Total area: 110,993.6 sq km
Population: 7,973, 673 (2001)Capital city: Sofia
Official language: Bulgarian
Alphabet: Cyrillic
Religion: There is freedom of religious confessions. Traditional religion in the Republic of Bulgaria is Eastern Orthodox Christianity
National holiday: March 3, the day of the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman domination (1878)
Monetary unit: the Bulgarian Lev
Administrative division: 28 regions, named after their respective regional centres.
State system: a parliamentary republic with a one-chamber parliament (National Assembly), consisting of 240 national representatives, elected for a four-year term of service. The head of state of the republic is the President, elected for a five-year term of service. The Council of Ministers is the main body of executive power.
Relief: most diverse. Average height above sea level ? 470 m. Some 31.5% of the countries territory is plain (up to 200 m above sea level), 41% are lowlands and hilly regions (from 200 to 600 m above sea level), and 27.5% are mountains (from 600 to more than 1,600 m above sea level).
Climate: moderate continental with Black Sea influence in the east and Mediterranean in the south.
Waters: rivers (main rivers are Danube, Maritsa, Mesta, Strouma, Iskar, Yantra); warm and cold mineral springs (more than 600); lakes ? coastal (some with curative mineral mud) and of glacial origin (in the Rila and Pirin mountains).
Plant and animal world: extremely diverse. An Act on the Protected Territories is operating in Bulgaria, aimed at the preservation of the country?s flora and fauna. It has specified the following categories in the country: a national and nature park, a reserve and a tended reserve, a natural sight, a protected locality.
Economy: Bulgaria has been an associated member of the European Union (EU) since 1992. In 1997 an agreement was signed with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for economic stabilization and for the carrying through of economic reforms in the country. A currency board was introduced. The national monetary unit has been referred to the EURO. A structural reform is underway aimed at an economic growth, a functioning market economy and at paving the way for foreign investments in the country.
Transport: railway, automobile, air and water.
International automobile sign: BG
International telephone code: +359

Sights

Arbanassi (architectural museum reserve)

This is one of the most frequented tourist sites in Bulgaria, 4 km away from Veliko Turnovo.

In the village of Arbanassi everything is authentic: the unique architecture of the Arbanassi houses, the old-time narrow streets, the drinking fountains of yore, the moving mural paintings, icons and original iconostases in its remarkable churches and monasteries.

Arbanassi was founded in the late 15th century by Christians, coming from the southwest Bulgarian lands. In mid-16th century it flourished, rapidly growing and developing and attracting settlers from the nearby villages and hamlets. The prospering inhabitants of Arbanassi engaged in lively trading in all parts of the Ottoman Empire and in the countries of Central Europe. The crafts of gold jewelry, copper work, of farriers developed in the settlement as did the cultivation of the silk worm. The flowering of Arbanassi continued until the end of the 18th century, when it was ravaged and ruined by the Kurdzhali brigand inroads and its population migrated. Now Arbanassi elegantly combines the preserved old-time atmosphere with modern servicing.

Landmarks. Konstantsalievs House (17th century) is impressive by its monumental architecture. It is a veritable fortress. Located in its ground floor, completely built of ashlars, are: the living quarters of the sentry, a servants’ room, cellars, storage premises for goods, a stable, a hiding place, the main staircase for everyday use and a separate staircase connecting the hiding place with the floor. The entrances are closed up by thick wooden gates studded with nails. The main entrance is strongly protected by a solid nail-studded door and has a barred opening, specially made for defensive purposes. The guest rooms, the closed reception room, the sitting rooms, bedrooms and the auxiliary premises are on the second floor. In the most secluded part of the floor is the special room for the woman in childbirth. The spacious rooms skillfully combine exquisiteness and lavishness with coziness and an intimate atmosphere, emanated by the masonry stoves, the decorative ceilings, cupboards, and gypsum ornaments. Everything here is evidence of the high skill and exquisite artistic sense of the Bulgarian master builders and the fine taste and financial possibilities of the hosts.

Hadzhiilievs House (17th century) is a two-floor, well-protected house with a magnificent ceremonial entrance and a wide staircase, leading to the second floor. Its plan is typical of the rich houses of Arbanassi. The spacious kitchen with big fireplaces and ovens for bread and cookies is in the bottom of the corridor. All the living quarters on the floor are heated with masonry stoves. The guest rooms are elaborately decorated. The ceilings are covered with ornaments of white clay, while the top strips of the walls have friezes of stylized flowers. The doorframes, window shutters and cupboards are decorated with woodcarvings.

The Church of the Nativity is the oldest church in Arbanassi, built in several stages. Initially, what is today the nave (the section for men) had been an independent church, and its mural paintings had been made before 1597. The narthex was decorated with mural paintings in 1638, while the murals in the chapel of John the Baptist were painted in 1632. The iconostasis is one of the oldest woodcarvings in the Bulgarian lands. Most of the images in the gallery were painted in 1649. Particularly impressive is “The Wheel of Life” painting featuring a zodiac. The mural paintings in the nave were completed in 1681.

Bansko (as a site of cultural tourism)
This is one of the most frequented Bulgarian towns, 160 km south of Sofia, 60 km southeast of Blagoevgrad, 6 km south of Razlog and about 50 km north of Gotse Delchev. Its extremely fine location, rich cultural and historical heritage, excellent conditions for sports and holidaymaking have turned it into an attractive tourist centre.

Bansko was first mentioned as an independent settlement in 1576. By that time the population had lived in little scattered hamlets. During the 17th-18th century it flourished economically and culturally, gradually becoming a rich settlement of developed crafts and trade. The caravans of the Bansko people traveled between the Aegean Sea and Central Europe, carrying goods of wood, hides and iron to the markets there, bringing back cotton, fish, olive oil, etc. During that period whole families of Bansko became rich. By traveling extensively they were bringing the culture of different countries and cities. Some of them sent their children to study abroad. Along with the improvement of their lifestyle, many inhabitants of Bansko began to build two-floor fortress houses, which characteristic with their architecture, at the same time also providing the safety of their owners from the inroads of brigands.

Landmarks. The History Museum is part of the rich Bansko Museum Compound, including some of the most significant cultural and historical landmarks of the town. Velyanov’s house, with its original woodcarvings and murals, is a superb model of Revival Period architecture. It was built in the early 19th century for Velyan Ognev, a master builder and icon painter, who was also the author of the original murals. Benin House (Neophit Rilski Museum House) has typical Bansko architecture of the late 18th century. Outstanding Revival Period figure Neophit Rilski (lay name Nikola Benin) was born and lived here until 1811. A permanent exhibition of icons is on show in the Rila Nunnery, the oldest building (1749) in the town. Nikola Vaptzarov House Museum recreates the lifestyle of the family, in which poet Vaptsarov grew up. On display are personal possessions of the poet, while a documentary exhibition is arranged in the ground floor. The museum compound also includes an ethnographic exhibition and bazaar, a home of the arts, and the history museum in the village if Eleshnitsa, displaying rich finds from the 6th-4th century B.C.

The Church of the Holy Trinity (1835) is emblematic for Bansko. Its mural paintings, woodcarvings and architectural layout are fully in the spirit of the Bansko School of Art. Some of its most outstanding representatives had worked on the church: masters Velyan Ognev and Dimitur Molerov. In 1850, master builder Grigor Doyuv built a belfry (29.5 m) in the churchyard. Ever since that time the church and the belfry have been a remarkable ensemble, dominating the town skyline. In 1865 a clock mechanism was assembled in the tower (made by Todor Hadzhiradonov). In this way it became one of the very few architectural models of that time, combining the functions of a church belfry and a town clock.
Remarkable old houses: Sirleshtov’s house resembles a small fortress with walls about one metre thick, narrow and dark loop-holes, barred windows and heavy doors; Todev’s/Bouinov’s house (1835) is a model of high building skill and a fine sense of beauty and harmony. The dominating monument of Paissi Hilendarski [of Hilendar] (1976) is the work of sculptor Stoicho Todorov.

Veliki Preslav
The imposing remains of the second capital city of Danubian Bulgaria can be seen about 2 km south of the present-day town of Veliki Preslav (16 km southwest of Shoumen). The solid structures arouse awe and admiration to this day.

The ancient Preslav came into being as a military camp with a fortified palace and a garrison during the first half of the 9th century in the time of Kan Omourtag (814-831). It was promoted to a capital city by Simeon I (893-927), who moved the capital here from Pliska and within a short time the town became established as an administrative, religious and cultural centre of the medieval Bulgarian state, renowned for its remarkable monumental construction, by the achievements of the applied arts, stone sculpture, painted pottery, by its literary school. Sexagon by Yoan Exarch describes the exceptional brilliance and magnificence of the royal capital. As a capital of the Bulgarian Kingdom from 893 until 969, the town has been directly associated with the unprecedented upsurge and flowering of culture and literature during the period, known as a Golden Age of Bulgarian Culture.

Bulgarian Knyaz and, later on, Tsar Simeon the Great, one of the most enlightened European rulers, has been credited with the construction and enrichment of the capital city of Preslav. An exceptional statesman, warrior and man of letters (a graduate of the Magnaour School in Constantinople), Simeon I succeeded in turning Preslav into the second most outstanding city in Southeast Europe, inferior only to the capital of Byzantium. Working there were the most talented Bulgarian men of letters of the age – Yoan Exarch, Chernorizets [Monk] Hrabur, Constantin of Preslav, Presbyter Kozma, Toudor Doksov. The continuators of the cause of Cyril and Methodius, in just a few decades they transformed the Old Bulgarian language from a church service language into one of the richest literary languages of Europe of that time.

In 969 the town was seized by the troops of Knyaz Svetoslav I Igorevich of Kiev, but it rapidly regained its original grandeur and importance. During the time of Byzantine domination, it was called Yoanopolis. In the 13th-14th century it was a fortified city and a bishopric centre. In 1388 it fell under Ottoman domination.

The excavations of the medieval city of Preslav began in 1897. The city, extending on an area of 5 sq km in a locality, surrounded by hills, had been protected by a strong fortification system, consisting of two concentric fortress walls, encircling the outer and the inner town. The outer town was fortified by a strong stonewall in the form of an irregular quadrangle. The fortress walls climbed up the elevations of the hills around and along the bank of the river. Built out of

large limestone pieces, held together by white concrete, they were 3.5 m thick. The inner city was almost in the middle of the outer city.

Its fortress wall is L-shaped with round towers put up in its corners and quadrangular towers on the walls.

The palace compound, consisting of two monumental buildings, was built on top the high plateau of the inner city. The big palace (the Throne Hall) is 35x22.5 m, built of large stone blocks. The uncovered fragments of architectural details give an idea of the elaborate decoration of the ceremonious royal hall, in the form of a three-nave basilica with two rows of free-standing marble columns. A secret exit crossed the western wall of the ground floor, passing under the pavement east of it. The small palace (the residential palace), about 16 m long, was also built of stone ashlars.

The Round (Golden) Church (10th century) is characterized by an original artistic design and exquisite plastic decorations. It consists of a rotund, a narthex and an atrium. The rotund was covered by a semispherical gilt-plated dome, whereby its shape was additionally emphasized by 12 lean columns, surrounding it in a circle. Rising in the centre of the rotund was a marble pulpit. There used to be a wall in the centre of the atrium. The pieces of marble columns, capitals with stylized acanthus, parts of cornices, fine columns encrusted with multicoloured slabs, ceramic slabs, etc. come to show that the church had had an exclusively rich architectural decoration. The walls of the church had been faced to a certain height by marble, followed by wall mosaics of glass, stone, ceramic and guilt cubes. Remains of structures of different assignments were also uncovered during the excavations of the old Preslav: dwellings, workshops, ateliers, baths, as well as a water pipe system.

A rich archaeological museum has been established. Of particular interest among its exhibits is the ceramic icon of St Theodore Stratylatus, made up of 20 painted slabs (9th-10th century) and the unique collection of lead seals of Bulgarian and Byzantine rulers and high-ranking officials.

Veliko Turnovo

It is among the most frequented Bulgarian cities. A brilliant capital of the Bulgarian Kingdom during the 12th-14th centuries, Turnovo has been the living symbol of Bulgarian statehood over the ages. The picturesque city is 241 km from Sofia, 85 km from Lovech, 46 km from Gabrovo, 42 km from Tryavna, 105 km from Rouse and 7 km from Gorna Oryahovitsa.

Part of the territory of Veliko Turnovo has been declared a museum reserve with three zones, also including the territory of the village of Arbanassi.

Turnovo became the capital of the restored Bulgarian state directly after the uprising of Assen and Peter (1185-1187), which put an end to the Byzantine rule. During the following two centuries (1186-1393), when the Bulgarian state had reached the peak of its development, Turnovo developed as a major political, economic, cultural and commercial center, known throughout Europe. In its area and population, the Bulgarian capital of that time was among the largest cities in the European Southeast. During that period, magnificent palaces, monasteries, churches, fortifications, bridges and big buildings were put up.

The medieval Turnovgrad [Turnovo town] extended over the Tsarevts, Trapezitsa, Momina Krepost, and Sveta Gora hills and Assenova Mahala neighbourhood by the Yantra River.

The two main medieval fortresses rose on Tsarevets and Trapezitsa hills. The strong fortifications guaranteed the security of “the inner town”, spreading on the two hills. Living by the side of the Yantra in the Assenova neighbourhood, where the so-called New Town emerged, were craftsmen and local merchants, while the residential district of the foreign merchants (Frank Hissar) was southeast of the Baldwin Tower. The residential districts, making up the so-called “inner town”, were also protected by fortifications. Outside the fortifications were only the dwellings of the poorest people living right by the side of the river.

No doubt, of highest interest for visitors, is the time when the city had been the capital of the Bulgarian Kingdom.

Tsarevets Architectural and Museum Reserve
Rising on Tsarevets hill was the citadel (the fortified central part) of the medieval town. This main fortress of the medieval capital protected the Palace of the Bulgarian Kings – an architectural compound, strongly fortified by fortress walls and towers, covering an area of 4,772 sq m. The representative and administrative buildings, connected with the functioning of the authorities and the royal premises were to be found in this independent fortress. The palace Church of St Paraskeva (St Petka) was also located here, buried in which were members of the ruling dynasty. The Residence of the Bulgarian Patriachs (Patriarchate) rose on the highest place of the hill. It included an architectural compound of buildings, made up as an independent fortress in an irregular angular shape (with fortress walls, gates and towers) spreading on a total area of about 3,000 sq m. The patriarchy church of the Holy Ascension was in the center of the inner courtyard. This is a cross-domed, three apse church with two narthexes. There is a premise attached to the south facade of the church, which had been a belfry tower – a rare phenomenon in Balkan church architecture. The uncovered numerous fragments of multicoloured marble and glazed ceramic slabs are evidence of the elaborate decoration of the church. The floor mosaic had been particularly beautiful. Kept in the church were the relics of St Mihail Voin [Warrior], a Bulgarian boyar, honoured as a warrior and a healer. They had been brought by Tsar Karloyan in the early 13th century. Two compounds are also situated in the citadel, inhabited by members of the aristocracy. The remaining area was densely built with two-storeyed dwellings, divided in residential districts. The foundations of more than 320 residential and housing buildings have been unearthed. Every residential district had a church of its own. Perilously overhanging the Yantra River in the southeast end of Tsarevets is the Lobnata Skala [Execution Rock], from which condemned traitors were thrown into the river. A tower, protecting the Frankhissar Gate and the water reservoir of the Yantra, rose in the southeast end of Tsarevets. Legend associates this tower with Emperor Baldwin, taken prisoner by Tsar Kaloyan in the battle at Adrianople in 1205. The tower, commonly known as Baldwin’s Tower, was restored after a design by Architect Rashenov in 1930-1932.

The fortress on the Trapezitsa hill was the second in importance to that on Tsarevets. In the 12th-14th century it was called “The Glorious City of Trapezitsa”. Fortified by strong fortress walls, following the curve of rocks overhanging the Yantra, it was also densely built with houses. Some 17 churches were also erected. The Monastery St Ivan Rilski [John of Rila] was also within that fortress. Transferred in it in 1194-1195 were the relics of the wonder-maker of Rila a kept there for nearly three decades. It was precisely from the capital of the Assens that the cult for the Bulgarian national saint spread beyond the frontiers of the kingdom, acquiring significance throughout the Eastern Orthodox world.

Monasteries and churches were built in the Assenova neighbourhood (now the Assenov residential district). Some of them can be seen to this day. Preserved in these Bulgarian medieval monuments of historical and architectural value are mural paintings, reflecting the extremely high artistic, religious and philosophical values of the age.

The Church of St Demetrius is directly connected with Bulgaria’s history. When it was inaugurated in 1185, the Bulgarian boyars, the brothers Peter and Assen, rose in an uprising against Byzantine rule. The uprising was successful and Turnovgrad was declared a capital. The rulers of the Bulgarian state reborn - Assen, Petur and Kaloyan – were crowned in that church. It served as a Christian church until 1779 long after Turnovo had fallen under Turkish rule. The church has been completely restored.

The Church of the Forty Holy Martyrs is probably the best-known medieval monument in the country. It was erected on the order of Tsar Ivan Assen II in commemoration of the major victory of the Bulgarians over the Byzantine troops at Klokotnitsa in 1230. During the 13th-14th century it had been one of the most beautiful and rich churches of the kingdom. It was considerably damaged during the Ottoman domination, when it was turned into a mosque; its mural paintings were pasted by lime, and the icons and the iconostasis were burned. What has been preserved are extremely valuable columns, a token of continuity of the heroic traditions in the development of the Bulgarian state: Assen’s column with an inscription dedicated to the Bulgarians’ historic victory in 1230, Omourtag’s column with an inscription reflecting the building activities and life philosophy of Kan Omourtag, and the column from the Rodosto fortress. In 1972 a Christian tomb and a solid gold signet ring with an inscription “Kaloyan’s Ring” was found in the northeastern part of the church. According to experts, this is the tomb of Tsar Kaloyan. The church has now been completely restored.

The Church of St St Peter and Paul was built around the late 13th or during the 14th century and extensions were added during the 16th-17th centuries. Three periods can be identified in its elaborate mural decorations: from the 14th, 16th and 17th centuries. When the town fell under Turkish rule, the Bulgarian Patriarchate was moved in it along with the entire library of the Patriarchate. Bulgarian Patriarch Euthymius of Turnovo served for about two years in it before being sent in exile in 1393. The Church of St George is comparatively small and was built on top a medieval Bulgarian church. Razed to the ground by the Turks, it was rebuilt in 1812. Its mural paintings are of interest as they were made in the spirit of the Turnovo School of Art.

Every walk in Veliko Turnovo hides surprising meetings, carrying the specific feeling of history and of space at one and the same time.

Standing out among the numerous cultural and historical monuments in the city there are also real masterpieces of construction, the work of the major Revival Period builder master-builder Nikola Fichev (Ousta Kolyu Ficheto): the churches of St St Constantine and Helena (1872-1874), of St St Cyril and Methodius (1861) . The Konak (now National Revival and Constituent Assembly Museum), built in 1872 by Kolyu Ficheto, had an eventful and intriguing historical fate. Vassil Levski, the Apostle of Bulgarian freedom, was interrogated here in 1873; in the wake of the bloody suppression of the April 1876 Uprising, the Turkish court held its sessions in this building, in the trial of the revolutionaries Bacho Kiro, Tsanko Dyustabanov, Georgi Izmirliev, Ivan Semerdzhiev, Ekim Tsankov and some others; in 1877 the citizens of Turnovo welcomed the Russian liberators in front of the Konak; in 1879 the Constituent Assembly held its sessions here (drafting and adopting the First Bulgarian Constitution) as did the First Grand National Assembly, while in 1885 the decision was taken to recognize the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia. This museum, along with the archaeological, church and ethnographic compounds, the New History Museum and the reserves Tsarevets and Arbanassi, are parts of the history museum in Veliko Turnovo.

The Samovodska Charshiya ethnographic compound consists of a typical Revival Period street with small craftsmen’s workshops, shops and characteristic houses. Typical of Turnovo is also the atmosphere along Gourko Street, where standing out by its architectural outlines among a number of preserved or restored houses is the Sarafkin House (1861) with the ethnographic display of Folk Art in the Region of Veliko Turnovo.

The Prison Museum (1862), where Vassil Levski, Filip Totyu, Stefan Karadzha, and Bacho Kiro, the fighters for national liberation, were held prisoners. The monument to the Assen dynasty (a Bulgarian royal dynasty reigning from 1185 until 1277), particularly impressive for visitors of Veliko Turnovo is the grand Sound and Light Programme – a night-time tourist attraction, shown on Tsarevets Hill, which can be watched from the town.