Visiting Veliko Tarnovo

The first week in Veliko Tarnovo is ending and we have already visited a big part of the city. This article recounts our visits in the old town. 

Tsarevets fortress

Tsarevets is a medieval fortress located on the Tsarevets hill. It served as the main fortress of the Second Bulgarian Empire from 1185 to 1393 because Veliko Tarnovo was the ancient capital of the country. That is why, VT is often called "the old capital" in the books.

The construction of the Bulgarian fortress was started in the XII th century and corresponds to the standard of the time in the Balkans, by its construction which takes advantage of the relief. Indeed, the castle is surounded by the river named Yantra and the walls go around the hill. Kings Petar, Assen, Kaloyan and Ivan Assen II lived there (have a look to the Assen Monument).

Veliko Tarnovo is often compared to Rome and Constantinople for its magnificence.

In 1393, the fortress was besieged by the Ottoman forces for three months before being finally conquered and burned on July 17, which marked the fall of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

The Assen Monument

From the old city, you have to walk over the Stambolov bridge builded in 1892 to go to the Assens Monument. 

The monument to the Assen Dynasty is dedicated to the kings Assen, Peter, Kaloyan and Ivan Assen II. It was built in 1985 with the celebration of 800 years of the crowning of Turnovo as the capital of the second Bulgarian state. The sword, around which the four Assens are situated, symbolizes the power and the rise of medieval Bulgaria.

The monument depicts the four Bulgarian Tsars Assen, Peter, Kaloyan and Ivan Assen.

The Art Gallery

The bulding of the art gallery was erected in 1985 for the 800 years of the city in the same time as the Assen monument. 

The paintings are not well highlighted and not well lit. Moreover, explanations are rare and don't think about english. Finally, there is no audioguide. 

But it's free on Thursday !!!

Here you can see the only boarding explanations of the museum :

In the museum, you can found modern and contemporary works from bulgarian Artists only. 

Some modern painting that catch my interest du to the strange composition of spaces and the mixture of solid colors and lines:

Our next visit will be in the town of Tryana so, stay tuned because it looks beautiful !

Thanks for reading !

Nicolas