Bulgaria Marks Unification Day

Bulgaria is celebrating on Tuesday its Unification Day, with festive events expected throughout the country but mostly in Plovdiv, the second-biggest city.

September 6, 1885 was the day when the Principality of Bulgaria (Knyazhestvo Bulgaria, which comprised most of present-day Northern and Western Bulgaria) and the then-Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia (Southern Bulgaria) in the autumn of 1885.

Co-ordinated by the Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee (BSCRC). The Unification was accomplished after revolts in Eastern Rumelian towns, followed by a coup on 18 September (old-style 6 September) 1885 supported by the Bulgarian Knyaz Alexander I.

The Unification itself was proclaimed in Plovdiv, back then the main city of Eastern Rumelia - and this is where the biggest events take place every year to mark the anniversary. Defying Ottoman rule on that day and being handed to an interim government by Bulgarians living there, it had to wait for months to gain diplomatic recognition.

However, the Unification was not declared an official holiday until 1998.

In Plovdiv, a public prayer will be held at 10:00 local time at the Assumption of Mary Church (located at one of the entires of the Old Town to mark the beginning of celebrations.

A concert has been scheduled for 17:30 on Stefan Stambolov square, to be followed by a reenactment of the events at 19:00.

The traditional military ceremony that involves an inspection of ranks and ends with fireworks will begin at 20:00, with Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva also taking part.