Day of Slavonic Literature and Culture

May 24 is the Day of Slavonic Literature and Culture, a tribute carried out by Bulgarian people across the country to honor the two brothers who created the Cyrillic alphabet. It has no analogue among the other nations - the Day of literature, enlightenment, culture. It’s a holiday of spiritual rising, perfection striving for scientific and cultural achievements. Though the brothers proselytized and taught throughout eastern Europe, their memory is most revered in Bulgaria. Recalling Cyril and Methodius this day, the Prime Teachers of the Slavs, every year we fasten again our grateful eyes on the origins of the richest cultural and historical heritage of the Slavonic peoples, which one is inseparable both from the enlightener activity of the scholar Soluna brothers, and from the present science and culture of the Slavs. The two brothers started their mission to spread Christianity among the Slavs in or around 863 and subsequently began to translate the Holy Scriptures into the language that would become known as Old Church Slavonic. In the process, they invented the Cyrillic alphabet, based on a combination of Greek and Hebrew characters. Modern Cyrillic alphabets include Russian (32 letters), Ukrainian (33 letters), Serbian (30 letters), and, of course, Bulgarian (30 letters).