Faces on Money--2 Leva

Bulgarian 2 Leva bills (worth about $1.20 at today’s rate) are in the process of gradually being replaced by the 2 Leva coin, but both are still very common in Bulgaria.  Both contain a picture of Paisii Hilendarski.  Hilendarski was born in 1722, and is considered the father of the Bulgarian renaissance.

The Bulgarian 2 Leva coin

My western readers might be a bit confused at this point.  We think of the renaissance as occurring between the 14^th and 17^th centuries, so how could a Bulgarian from the 18^th century not only be considered a renaissance area man, but the father of the renaissance?  To understand this we have to look farther back in Bulgarian history.

The Bulgarian 2 Leva Bill

In the 1300’s, when the renaissance was in its infancy in Western Europe, the Ottoman Empire began expanding from what is now modern day Turkey into Europe.  Bulgaria stood in its way.  Over the course of several decades Bulgaria was conquered and absorbed by the Ottomans.

As most of Europe emerged from the Middle Ages and grew in knowledge and culture, Bulgaria was enslaved.  They became servants of the Ottoman sultans.  Their dark ages were just beginning.

Fast-forward hundreds of years and Paisii Hilendarski came on the scene.  He spent much of his early adult life in the Hilendar Monastery.  Here he grew in education and in freedom of thought.

He traveled around Bulgaria seeking to raise funds for the monastery, and found that most of his fellow Bulgarians were living in desperate conditions and were apathetic toward their situation.  They had been beat down and come to accept their lives of servitude.  Paisii decided to reignite the Bulgarian spirit by writing a history book.  It took a long time for him to research Bulgarian history as the centuries of Ottoman rule had damaged or destroyed much historical evidence, but after years of toil he finally finished his work.  During his research he also found evidence and documentation about the life of Ivan of Rilla (see the previous post on the 1 Leva note to find out more about him).

His work awakened the Bulgarian spirit.  It would still be over 100 years before Bulgaria would regain freedom again, but the seed had been sown.  Knowledge and history served to stir up a national spirit that would eventually lead to freedom and the rise of the new Bulgarian nation.

Faces on Money--1 Lev

Almost anywhere you go in the world you will see somebody’s face on the money you use.  Usually it is the face of someone important.  The US notes have presidents (with the exception of the 10 and 100 denominations), and the British and Canadian notes have Elizabeth (as do several other countries of which she is queen).  Whoever the people are on the currency you use, they are usually significant and valued by the people of that nation in some way.  Thus, I thought it would be good to go through the people on the Bulgarian currency to tell you how they are important to the country.

I’ll start with 1 Lev.

The term “Lev” is Bulgarian for lion, so the Bulgarians technically buy and sell by trading lions.  The plural is “Leva,” so while it is good to have 1 Lev in your pocket, it is better to have lots of Leva.

The one Lev bank note is very rare.  Technically they are still legal tender, but in my 7 years of living in Bulgaria I have never seen one.  Today you are much more likely to see 1 Lev coins, which are worth about 60 US cents at todays exchange rate. Whichever on you have though, a 1 Lev coin or 1 Lev note will have on it a picture of Sveti Ivan Rilski or St. John of Rila in English.

The illusive 1 Lev banknote

The common 1 Lev coin

John of Rila was born in 876 in a village that is now part of modern day Sofia.  A story is told of him as a young orphan boy working as a cowherd carrying a calf across a river by walking on the water.  For most of his adult life he lived as a godly hermit.  People started coming to the cave he lived in to become monks.  Eventually they established a church and a monastery.  Today the Rila Monastery stands in his honor, and is one of the most beautiful and sought after tourist attractions in Bulgaria.

Rila Monastery on the side of Rila Mountain (August 2017)

Late in life he wrote A Testament to Disciples, which is considered one of the finest pieces of literature in Old Bulgarian.

He continued to work in ministry leading the monks until his death on August 18, 946.

Though gone for over a thousand years, Bulgaria remembers him and has given him a place of honor on the 1 Lev coin.