Традиционни празници и обичаи на българите мюсюлмани от Голо бърдо (Източна Албания)
Traditional Holidays and Customs of the Bulgarian Muslims from Golo Burdo (Eastern Albania)

Summary/Abstract: The article dwells on the traditional holidays and customs of the Bulgarian Muslims in a region, almost unknown to Bulgarian ethnology: Golo Burdo in Eastern Albania. In that part of the Balkan Peninsula, the Bulgarian ethnos appeared during the Early Middle Ages - late 7th and early 8th century. In the centres of population of Golo Burdo, lslamisation particularly intensified during the 1 8th century, and continued throughout the entire 19th century. At the end of the 20th century, Bulgarian Christians are living in just three villages. According to informal statistics of the 1990s, 17 400 Muslim Bulgarians live in Golo Burdo. Subject to investigation are the traditional holidays of Letnik, celebrated on March 14, the feast days of St George, of Jeremiah and the classical Muslim holidays - Ramazan- bairam and Kurban-bairam. The first three holidays belong to what has been referred to as the agrarian cycle, which is similar to the one of the surrounding Christian population. It is precisely herein that the pre-Islamic layer stands out in the culture of the Bulgarian Muslims from Golo Burdo, who fell under the influence of Islam comparatively late. The practice whereby the holidays of the agrarian cycle are celebrated according to the Julian Calendar has been preserved as it is characteristic also of the other communities of Bulgarian Muslims. The Letnik holiday has been studied in detail, for it stands out as a typical holiday of the beginning, associated with warming up and the start of farm work. The traditional holidays and customs of the Bulgarian Muslims from Golo Burdo come to show their belonging to the western part of the Bulgarian diaspora in the Balkans, despite the fact that similar elements can be traced in the customs of ethnographic groups from other Bulgarian regions, and particularly from the Rhodopes.

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