President Yotova: The Bulgarian 'chitalishte' is a unique national phenomenon

The Bulgarian community center is a unique national phenomenon, President Iliana Yotova said in a congratulatory address to Prof. Dr. Nikolay Doynov, Chairman of the Union of Community Centers, on the occasion of the 170th anniversary of the community center movement in Bulgaria. At a ceremony today in Sevlievo, the National Representative Committee was announced, which will support the marking of the anniversary.

The National Representative Committee includes 105 established names from the spiritual and political life of our country.

Yotova notes that the Bulgarian community center is a center of education, culture, patriotism and civic activity. “For more than a century and a half it has preserved and transmitted the values of our identity, maintained the memory of the past and opened horizons for the future. Our first community centers, created in the cities of Svishtov, Lom and Shumen, remain a lasting symbol of the Revival spirit, of the striving for knowledge and spiritual freedom," the congratulatory address said, read at the ceremony in Sevlievo by Denka Evstatieva, regional coordinator of the Union of Community Centers.

“I express my high recognition to the Union of Community Centers for the rich and meaningful program to mark the anniversary, as well as for the initiative to create a National Representative Organizational Committee with the participation of prominent personalities from the field of science, education and culture. This is a clear sign of the vitality and authority of the community center movement in modern Bulgaria," President Yotova said.

“I am convinced that these initiatives will contribute to an even wider public understanding of the role of community centers as a natural spiritual and cultural center of Bulgarian communities and as a bridge between tradition and the future,” she adds in her greeting.