Nearly a thousand years separate the two July 29 entries in Bulgarian history — one a catastrophe that ended an empire, the other a modest step into a new market economy.
July 29, 1014 — The Battle of Kleidion Breaks an Empire
Byzantine Emperor Basil II inflicted a devastating defeat on the army of Bulgarian Tsar Samuil at the mountain pass of Kleidion, near the modern village of Klyuch. After Bulgarian forces had held the fortified pass for days, a Byzantine general slipped through the surrounding hills and struck from the rear, collapsing the defense and taking thousands of prisoners.
That defeat, and the brutal treatment of the captives that followed, effectively broke Bulgarian military power — it is no accident that Basil II is remembered by the byname “the Bulgar-slayer.” Within four years Byzantium had conquered the rest of the First Bulgarian Empire, ending nearly three and a half centuries of Bulgarian statehood.
July 29, 1992 — Supporting Bulgaria’s Travel Industry
The Bulgarian Association of Travel Agents was established to help organize and professionalize the tourism sector as it adjusted to a market economy. For an industry used to state management, it was a step toward self-regulation and toward representation before the institutions.
It was a practical response to a new era, after decades of state-controlled travel and centrally planned resorts along the Black Sea coast. In the years of transition, associations like it helped private initiative find a common framework and clearer rules.
