Few dates in Bulgaria’s history carry as much contrast as July 18: one event was a battlefield triumph that shaped medieval geopolitics, the other a tragedy that shook a modern nation.
July 18, 1332 — The Last Bulgarian Victory Over Byzantium
At the Battle of Rusokastro near today’s Burgas region, Tsar Ivan Alexander led a Bulgarian force of some 10,000 men, including Tatar mercenaries, against a much smaller Byzantine army under Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. After deliberately prolonging negotiations to await reinforcements, Ivan Alexander launched his attack at dawn; the battle lasted roughly three hours and ended in a decisive Bulgarian victory.
It was the last major Bulgarian military triumph over the Byzantine Empire before both states would, within a few generations, fall under Ottoman rule.
July 18, 2012 — The Burgas Airport Bombing
On this day, a suicide bombing targeting a bus of Israeli tourists at Burgas Airport killed five visitors and the Bulgarian driver, and injured more than thirty others. It was the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians abroad in years and the first such attack within an EU member state, prompting investigations by Bulgarian, Israeli, and European authorities that eventually linked the bombing to Hezbollah.
A memorial now stands at the site, and the anniversary is marked each year by officials and victims’ families from both countries.
Continue through the series: July 17 | July 19. Discover more of the country via Bulgaria From Above or our Bulgaria travel guides.
