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Pirin Village |
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High
in the Pirin Mountains of South West Bulgaria, nestles the village of
Pirin, family home of the Bisserov Sisters.
The Bisserov family grew up together in a large house in the centre of the village until, in 1968, their house was compulsorily purchased, and demolished to make way for the building of a palace of culture and forestry office. In anticipation of this, the family moved down from the mountains, building a new family home in Levunovo near Sandanski. Today, only their grand parents house still stands and only three cousins still reside in the village. The village has an extraordinary reputation in Bulgaria, being renown for the richness of its song and dance rhythms and village traditions which are still observed today. It seems there is a song for every occasion, and the celebrations for St Lazar's Day (the Saturday a week before Easter) reveals this diversity. Groups of singers pass from house to house tailoring their song to the various occupants: a song for a new bride, for a lazy person, for the mayor's flirtatious son, for an academic son, for a young mother with a son, for a very poor family, for young lovers; the list is almost endless! Ethnographers from Bulgaria and all over the world come to research Pirin's village traditions and student groups visit to learn some of the dance steps and songs. |