Turnovo is positioned centrally in Bulgaria, close to the Stara Planina mountains and the river Dunav. The town is arranged over three massive hills that stand above the long, meandering waters of the river Yantra. The age of the city is about 7 thousand years. Veliko Tarnovo impresses with its original renaissance architecture – antique houses, the unique Veliko Turnovo hotels, situated one above another, towers, splendid museums, and monasteries with icon-paintings that attract tourists from all over the world. Veliko Turnovo presents some of the most impressive remains of the Bulgarian history, many of which date back to its position as the capital of Bulgaria. It also offers lively modern night life and nature with great opportunities for sports and rest.
Veliko Turnovo (?????? ??????? ?????? in Bulgarian) has a rich historical past. According to archeological discoveries, life in that area seems to have began around 3 thousand years ago.c. The first inhabitants were the Thracians and their settlement existed until the end of the Bronze Age. The next inhabitants were the Byzantines. A big Slav settlement was situated here during the VIII a.c. The Old-Bulgarian settlement appeared during the IX c. and during the X c. the hills Tsarevets, Trapezitsa and Sveta Gora were already richly populated. Veliko Turnovo became the capital of Bulgaria after the two brothers Peter and Assen rose their troops against the Byzantine empire in 1187. Turnovo became a well-fortified city and a significant political, administrative, economic and cultural center in Europe during the next 200 years. The contemporaries referred to it as the The Second Constantinople and The Third Rome.
The most important remnant of these times is the archaeological preserve Tsarevets, a restored fortress that surrounds the hill Tsarvets. Above all of the other buildings stands one of the symbols of the town – the tower where the Latin Emperor Baldwin was kept after the crusade in the early 12th century. The palace of the Bulgarian tsars was a self-contained fortress with the fabulous Throne Hall and the palace church St. Petka. The Bulgarian patriarchate was situated on the highest place within the fortress. In recent years, the fortress has received further acclaim with a “Lights and Sound” show – a program that combines sound and light effects to reproduce the history of the old Bulgarian capital.
