The Strandzha fire fighters gathered in the sanctuary “Golyamata Ayazma” in the area “Vlahov Dol”, BNT reported.
Every last Sunday of May before the feast of Saints Constantine and Helena, which is celebrated in the old style on June 3, people from the five fire fighters villages in Strandzha – Kosti, Bulgari, Slivarovo, Gramatikovo and Kondovo set off for Vlahov Dol, which is the holiest place for the firecracker community.
They hold a procession to the sounds of drums and bagpipes, carrying icons of saints revered in this region - Saints Constantine and Helena, Saint Panteleimon, Saint Marina.
According to custom, the firecrackers wash the icons with holy spring water and dress them in red shirts. The icons are placed on special "oders" for the purpose, in front of which candles burn for health and prosperity.
“Strandzha, on days like today, burns with spirit and fire! To Vlahov Dol, the holy place of the firecrackers, where the earth breathes with the memory of the ancestors, they come with faith. Let it be known - with faith! The processions of the Great Ayazma are not a spectacle. They are a call to something deep and intimate, to that which cannot be explained by anyone. Today, the bagpipes and drums echoed here, and the paths rustled under small footsteps...For Strandzha residents, the firework display is a living memory. And everyone who comes here must remember that the most important thing is to be able to preserve what makes us a people and why Strandzha beats in our hearts”, said the mayor of Malko Tarnovo Iliyan Yanchev.