When you travel around Bulgaria, from the capital to the smallest of villages, you will inevitably encounter monuments of stern men and sometimes women, with guns in their hands and passion in their eyes. Made of stone or bronze, these monuments adorn squares and streets, peek over the trees by roads, and form whole, often overgrown compounds.

Artificial 'language for everyone' failed to bring world peace, but is still used around the world, Bulgaria included

"Today I went to see that sort of an island with the ruins, but it was closed. I read that it used to be a school for fishermen," a British friend says, incredulously. She sips her white wine, which we are enjoying in the best of Sozopol's restaurants, on the rocky shore of the old town, and adds: "Being a fisherman is not something you are taught in school, it is a trade that generally runs in the family."

Surprising for a country that is proud of its 1,300-year history, just a few tombs of its grand kings have been identified with certainty.

Bulgaria has not changed its name since its founding in 681, as if the 200-year Byzantine and the 500-year Ottoman rule never happened, but the list of the preserved and known graves of its rulers makes for an extremely short paragraph in its long history.

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Best flea shop is located under church

Still off-limits, the former Central Bath House offers thrilling experiences

Incompetent and corrupt management has rendered the State Railways bankrupt but the remaining stations bear witness to better times