The Anatolian Shepherd Dog Kangal: Dancing with Lions
Text by Albena Shkodrova | Photographs by Anthony Georgieff
This horse-sized dog is quite scary looking, but it is friendly towards humans and loyal to its owners. Audacious historians suppose that the breed has existed since 1000 BC.
There are many legends about its origins, but according to the most interesting one, it was bred by the Babylonians and the Assyrians as a guard dog and it could defeat even a lion. Another legend claims that the first Kangal on the territory of what is now modern Turkey was sent as a gift by an Indian prince to the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV.To most of the Anatolian Kangals, life doesn’t offer lions against which to measure their strength, so their daily existence is spent in guarding sheep herds or homes. They are considered to be one of the best “service” breeds in the world. They are sandy in colour, with a black muzzle and ears.
Epicure
Turkey
Izmir Gourmet: Food is in the Air
Food is literally everywhere in Izmir.
The first stop a traveller would usually make, is Passaport – the vivid promenade along the seaside, which has turned into a landmark with its black and white pavement.
Full Story
Useful Reads
Turkey
A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire (2008) | By M. Şűkrű Hanioğlu
Far too often, the narrative of the collapse of an empire becomes a moral drama. Wealth is drained away by decadence, and power undercut by corruption. There are attempts at recovery, reform, re-consolidation; perhaps a war, or a grand alliance, or another gamble which seems mad in hindsight. Private fiefdoms emerge, tribes break away, and hostile external powers chip away at the borders.
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Music
Macedonia
Macedonia: Esma Redžepova's Passion for Humanity
"A Gypsy from the city of Skopje", as she calls herself, Esma Redžepova has more than 40 years of singing and humanitarian efforts under her belt. Full Story
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
Koprivshtitsa Fair, Bulgara. Photographs by Neva Micheva
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
