The Bulgarians in Italy are one of the sizable communities of the

Bulgarian diaspora The Bulgarian diaspora includes Bulgarians living outside Bulgaria and its surrounding countries, as well as immigrants from Bulgaria abroad. The number of Bulgarians outside Bulgaria has sharply increased since 1989, following the Revolutions ...

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. There are about 120,000 Bulgarians in Italy according to the Bulgarian government. There are

Bulgarian Orthodox The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...

parishes in Rome and Milan. Major centres of Bulgarian migration are

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

and

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

History

In the early 7th century AD, groups of

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as noma ...

, one of the ancient peoples that participated in the

ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is "the formation and development of an ethnic group". This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th century neologism that was later introd ...

of the modern Bulgarians, settled in the Italian Peninsula. The main migration was headed by Altsek, a Bulgar leader who initially joined the

Avar Khaganate The Pannonian Avars () were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai ( el, Βαρχονίτες, Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars ...

before switching allegiance to the Germanic

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

. Altsek and his people arrived in the

Exarchate of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna ( la, Exarchatus Ravennatis; el, Εξαρχάτο της Ραβέννας) or of Italy was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the ...

, where

Grimoald I of Benevento Grimoald or Grimwald (c. 610 – 671) was a 7th-century King of Italy, ruling as Duke of Benevento from 647 to 662, and then as King of the Lombards from 662 until his death in 671. Chris Wickham, ''Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local ...

invited them to populate the

Duchy of Benevento The Duchy of Benevento (after 774, Principality of Benevento) was the southernmost Lombard duchy in the Italian Peninsula that was centred on Benevento, a city in Southern Italy. Lombard dukes ruled Benevento from 571 to 1077, when it was conq ...

. According to the ''

Gesta Dagoberti I regis Francorum The ''Gesta Dagoberti'' ('Deeds of Dagobert'), fully ''Gesta domni Dagoberti regis Francorum'' ('Deeds of Lord Dagobert, King of the Franks'), is an anonymous Latin biography of Dagobert I, king of the Franks (623–639). It combines deeds from t ...

'', Altsek's Bulgars settled in what are today the communes of Isernia,

Bojano Bojano or Boiano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Campobasso, Molise, south-central Italy. History Originally named Bovianum, it was settled by the 7th century BC. As the capital of the Pentri, a tribe of the Samnites, it played a maj ...

and Sepino. Altsek remained the leader of the Bulgar-populated areas, bearing the title gastald. It is uncertain whether this Altsek can be identified with another Bulgar lord, Altsiok. According to the

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begin ...

, Altsiok deserted the

in 631–632. Altsiok settled in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

with 9,000 Bulgars under Frankish king

Dagobert I Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dyna ...

. Altsiok is known to have moved to the Venetian March with his 700 remaining men after Dagobert I slaughtered most of his people.

Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, ...

in his ''

Historia Langobardorum The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' ( la, Historia Langobardorum) is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate ...

'' writing after the year 787 says that in his time Bulgars still inhabited the area, and that even though they speak "Latin," "they have not forsaken the use of their own tongue." In later times they had evidently become completely assimilated. Human graves of a steppe nomadic character as well as horse burials dated to the second half of the 8th century AD attest to the presence of Bulgars in the

Molise it, Molisano (man) it, Molisana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 ...

and

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

regions.

Toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

s containing the root ''bulgar'' and personal names such as ''Bulgari'' and ''di Bulgari'' continued to appear in medieval documents relating to the Italian Peninsula. In the 17th century,

Bulgarian Roman Catholics Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

often visited Rome in their attempts to negotiate support for a Bulgarian uprising against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. Prominent religious and public leaders such as Petar Bogdan and Petar Parchevich spent time in the city. The first book printed in modern Bulgarian, '' Abagar'', was published in Rome in 1651.

Cities with significant Bulgarian communities

Based on Demo Istat statistics *

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

1.828 *

1.487 *

Nettuno Nettuno is a town and '' comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, south of Rome. A resort city and agricultural center on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it has a population of approximately 50,000. Economy It ha ...

834 (1,76% of total residing population) *

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and '' comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Isl ...

812 (1,47%) *

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and '' comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was ...

796 *

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

681 *

Colleferro Colleferro (IPA: /kɔllefɛrro/) is a small town with 20 698 inhabitants of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is a residential zone with many different industries and sports structures. It borders the City of F ...

489 (2,21%) *

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the c ...

442 * Ardea 412 *

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

318 * Pizzo 313 (3,38%) * Monteroni di Lecce 301 (2,16%) *

Gambettola Gambettola ( rgn, Gambetla or ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southeast of Forlì. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population ...

300 (2,88%)

Notable people

* Nikolay Diulgheroff (1901–1982),

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

artist and designer * Elena Nicolai (1905–1993), opera singer *

Boris Christoff Boris Christoff ( bg, Борис Кирилов Христов, Boris Kirilov Hristov, ; 18 May 1914 – 28 June 1993) was a Bulgarian opera singer, widely considered one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. Early life He was born ...

(1914–1993),

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

singer *

Nicolai Ghiaurov Nicolai Ghiaurov (or ''Nikolai Gjaurov'', ''Nikolay Gyaurov'', bg, Николай Гяуров) (September 13, 1929 – June 2, 2004) was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous basses of the postwar period. He was admired for his ...

(1929–2004), opera singer *

Raina Kabaivanska Raina Yakimova Kabaivanska ( bg, Райна Якимова Кабаиванска); born 15 December 1934) is a Bulgarian opera singer, one of the leading lirico-spinto sopranos of her generation, particularly associated with Verdi and Pucci ...

(b. 1934), opera singer * Hristo Zlatanov (b. 1976),

Italy men's national volleyball team The Italy men's national volleyball team represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. The national team is controlled by the Italian Volleyball Federation, the governing body for Volleyball in Italy. It is one of t ...

player * Nikoleta Stefanova (b. 1984), table tennis player * Vanessa Ferrari (b. 1990), world champion in

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

* Vencislav Simeonov (b. 1977), volleyball player *

Georgi Glouchkov Georgi Nikolov Glouchkov (alternate spelling: Gueorgui) ( bg, Георги Николов Глушков; born January 10, 1960 in Tryavna) is a Bulgarian former professional basketball player and president of Bulgarian Basketball Federation. ...

(b. 1960), former professional basketball player *

Moni Ovadia Salomone "Moni" Ovadia (born 16 April 1946 in Plovdiv) is a Bulgarian-born Italian actor, musician, singer and theatrical author. He is one of the most highly regarded figures in contemporary Italian culture. His theatrical performances recall ...

(b. 1946), actor, singer and composer *

Ofelia Malinov Ofelia Malinov ( bg, Офелия Малинов; born ) is an Italian volleyball player, playing as a setter. She is part of the Italy women's national volleyball team. She was born in Italy to Bulgarian parents. Career She competed at the 2 ...

(b.1996), Italian national team volleyball player

References

{{Immigration to Italy Ethnic groups in Italy

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

History

Cities with significant Bulgarian communities

Notable people

See also

References