#huge globe

[globemakers]

Continuing on with #GlobeFacts Bulgaria.. looking at their unique customs. In a few isolated villages in the rolling Strandzha Mountains near the Turkish border, a mystical ritual has survived till the present day. On the night of Saints Constantine and Helen’s Day, villagers gather on the square to dance – barefoot – on burning embers. Reportedly, the dancers (called nestinari, #нестинари) descend into a state of trance induced by a sacred drum, explaining the complete lack of pain felt by the participants. The tradition of #Nestinarstvo or #Anastenaria combines Eastern Orthodox principles with more ancient pagan rituals. Curiously, it is practiced by both ethnic Bulgarians and the former Greek population of some of the villages in Strandzha. Though it has been officially banned in all of Bulgaria since 2011, dog spinning had been a tradition in the southeastern parts of the country for hundreds of years. Intended to protect the dogs from rabies and performed on the so-called Dog Monday (the Monday before Saint Theodore’s Day), dog spinning has been stigmatized by animal welfare organizations worldwide as an act of cruelty. The most common version of this ritual involves suspending a dog above water using a rope and spinning it in each direction. The extent of physical or mental harm to the dogs from this ritual remains controversial, though in any case, the ritual had been dying out since the 19th century and had been preserved into modern times only in individual villages. Happy when I was there I met locals working to educate & re-home dogs! Littleangelsrescuebg.org! Continues tomorrow, #BulgariaFacts thanks to kashkaval tourist.com. Globe : 127cm Churchill in Taupe 💚 | www.bellerbyandco.com

[sethwolfson]

365 Project - Day 133

// New York, NY // 40.750378, -73.973436

[globemakers]

Continuing on with #GlobeFacts Belgium IV Belgium has been producing chocolate for almost 400 years – the first evidence of chocolate production in Belgium dates back to 1635 Today Belgium produces over 173,000 tons of the stuff a year, and has an estimated 2,000 chocolate shops Antwerp is the world's diamond capital – with an estimated annual turnover of more than EUR 20 billion, around three times more than the next competitor (US). Diamonds have been traded here since 1447, and today the city handles more than 80 percent of the world's rough diamonds and 50 percent of all cut diamonds The Flemish jeweller Lodewyk van Bercken is credited to inventing the first pear cut diamond and the polishing wheel (scaif), which uses diamond dust to cut diamonds to achieve greater precision and more complex cuts. His statue can be seen near Antwerp's diamond district Napoleon’s bid for European domination ended at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium – after conquering much of continential Europe in the early 19th century, French military leader and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated in 1815 by allied forces, ending the Napoleonic era of European history, the Napoleonic Wars and Napoleon’s Hundred Days’ reign Continued tomorrow with more #BelgiumFacts Pictured : Isis painting an 80cm Galileo in Mint Green | www.bellerbyandco.com #Globemakers

[globemakers]

Suriname #GlobeFacts II The country is a regional anomaly: neither Spanish nor Portuguese in language and tradition like its South American neighbors, nor French like its Caribbean ones. It is a postcolonial state, although not wholly Dutch, either.. it's complicated history is well worth a proper read online / elsewhere About 90% of Suriname’s population (about 550,000 in total) lives on the coastal plain.. about 90% of the countrys landmass is covered by rain forest.. accessible only by boat or plane More than 300,000 Surinamese people live in Holland (that’s a lot for a country who itself only has just over 550,000 inhabitants The inner city of Suriname’s capital, Paramaribo, is #UNESCO world heritage classified.. for its colonial wooden houses A typical, mainly urban Creole, expression is "no span" ("Keep cool; don't worry"), symbolizing the generally relaxed atmosphere. The population has a reputation for being hospitable, and most houses do not have a knocker or a bell In Paramaribo, a synagogue and a mosque are standing just next to each other. It is often used as an example for the religious and racial peace and tolerance existing in Suriname.. though of course when one digs deeper, there do exist certain racial tensions.. especially with the current government in power There are several holidays which are unique to Suriname. These include the Indian, Javanese and Chinese arrival days. They celebrate the arrival of the first ships with their respective immigrants www.bellerbyandco.com 80cm Galileo | #Globemakers

Photo : Jade Fenster / Bellerby & Co Globemakers