{"id":3202,"date":"2013-07-08T09:58:57","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T08:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/?p=3202"},"modified":"2015-01-22T17:31:56","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T17:31:56","slug":"the-return-of-the-bulgarian-vampire-pirate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/2013\/07\/the-return-of-the-bulgarian-vampire-pirate\/","title":{"rendered":"The Return Of The Bulgarian Vampire Pirate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/2013\/07\/the-return-of-the-bulgarian-vampire-pirate\/vampire_skeleton_of_sozopol\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3204\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3204\" title=\"Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol-36x23.jpg 36w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol-90x59.jpg 90w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol-32x21.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Decades of Gothic literature and Hollywood horror have established Transylvania as the homeland of the undead.<!--more--> But the nearby nation of Bulgaria has recently been making moves to steal the crown as Eastern Europe\u2019s vampire capital. Heading the effort is Professor Bozhidar Dimitrov, head of the Bulgarian National History Museum in Sofia, who claims that over 100 vampire burials have been discovered in the country, many of them dating back to the Middle Ages. \u201cThe curious thing is that there are no women among them,\u201d observes the Professor. \u201cThey were not afraid of witches,\u201d adding that most of the suspect cadavers were either nobles or clergyman.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/2013\/07\/the-return-of-the-bulgarian-vampire-pirate\/vampire_skeleton_of_sozopol_ii\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3203\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3203\" title=\"Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II-90x90.jpg 90w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vampire_skeleton_of_Sozopol_II.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>One such discovery from summer of last year, made in the Black Sea port of Sozopol, has been causing particular excitement. The corpse in question dates from some 700 years ago, and \u2013 in common with other \u2018vampire\u2019 burials \u2013 had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest and abdomen with a shard of iron. Dimitrov believes the Sozopol vampire may be a notable medieval noble and pirate nicknamed Krivich (the crooked) because of his hunchback, who made up for his handicap with a keen intellect. It\u2019s said that Krivich\u2019s extensive knowledge of astronomy and herbalism may have encouraged his enemies to brand him a sorcerer, which might explain why locals felt the need to stake him in his grave.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/2013\/07\/the-return-of-the-bulgarian-vampire-pirate\/p558\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3205\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3205\" title=\"P558\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/P558-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/P558-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/P558-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/P558-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/P558-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/P558-90x90.jpg 90w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/P558-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/P558.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Whatever the corpse\u2019s true identity, in the latest development, the skeleton is now being returned from Sofia to take up residence in his hometown\u2019s recently renovated museum. \u201cThey are pretty disappointed in Sozopol that [the vampire] is not with them,\u201d said Dimitrov. \u201cHe\u2019s been lying about long enough, it is time he goes and makes some money at the seaside,\u201d joked the Professor, aware that \u2018vampire tourism\u2019 can be quite lucrative. Might we suggest that those vamp enthusiasts who can\u2019t quite stretch to a ticket to Bulgaria to check out the Sozopol vampire, might still indulge themselves with some of Alchemy\u2019s extensive selection of bloodsucker accessories? How about a design from our popular Romantique Vampiria range, featuring not just a Vamp Ring and Vamp Bangle, but also Vampretta Ear Studs and even a Bitten Choker\u2026 All available to order through our approved dealers at <a title=\"www.alchemyengland.com\/buy \" href=\"http:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/buy \" target=\"_blank\">www.alchemyengland.com\/buy <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Alchemy Editorial Team<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/\">www.AlchemyEngland.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Decades of Gothic literature and Hollywood horror have established Transylvania as the homeland of the undead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[400,398,399],"class_list":["post-3202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-romantique-vampiria","tag-sozopol","tag-sozopol-vampire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5061,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202\/revisions\/5061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}