Bulgaria – Cradle of the Cyrillic civilization – a linguistic tradition dating back to the 9th century

In connection with the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Bulgarian Embassy in Rome is organising an exhibition dedicated to the Cyrillic Alphabet and History.

The exposition will be inaugurated on 11 June at the National Library of Malta by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade promotion Carmelo Abela.

The Alphabet and History exhibition presents the role of the alphabet in the cultural history not only of the Bulgarian people, but also of the major part of the Eastern Slavonic nations and their written culture.

No one knows who transformed the ephemeral human speech into a system of graphic signs for the first time thus perpetuating and salvaging it from oblivion. However, by force of a mere historic chance the Bulgarians and all other Eastern Slavs are among the very few people who not only know when their alphabet was invented, but they also know facts about the life and the deeds of its creators – the Bulgarian enlighteners from Thessaloniki, the Slavic Apostles, Constantine Cyril the Philosopher and Methodius.

To their spiritual exploits is dedicated this effort aimed at explaining the significance of the art of writing for the preservation of the national identity, as well as for the cultural interaction of the Slavic people.

The exhibition is a joint project of the Institute for Culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies Ivan Dujcev at Sofia Uni- versity St Kliment Ohridski and the Elena and Ivan Dujcevi Foundation. The exhibition will run until 30 June.