The pilgrimage of the Muslim Roma to the Orthodox Monastery "Dormition of the Mother of God" in Bachkovo.

Abstract (English)

In the Balkans, where the majority of Roma have lived settled since the times of the Ottoman Empire, and due to the vicissitudes of their historical fate, the syncretism of religious forms is a relatively common phenomenon. Therefore, the pilgrimage to the famous Bachkovo monastery in South Bulgaria by Roma Muslims (mainly from the surrounding region), conducted at the Assumption of the Virgin Maria Day, is neither unique nor unusual in the local context, although many people worldwide perceive it as something more or less paradoxical.
The proposed paper will pay special attention to an even more curious case. The majority of Roma Muslims living in the nearby city of Plovdiv have lost their Romani mother tongue and are Turkish-speaking and publicly demonstrate a preferred Turkish ethnic identity. Many of them are now joining the rapidly developing new evangelical Christian communities among the Roma throughout the region of Central and Southeastern Europe and publicly declare themselves as “Turks evangelicals”. And yet, in violation of all possible religious norms (both Islamic and evangelical), they continue to go on pilgrimage to the monastery in Bachkovo. Moreover, their pilgrimage is carried out on the date according to the old Orthodox Church Calendar Style (usual practice among different Roma groups in Bulgaria, aiming to abide by the «old style»), i.e. despite their public declarations of their ethnic and religious identity, in practice, they continue to adhere to the Roma models of traditional religious life including the veneration of God’s Mother.