"City of the Tsars" a Veliko Turnovo Travel Page by ger4444

From Koprivshitsa i had a train ride of a few hours to Veliko Târnovo. It was a great thing to see the terraced houses for the first time at the raiway station as the train arrived. We had the luck we found quick a man who was offering an apartment for the three of us, so after dropping the luggage it was time to go to the Tsar fortress. Veliko is one of the most picturesque towns of Bulgaria. Veliko Târnovo (Great Tarnovo) is also called the City of the Czars. It has a beautiful old town, with tradional houses, the river Yantra runs trough the town and at the top of the town you can see the citadel of Tsarevets hill. The Trapezitsa hill is an area of the nobles and courtiers and Asenova is the artisants and merchants quarted where you can see ruines of old mediavel churches. Veliko is also a university town, at Sveta Gora Park you find the prestigious university. The small streets of the old town are full of national revival houses. The town has a lot to offer, it is a great example of medieaval Bulgaria, it keeps national revival architecture, and it has, since it is a university town, a good nightlife.

Tsarevets hill, where the citadel is located these days, was first inhabited by the Neolitic people and the Thracians between 5500 and 2000. The romans build the first fortress walls and under Emporer Justianus a Byzantine citadel was build in 500 AD. Then the slaves came and captured Veliko in 700. The town became a great center of revolt against the Byzantain rulers, especially under Asen and Pętar. After the foundation of the second Bulgarian Empire, Târnovo became the second most important town of culture and trade in the south-east region and stayed prosperous for two hundred year. In 1393 The city fell in hands of the Ottomans. The fortress got destroyed. And as Bulgarian nationalism came up in the 19 th century, an atmosphere of rebellion came trough the whole country. General Gurko, a Russian general liberated the town from the Ottomans then in 1877. Because Veliko Târnovo was so important during the second Empire, the Bulgarian constitution was written there in 1878 and in 1908 it was here where the independency was proclaimed. The town thus is important for its role in history, but also eduction because it has one of the countries best universities.

What to do in Veliko târnovo. I first would like to warn you that a one day visit is simply too short. Take at least 2 days to visit this lovely city. As for me the two most interesting must-see’s where the Tsarevets Fortress and the Asenovtsi Park, from which the latter gives a great view on the terraced houses on the other side of the river. There are numourous museums and churches to explore and the town has a few interesting yearly events. Its wonderful to see the city busy during the day to walk in the little streets of the medavel town or along the mundane Stefan Stambolov street, and see the city change for a great nighlife scenery, with doznes of pubs, bars and clubs, of which many stay open all night. It is a great place to meet people. If you have time, you can also combine your stay with a dystrip to the nearby Arbanasi, which is about 5 km away (see my Arbanasi page). Today the city is an administrative, cultural and tourist centre of Bulgaria, it is a geographical and communication center of Northern Bulgaria. It also houses a lot of artgaleries and does well in the preservation and development of traditional crafts and arts. The population comes at 65.000 people but added with the students from the St Cyril and Methodius University and the Vasil Levski Militairy University the population comes at 77.000. Veliko Turnovo is an important landmark for Bulgaria, and the statistics show that the city and its region are in the top ten of the most visited tourist destinations in Eastern Europe.The Information Centre of the European Council (EC) was launched in Veliko Turnovo in 1997, the second in the country, and it works very effectively in establishing international contacts with other countries, members of the EC, as well as developing many programs and projects, financed by European funds. Thus, Veliko Târnovo is a historical