The International Scientific Conference on “Christian Missions in the European Middle Ages and their Intellectual Heritage. History, Notions, Ideas” has been opened at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences today. More than 60 participants from 14 countries, representing 40 world Slavic and historical scientific centres, are taking part in the scientific forum. The Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre of BAS (CMRC) is the organiser of the event, which is held in the days preceding the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian alphabet, education, culture and Slavonic literature.

“The theme that brings us together today refers not only to one of the most significant phenomena in the spiritual and cultural history of Europe – the spread of Christianity, but also to the intellectual and civilizational processes that it gave rise to,” the Director of CMRC Prof. Veselka Zhelyazkova emphasized in his greetings to the participants in the conference. “The medieval Christian missions are not just religious acts – they are carriers of writing, education, statehood and cultural identity,” Prof. Zhelyazkova said.

“We turn to history mostly to situate and understand ourselves in the present. And always being on the periphery of great empires is sometimes comfortable, compensatory, but also obliging. There lies the key to unraveling our national destiny,” the Vice-President of BAS Prof. Emmanuel Moutafov noted in his speech. “The leadership of BAS also accepts as its mission the development of Bulgarian studies abroad and will support initiatives and projects related to its strengthening and to the defense of objective historical truth,” the Vice-President also said.

Within the conference at BAS, the exhibition “In the Footsteps of the Disciples: the Cyril-and-Methodius Route in Bulgaria: Part of the European Cultural Route of the Council of Europe”, volume XXXV of the CMRC series “Cyrillo-Methodian Studies” was presented with the reports from the previous conferences “Cyrillo-Methodian Legacy in International Scholarship and Cultural Memory ” and “Codex Suprasliensis – 200 Years Since Its Scientific Discovery”.

The scientific sessions of the conference on 22 and 23 May will be held at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum of BAS (6A, Moskovska Street, Hall 19) and at the National Museum of Natural History of BAS (1, Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., 22 Leventis Hall). For more information see the programme