Bulgaria

We spent a full day exploring two of Bulgaria's most historically significant sites. The first was Tsarevets Hill, which is part of modern day Veliko Tarnovo, the "City of the Tsars" and capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire from the 12th to the 14th centuries. At the top of Tsarevets Hill is Ascension Cathedral, the original being destroyed by the Ottomans in 1393, and reconstructed in the 20th century with some very interesting contemporary murals inside. Following our tour of Tsarevets Hill we went to the nearby village of Arbanasi where we visited a 15th-century Nativity Church and Konstantsalieva House, built in the 17th century and an example of that era's merchant class housing. On our second day in Bulgaria we visited Vidin which is a port city on the Danube in north-western Bulgaria close to both Romania and Serbia. It is one of the poorest areas in the European Union with an aging and shrinking population. It has existed since Roman times. It has a medieval fortress called Baba Vida which was built by the Bulgarians in the 10th to the 13th centuries. It was the most important fortress in northwestern Bulgaria, and is believed to be the country’s only completely preserved medieval castle. About one hour’s drive south-east of Vidin on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains is another ancient fortress, Belogradchik. It originated in Roman times, was partially expanded by the Bulgarians in the 14th century and expanded further by the Ottomans during their rule of the region.

Romania

Serbia

Bulgaria

Village of Arbanasi

Tsarevets Fortress

Ascension Cathedral, Tsarevets Fortress

Vidin

Baba Vida Fortress

Belogradchik Fortress

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