This page lists the Jewish heritage sites included in Brill Travel’s Jewish Heritage Tours in Bulgaria. From synagogues and memorials to historic community landmarks, these places reveal the history of Jewish life in Bulgaria and the story of how Bulgaria saved its Jews during World War II.
Sofia
- Central Synagogue – the largest synagogue in Southeastern Europe and a major Jewish landmark, an active centre of Jewish life,.
- Jewish Museum of History – presents the history and traditions of Bulgarian Jews.
- Monuments commemorating the rescue of Bulgarian Jews – Two Important sites for understanding Bulgaria’s complicated WWII history and the opposition to the deportation of Bulgarian Jews.
- Beit Ha’am / Jewish community – A visit will provide an opportunity to encounter contemporary Jewish community life.
Plovdiv
- Plovdiv Synagogue (“Zion”) – Historic Sephardic synagogue and the only functioning synagogue outside Sofia.
- Jewish Quarter / Jewish memorial – Commemorates the Jewish community and those who helped prevent deportation on 10 March 1943.
- Jewish community – The itinerary includes a meeting with the local Jewish community.
Samokov
- Arie’s House (Saraf’s House) – This historic home/museum illustrates the life of a prosperous Jewish family and the once-important Jewish community of Samokov.
Pazardzhik
- Historic synagogue buildings – Preserved buildings reflecting the city’s former Jewish community.
Ruse
- Canetti House – Birthplace of Nobel Prize-winning writer Elias Canetti, born in Ruse in 1905. It provides an important connection to the city’s Jewish cultural history;
- Jewish Community Center – Opportunity to learn about the surviving Jewish community and its history.
Vidin
- Vidin Synagogue / Jules Pascin Cultural Centre -The city’s most important Jewish landmark
- Jewish Cemetery – One of the most significant surviving physical records of Vidin’s Jewish community
- Monument of Gratitude, Bdintsi Square – Commemorates the rescue of Vidin’s Jews from deportation in 1943
- Historic Jewish Quarter / Kaleto – Area where much of the historic Jewish community lived
Bachkovo
- Bachkovo monastery is not a Jewish site in the narrow sense, but highly relevant to Holocaust history. It is a memorial connection to Patriarchs Cyril and Stefan. The two Bulgarian church leaders fiersely opposed the persecution and deportation of Jews, thus saving their lives.
