Hristina Jensen and Lyubomir Mechev, who started the Bulgarian Camino, have announced a second branch of the pilgrim route, from Malko Tarnovo to the relics of St John the Baptist in Sozopol. It will pass through Gramatikovo, Tsarevo and the Black Sea coast. The first branch was created in June, and more than 100 pilgrims have walked it and received a certificate.
The second branch will be longer, about 150 km, and the founders estimate it will take 8 to 10 days. Like the first, it starts in Malko Tarnovo and runs through Stoilovo and Zabernovo. It then turns towards Gramatikovo, Kondolovo, Bulgari, Kosti, Tsarevo, Lozenets, Kiten and Primorsko. At Primorsko it joins the first branch to Sozopol. There are also campsites along the Black Sea coast.
The route is only sketched out so far, and work on it continues. A meeting with representatives of all the state forestry enterprises along the route took place in Tsarevo municipality. The founders say a route that meets the requirements cannot be made without them. Tsarevo is a spiritual stop on the way, because part of the Cross is kept there.
Jensen and Mechev say the second branch will take in more villages and sights in Strandzha and on the Black Sea coast, and will be very scenic.
The certificate that pilgrims receive is called "Ioannia". The pilgrims are Bulgarians and foreigners, aged between 6 and 80. The forecast for the first year, made together with Spanish partners, was 100 people.
Mechev told Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) that the route is drawing great interest, and not only in Bulgaria: "The fact that we have already passed 100 and are chasing 150 is really very satisfying. It gives us strength and confidence that we are heading in the right direction."
Jensen thinks visits to Strandzha are growing and will keep growing, and says the team watches the outcome as well as the numbers. "For Strandzha this means bringing new life to a region that until now has not had visitors on this scale," she told BNR.
The Ministry of Tourism said it will support the promotion of the Bulgarian Camino. The announcement came after minister Ilin Dimitrov met Metropolitan Arseniy of Sliven. Mechev and Jensen have also met the metropolitan.
The founders expect the route to feature in the ministry's ad campaigns at home and abroad, including at its stands at trade fairs, to make it better known. Each year the ministry runs about 20 campaigns and stands in Bulgaria and about 20 abroad.
For Orthodox Christians, the relics of St John the Baptist are among the greatest holy objects. In 2010, Prof Kazimir Popkonstantinov discovered them on St Ivan island, off Sozopol.