Sofia, Bulgaria: Ancient rock art, a patron saint and a monk will be emblazoned on euro coins from Thursday, when Bulgaria joins the single currency.
The motifs are already on the lev, the currency Bulgaria adopted 1881 and which is named after an archaic word meaning "lion".
Rider of independence
The Madara Rider, a rock relief created at the beginning of the eighth century during the first years of the formation of the Bulgarian state, graces the one, two, five, 10, 20 and fifty-cent euro coins.
The art work, showing a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a cliff near the village of Madara in northeast Bulgaria. The site has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979.
Patron saint
The one-euro coin features Bulgarian patron saint John of Rila (c. 876-946), regarded as the founder of the Rila Monastery, the largest in the country.
He is said to have become a hermit in the mountains and to have lived in the hollow of a centuries-old tree.
Monk who wrote key work
The two-euro coin features Paisius of Hilandar (1722-c. 1773), a monk of the Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos who wrote a key work of Bulgaria's national revival.
The edge of the coin bears the inscription: "God protect Bulgaria".
