In my last post about Sandanski, I mentioned some of the architectural remnants of the communist regime. I should also mention some positive results still in evidence. Art was always supported, albeit of a restricted nature in terms of subject matter. Around the town, and particularly in St Vrach Park, lovely pieces of art were on display. It must also be mentioned that there not one piece of litter or graffiti was to be seen througout the area!
Our first picture shows art being encouraged at school. In the background are mosaic designs created by pupils for a competition. In front is a beautiful wrought-iron butterfly serving as a stand for colourful potted plants.
Z rather liked this statue of this somewhat reclining head. There is a sadness to it but I don't know what it represents.
There was a small zoo where we were entertained by some greedy little pigs who were competing with much larger goats for pieces of water melon. Very amusing ! We saw, too, these unusual beings - small white marsupials, clearly not indigenous creatures !
Being well acquaint with the Greek alphabet, I enjoyed trying to sound out the signs and shop names in Cyrillic script. Most of the characters are shared but others were especially imported to represent sounds in Slavic tongues. Two brothers, Cyril (826-869) and Methodius (815-885), born in Thessaloniki, were sent as missionaries to Moravia , then part of Czechoslovakia, to evangelise the Slavic people there. In 863 they began translating the gospels and liturgical books into what was known as the Old Church Slavonic. To do this they devised The Glagolitic alphabet from which the Cyrillic script developed.
These brothers were men of the cloth and highly educated, gifted in diplomatic skills, and greatly revered throughout the Balkans. Below is a piece of art honouring them and their achievments.
No comments:
Post a Comment