Once a year, thousands of Roma women from around Bulgaria travel to the city of Stara Zagora for an open-air brides market. Money, not love, is the first priority.The brides market is a tradition in Stara Zagora. Women are only allowed to be married within specific clans. The wife of the current clan chief was married at the age of 14. The brides today range in age from 14 to 20 years old, and the brides’ families are in control. The parents often have to provide dowries worth thousands of Euros – and that’s not an easy burden to carry.
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