Baba Vanga, one saw nothing but knew everything

She is called the Nostradamus of the Balkans, and with good reason. Baba Vanga, the blind Bulgarian clairvoyant, who died 20 years ago, was a women who saw nothing but knew everything. Indeed, she had predicted some more or less tragic events occurred which makes it even more incredible story. 

Her followers were convinced that she possessed paranormal abilities. This summer, we visited for the second time both places in Bulgaria, where she stayed during her life, charged of history. The first time I heard of her, it was 2 years ago, when my parents in law proposed us to visit the place where Baba Vanga spent the end of her life, closed to Petrich, in Bulgaria. We never heard something about her before this moment. We was just totally confused when we learned about who she was and what she did. Normally, I’m not a person who believe totally in this kind of stories or paranormal things (so, not at 100% if I can say). But, in this case, I admit that I still do not know what to think. The story of Baba Vanga is just crazy for a rational person like me, but…. We can recognize a part of me believes there. So, I would even say that a part of me is fascinated by this story. 

Born in 1911 as Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova, in Strumica, Macedonia, Baba Vanga, was a blind Bulgarian prophet, mystic clairvoyant and herbalist. In her childhood, Vangelia was an ordinary girl. Her father was conscripted into the Bulgaria Army during the World War I and her mother died when she was quite young and she depended on the neighbors for a long time. Vanga was intelligent, with blue eyes and blond hair. She mysteriously lost her eyesight when she was 12, during a massive storm. She went missing for a few days. She was found after a long search-very frightened. Her eyes were covered with sand and dust, so she couldn’t open them because of the pain. It is during one of these lost days she had her first vision. Baba Vanga rose to popularity as she started to make predictions, and developed a healing touch, during the World War II. Her followers were convinced that she possessed paranormal abilities.

Several dignitaries visited the mystic during the years that she was active, including the Bulgarian tsar, Boris III, on 8 April 1942. On 10 May 1942, she moved to Petrich, after getting married with Dimitar Gushterov, a man from a village near there, who had come asking her for the killers of his mother, but had to promise her not to seek revenge.

Here are some predictions that Baba Vanga made on the past and beyond : the rise of the ISIS, the fall of the twin towers, the 2004 Tsunami, the sinking of the Russian submarine Koursk, and the global warming, among a host of other events. For the future, she predicted lot of things, sometimes not very good… But I think it is better to keep a little mystery ? 

Before she died the 11 August 1996 from breast cancer (her funeral attracted large crowds, including many dignitaries), she had said that her gift would be passed on to a 10 year old girl, living in France, who will then take on from her. Fulfilling Vanga’s last will and testament, her Petrich house has since been converted into a museum, which opened its doors on 5 May 2008 (Address : Vanga Sreet, Petrich / Entrance : 2 leva / no pictures allowed / +359(0) 879 819 514 / kushta_vanga@abv.bg).

Here, the Prophet Baba Vanga accepted those who needed her help, here she took their pains and sufferings, here she endowed them with faith and hope. A new cottage was built in 1970 in this occasion, but Baba Vanga inhabited it until her last day of her life. Lot of people waited every day for Baba Vanga read them their future. By being attentive, it is still possible to collect all the energy known by this place 20 years earlier. 

We can go inside and see how well she lived and so imagine by the time she was still alive.

After the death of the prophet, the Complex Vanga was created in Rupite, situated near Petrich, beneath the only volcano in Bulgaria, Kojun, which erupted in the 4th century B.C. and was inactive ever since. It takes approximately 2/3 hours from Sofia by car to reach the destination. The complex was built between 1997 and 2012, with the efforts of the members of the Foundation and the generosity of the donors (Address : Rupite / Entrance : Free). The map before the gates shows visitors the main attractions of the site, both in Bulgarian and English.

The village of Rupite is believed to have a very strong positive cosmic energy, which can be found only in two other locations in the world—Argentina and Indonesia, said director of “Vanga” complex, Serafim Ivanov. The Vanga Complex include St Petka church, Vanga’s grave, Vanga’s former residence, monastery, exhibition hall and a wildlife corner. Overall, it takes about 20 minutes to walk through the whole perimeter of the “Vanga” complex.

Just behind the St Petka church, a small museum traces the life of Baba Vanga, with pictures and video. The atmosphere is very quiet, relaxing, full of history and memory. It was almost like Baba Vanga’s here, near us …

After the visit, spend time to walk through the lovely park complex. The atmosphere of the “Vanga” complex is very relaxed and inviting. You can go to the local coffee that offers a variety of snacks, ice cream, sandwiches, chips as well as hot meals. You can also choose to bring food with you (as us this time) to have a little picnic on one of the wooden benches in the shadow of the trees, near hot springs and jolly flowerbeds. Rupite is definitely a great destination to spend very good time with your family or friends. 

Rupite is a destination that attracts visitors from all over the world not only because it is connected with a famous prophetess, but also because of its unique location at the bottom of the ancient volcano Kojuh. So, it was also a very nice and relaxing experience to discover the hot volcano springs and and become coated with clay wilderness (The access to the springs is free of charge and they are open any time of day and night).

Just ma favorite part of the visit (daubing myself).

People from all over Bulgaria come here to improve their health by taking a bath in the therapeutic water. Sometime, multiple cars and campers of the visitors parked right on the field near the steaming springs to spend time to immerse in hot water. Just amazing moment.