Sacral Symbols at Greek-Speaking Nestinarians Cover Image

Сакрални символи при гръкоезичните нестинари
Sacral Symbols at Greek-Speaking Nestinarians

Author(s): Goran Stefanov
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Theology and Religion, Eastern Orthodoxy
Published by: Пловдивски университет »Паисий Хилендарски«
Keywords: Sacral symbols; ritual objects; nestinarians
Summary/Abstract: At the beginning of the last century, the nestinarian ritual occurs only in some of the villages located in the Bulgarian part of Strandja mountain - Bulgari, Kosti, Brodilovo, Slivarovo, Gramatikovo and Novo Panicharevo. Ethnographic reports is point that, the performers of the ritual at that time are of Bulgarian and Greek origin. They form a nestinarian communities. Demographic changes in the Balkans from 1913-1914 imposed the destruction of this nestinarians communities, because the Greek-language anestinaris emigrate out of the borders of Bulgaria. This nestinari have settled in several villages in northern Greece - Mavrolevki, Meliki, Kerkini, Agia Eleni, and Langa. The study presents objects and images sacred to the nestinarian communities in Greece, which are perceived as symbolic markers of rituals. A special focus is their connections to the villages where they originated located on the territory of Bulgaria.

  • Page Range: 283-288
  • Page Count: 6
  • Publication Year: 2018
  • Language: Bulgarian