St. George's Day celebration in Kokalyane monastery

Outdoor group photograph: in the center there is a group of men of different ages seated in a circle, mostly in urban clothes, one in military uniform, and one in an Orthodox priest garb, some of them are eating. Around this group five men are standing: on the left there are two young men in rural clothes with traditional peasant shoes (tsarvuli) and leggings, one is holding a drum or traditional wine vessel (bakliza); on the right there is a man with a lamb on stake.St. George's Day is one of the most celebrated name days in Bulgaria. St. George's Day is also the Day of the Bulgarian Army, made official with a Decree issued by Prince (Knyaz) Aleksander of Bulgaria on January 9, 1880. Parades are organized in the capital Sofia. A common ritual is to prepare and eat a whole lamb, possibly related to the fact that St. George is the patron saint of shepherds. Among the photographed are: Ivan Geshov, Ivan Karastoyanov, Iv. Grozev, Aleko Konstantinov, M. Sarafov and Georgi Zlatarksi