Culture

Bulgaria has 36 cultural reserves, 160 monasteries, about 40 000 monuments of history, 7 of which on the UNESCO world heritage list.
There are several monuments from various historical periods: prehistoric discoveries, Thracian tombs, artifacts from the Hellenic age, Roman and Byzantine castles, historic monuments from the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdoms, from the National Revival period, entire towns and villages which have preserved their authentic look.
The oldest gold treasure in Europe was found in a necropolis in Varna. Famous all over the world are: the Valchitran gold treasure (the Bronze age), the Panagyurishte, the Vratsa, the Lukovit, the Letnitsa gold treasures (dating around 4 c. BC) and the Rogozen royal silver treasure.

There are several famous monasteries and churches that are typical examples of the Bulgarian architecture and culture. Some of the most visited are: the Rila, the Bachkovo, the Rozhenski, the Troyan, the Zemenski, the Preobrazhenski (Transfiguration) and the Aladja monasteries. There are also hundreds of churches which have preserved unique samples of the Bulgarian iconography, zograph (icon-painting), wood-carving schools and old manuscripts.