What are the exact geographical boundaries of Thrace, and where does the region begin and end? What are the specific local cultural differences that set it apart from the general Balkan culture?
Posted by PieBright8211@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 48 comments
super_pasrelle@reddit
Btw is there a cross border thracian identity like for the basque ?
No-Championship-4632@reddit
There is none.
Most Thracians were Romanized 2 millenia ago. What is left is their tombs and stoneworks mostly. Their language is lost. They are Greeks/Turks/Bulgarians now.
Emere59@reddit
That's not true, O identify as a Thracian. You don't need a separate language to have a different identity.
PomegranateOk2600@reddit
what makes you thracian and not turkish? Living in the historic Thrace?
Emere59@reddit
Yes, and all my ancestors living here, even before Turks arrived. Also nationalities are fictional, I might as well identify as "The Sea Peoples". Honestly I don't care about nationalism, I just love my region and it's people, more than other people that live inside the same political borders of the country that I'm a citizen of.
sasvim_nebitan@reddit
And Albanians
laprasaur@reddit
Illyrians?
sasvim_nebitan@reddit
They do, but that's not quite right. Their language isn't Illyrian, but probably comes from the (south-)eastern Balkans. Their "Illyrian" identity is disputed and there is really no evidence for such claims. They mostly use it for political/nationalistic purposes.
PomegranateOk2600@reddit
And Romanians, geto-dacians were also part of the thracian family group.
PomegranateOk2600@reddit
No, most of them became modern day Bulgarians and the rest mixed with the other local populations.
MrDDD11@reddit
Most of them were assimilated into Roman Culture way before Bulgarians came to the Balkans.
MartinBP@reddit
"Bulgarians" did not come to the Balkans, the identity emerged in the first Bulgarian Tsardom as a new Christian identity unifying the local Roman/Greek, Slavic and Bulgar people and their separate pagan religions and languages. In terms of descent, the Thracians were assimilated by the Romans and then the Slavs, and today arguably make up the largest chunk of Bulgarian ancestry. Migration waves do not usually replace the local population, even if a new culture comes out on top.
MrDDD11@reddit
Sure but at that point it was Hellenised or Latinized Romans, not Thracians.
NetHistorical5113@reddit
No
JoTenshi@reddit
Can you elaborate on that? Can you explain what you mean?
PhysicalMacaron2614@reddit
I think it is just a historical region, and beeing inhabited by bulgarians, greeks and turks has a shared balkan culture between these populations no different than other parts of the 3 countries
Suitable-Decision-26@reddit
Boundries are the same as Macedonia, i. e. whatever we decide they are.
Salt_Fennel8876@reddit
All my grandparents, great-grandparents and great-grandparents were born in this area. They were all Bulgarians. The folk songs in Thrace are sadder than those in other areas. The land is rich and the population was mainly engaged in agriculture. The cuisine is similar to that in Greece and Turkey. The melody of the language is softer than that of the West. I can't think of anything else specific.
MartinBP@reddit
Folk costumes and some remaining pagan traditions like fire walking are also similar.
AnarchistRain@reddit
The ancient Thracians were spread over all modern Bulgaria and the surrounding areas. The most famous Thracian Spartacus isnt even from what we consider Thrace today. But if geographical regions are too big they become less useful, so this map is what we we call Thrace.
As for culture (specifically Bulgarian Thrace), due to the advent of mass media, it has been homogonized to a large extent. Some regional specific customs remain, but its not that different from the rest of the country. I hear people in Plovdiv like to take it easy but idk how true that stereotype is. Might be different for a bigger country like Turkey.
slysmile@reddit
There's definitely a bunch of qualities and customs exclusive to Turkish Thracia
Obvious-Desk4573@reddit
I'm not doubting you, but could you give some examples?
slysmile@reddit
A very distinct accent, a very intense (but healthy!) relationship with alcohol, a lot of traditions and events shared with/inspired by gypsy/romani culture, and of course music that is distinct from traditional aegean or anatolian tunes.
I'm on mobile right now so I can't find examples but I'll try to add here when I can.
Worried-Owl-9198@reddit
The situation is the same in Turkey; we have that 'laziness DNA' too lmoa
ivo_sotirov@reddit
There are big shared cultural remnants in that region even if the languages are completely separate. That was a region shared by all three cultures, and mixed villages and cities were the notm. For instance Martenitsa and Marteniçka, the fire festivals Sirni Zagovezni and Hıdırellez, the evil eye. In terms of food is difficult to distinguish Thracian cuisine from general Balkan cuisine but in Thracian turkey they have many of the same dishes as us, lots of yogurt, similar grilled meats, byurek. Also similar folk music and instruments.
Winter-Bed-2697@reddit
What are the cultural regions of Bulgaria roughly?
Here it seems the biggest region of Bulgaria is Thrace? I always thought the most influential one would be Shopluk.
And I don’t mean every single region.
In Serbia it would roughly be Vojvodina (North), Central Serbia and Southern Serbia. Belgrade being a point between the Center and the North. You can always break it down to smaller regions but only these 3 would be different enough to make sense to an outsider.
MartinBP@reddit
Thrace isn't a singular cultural region. The Rhodopes form their own unique cultural and linguistic region. The Upper Thracian Plain where Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Pazardzhik, Kazanluk, Karlovo, Panagyurishte etc. are located is what people usually refer to as Thrace. Then you have the seaside which could be grouped as a region between Varna and Burgas.
Others are the Shopluk (roughly Sofia, Kyustendil, Pernik and the northwest), Pirin Macedonia (Blagoevgrad), the Danubian Plain (Pleven, Ruse, Svishtov), Dobrudzha (Dobrich, Silistra), Central Balkan (Stara Planina) with Veliko Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Tryavna etc. Strandzha can be looked at as a subregion of the Black Sea coast or its own thing like Dobrudzha.
As you can see, it's basically mountain ranges and plains that usually define a region.
ivo_sotirov@reddit
I think Thrace is the most culturally significant region, even though the capital is in the East. The official dialect is the Eastern. The rose oil production, and the Thracian Valley of the kings, are the big tourist symbols of the Country
Specific-Shock1751@reddit
Slava Ukraine)
Lorumba@reddit
Thrace = Drinking chilling, fish, life.
slysmile@reddit
Why is everyone so into determining exact borders to regions that never had concrete borders?
EnesAkhan@reddit
I cant talk about Bulgarian nd Greek side but for the Turks . Thraican Turks are kinda a meme cuz they got a fun dialect as well as they are known for drinking a lot . Turkish comedians usually use that trope for their jokes
Hot_Distribution_131@reddit
Oh, interesting. But do they drink more than the Bulgarians is the question.
EnesAkhan@reddit
well i honestly dont know the real situation there xD never been to there or got any friends from there
Waste-Restaurant-939@reddit
maybe almost
No-Championship-4632@reddit
They are not Russians after all.
Legal_Apartment5789@reddit
its ukraine?
lonelyeigenvalue@reddit
Honestly, this is a tough question to answer definitively. The borders we see today were drawn after wars and shaped by diplomatic agreements, and these events dramatically shifted where different groups of people ended up living. Because of this, trying to draw exact boundaries for Thrace today just wouldn't reflect reality.
To put this into perspective, let me share a bit of my own family's story. Most of my elder family members originally came from the Bulgarian part of Thrace (blue region). But history forced them to move. Around 1877–1878, some migrated to Turkey during the Russo-Turkish War, fleeing oppression against Bulgarian Turks. Then, during the 1930s, others left due to forced assimilation policies under the Third Bulgarian Tsardom. Today, their children and grandchildren don't even live in what maps label as Turkish Thrace (yellow region) anymore. Yet, the culture still lives on---maybe not fully, but it's definitely still there among family members.
From my experience, I wouldn't call what we carry a specifically "Thracian" culture. It feels more like a broader Turco-Balkan culture, shaped by the wider Balkan world rather than Thrace alone. Of course, this might be different for other ethnic or national groups in the region. I can only speak from my own family's perspective.
In short, both the geography and culture of Thrace are fluid---shaped by centuries of migration, conflict, and political change. Drawing rigid lines around the region, whether on a map or in cultural terms, would be an oversimplification.
raspalainen@reddit
I see what you did there
Putrid_Speed_5138@reddit
What's this map? A nod to the The Migration Period?
The color choice here makes it looks like the Ukranians fleeing from the Russian invasion settled in Thrace.
AnarchistRain@reddit
I think OP took the map from the Northern Tharce Wikipedia article.
Affectionate-Arm-405@reddit
Is there a general Balkan culture?
AdorableSense6796@reddit
alcohol
Blood_Prince95@reddit
The Evros region of Greece pays great attention to the Thracian heritage. It’s very similar across Bulgaria and Turkey in terms of traditional dances, dresses, toponyms and food.
Fine-Ear-8103@reddit
Bulgaria, Greece, and turkey should give the Thracians their lands back. /s
Consistent_Date_5096@reddit
eastern thrace or turkish thrace:
the popualtion are descendants of balkan turks , pomaks , gajals and gypsys.
Consistent_Date_5096@reddit
Bulgaria: Northern Thrace
Turkey: Eastern thrace
Greece: western thrace
Worried-Owl-9198@reddit
I think we can define the geographical boundaries as the area between the Haemus Mountains or the Danube River to the north, the Axios River to the west, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Bosphorus to the east. If you consider it as an ancient Thracian cultural sphere, it even extends all the way to Romania.