later than the Catholic Easter. The difference in the dates comes from the facts that Bulgaria is an Orthodox country and the Church here uses the Julian calendar, and not the Gregorian calendar, recognized worldwide as the official civil calendar.
The Bulgarian name for Easter is Velikden, which means Great Day and Bulgarians certainly put a lot of effort into making it a large family celebration. Here Easter is celebrated over four days starting on Good Friday (called Razpeti Petak in Bulgarian or Crucified Friday) until Easter Monday, which is a bank holiday.