England V Slovenia - bring it on!!!! Come on Slovenia World Cup 2010
England V Slovenia - bring it on!!!! Come on Slovenia World Cup 2010
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With a combination of quaint wooden houses clinging to the hillside, a historic fortress and some attractive National Revival era buildings, Veliko Tarnovo must be one of the most charming paces in Bulgaria. Although it is a firm favourite on the backpackers trail, I must confess to never having heard of the town until planning my trip around the Black Sea in 2006. Veliko Tarnovo is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Bulgaria and it's easy to see why; it really is picture postcard beautiful. However, the town has not succumbed to the tourist tackiness that many places have and, although visitors are well catered for, Veliko Tarnovo remains (mostly) unspoilt.
The town is a couple of hours from the capital, Sofia, in one direction, and slightly less from the Black Sea coast in the other. Getting to and from Veliko Tarnovo is easy, there are plenty of buses and trains making the town well connected with destinations all over the country. We arrived from Ruse, a town just over the border with Romania, a train journey of a couple of hours.
The Tourist Information Office is very central and can advise on accommodation as well as what sights to see. We wanted accommodation where we could cook for ourselves but the staff checked and said this accommodation was full. We got the impression that it would have been easier for them if we had wanted a conventional hotel, they didn't seem to want to help us much with accommodation but were fine with other questions. As luck would have it, we met Graham outside, a young Englishman who had that
very week opened a hostel in town and was looking for guests. Although the hostel had four bed dorms we could have one to ourselves and there were also cooking facilities. (you may have seen Graham on television as he was featured on Channel Four's "A Place in the Sun" when looking for a property for his hostel). Veliko Tarnovo has plenty of hotel accommodation and lots of hotels too. There are now quite a few boutique style hotels and more upmarket B&Bs and the accommodation scene in the town can certainly be said to have something for everyone.
With practical matters sorted, it's time to look at what the town has to offer. The town stands above the River Yantra which meanders pleasantly around three hills - Tsarevets, Trapezitsa and Sveta Gora. On these hills you will find the oldest buildings. Tsarevets is basically a fortress that housed the palaces of the Bulgarian Emperors and the Patriarchate. You can buy a guide booklet at the entrance and there is a collection of gift shops housed in some wooden sheds near the entrance. You walk across a stone bridge over the river to enter the fortress. Underneath the bridge at one end was a huge pile of rubbish; it was very disappointing to see this eyesore in such a lovely and historic place. It surprised me that the local authorities did not do something about it especially considering how many foreign visitors must pass by it. We didn't take a guided tour but I would recommend the book because it explains what you are looking at and you would be looking at piles of stones otherwise. Veliko Tarnovo was the capital of Bulgaria - then the most powerful state in south eastern Europe - in medieval times and once you understand what you're looking at it becomes clear that this was an impressive and important fortress.
An interesting part of town is the Asen's Quarter (Asenova Mahala) which is situated down in the valley between two hills. You can get to this area by crossing the Bishops Bridge. Just behind the Asens monument (dedicated to the establishment of the Second Empire in 1185) is the State Art Museum. The bulk of the collection is made up of paintings of Veliko Tarnovo and the surrounding area.
In the Varosha district you'll find the "Samovodska Charshiya" In the latter part of the 19th century, the Samovodska Charshiya developed as an economic centre. Women from the nearby village of Samovodene used to come to Veliko Tarnovo on market day to sell their vegetables, hence the name "Samovodene Market". During the Revival period this area became home to craftsmen and there were also several inns. In the mid 1980s it was decided that the rebuilding of these workshops and the development of traditional crafts would be a good way of attracting tourists to the town. Nowadays you can see the workshops of craftsmen such as potters, icon painters and carpenters and watch the craftsmen at work as well as buy handmade items. There is a brilliant bakery selling freshly made Turkish pastries which are delicious.
Gurko Street is one of the highlights of Veliko Tarnovo. This street overlooks the three hills and the river that meanders around them. We could see this street from the windows of our hostel and houses look to be built on top of each other giving the impression that they are piled up and could topple at any moment. Many of these houses have been or are being restored; some restored ones are now small hotels. On this street we visited the "Sarafkina House"; it was built in the 1860s by a rich Turkish moneylender and merchant and is now a museum. Part of it displays recreations of typical rooms of the period; the rest has exhibits relating to local crafts and an interesting costume collection.
Housed in the former Turkish Town Hall, the Museum of the National Revival and Constituent Assembly commemorates the writing of the first constitution of Bulgaria. Unfortunately none of the exhibits relating to this historic event were captioned in English but we did like the collection of beautifully painted icons in the basement. Behind this is the Museum of Contemporary Bulgarian History which sounded promising but the Lonely Planet told us it had no captions in English and was best avoided. We still found plenty to do. There are some lovely churches to explore and you could wander around the streets of the old town for hours on end discovering little lanes and interesting features
Pictures of Veliko Turnovo
Note Bulgarian in traditional sightseeing dress
on the houses. We did venture out of town, though, and took a taxi to the village of Arbanasi where some of Bulgaria's wealthiest people live in vast gated properties. It's interesting enough to wander around the streets admiring these houses but that isn't the attraction of this village. Around ninety churches, houses and monasteries in this village have protection for having historic and cultural significance. The village was first settled by Albanians in the fifteenth century; in the sixteenth century it prospered when Sultan Suleyman "gave "the town to his son-in-law. It was an important trading town and this is why so many luxurious summer houses were built here. Alas, the village was almost totally destroyed in the late eighteenth century by Turkish gangs. Not all the sites are open to the public but we visited a working convent and got to see the wonderfully ornate altar inside the church there and we saw some magnificent murals in the Nativity Church. We also visited Konstantsalieva House which dates from the seventeenth century; it's in the Bulgarian Revival style and contains recreations of rooms from the period. You can buy a joint ticket that gets you admission to all of the attractions in the village from each of the individual sites. You can also get a map of the village which is a help as there are no signposts.
As it receives so many visitors, it will come as no surprise to know that Veliko Tarnovo has plenty of places for eat and drink, and, as there are lots of students here, you can find plenty of cheap places to eat. Restaurant Rich has fantastic views over the three hills and is one of the more upmarket restaurants in town. Nearby Starata Mehana is also good and slightly less expensive. If you know Bulgaria you may have encountered the "Happy Bar and Grill" chain. Here "Mustang Food" is the equivalent, serving just about anything you can think of and doing none of it brilliantly. This is the place for pizza, burgers, chilli, pasta, steaks, grills - you name it, they do it.
We found the bars catering mainly for the younger crowd and tended to eat a little later, and making a night of it in restaurants instead. However, one popular nighttime activity is the Sound and Light Show (eat your heart out, Jean Michel Jarre) in which Tsarevets Hill is illuminated in a rainbow of colours. This happens on public holidays but can be arranged for tourists - apparently if enough tourists pay a certain amount each it will be put on. You can ask at the Tourist Information Office for more information. This took place when we were there and we watched it from the terrace of a bar just behind the main street - for free!
Veliko Tarnovo is an exceptionally pretty and very interesting town that really demands a visit if you are in Bulgaria for any length of time. Tourists are well catered for and there is plenty to see and do. It is certainly different in that the local authorities have seen something worth developing and promoting in the town, its history and its buildings and have done this sympathetically and with a lot of common sense. There are lots of other places of touristic value in Bulgaria that have not been looked after or are poorly promoted. If only they would now do something about the piles of rubbish hidden behind walls and under bridges, and the packs of stray dogs; none of the dogs were fierce or threatening, but they do come and beg when you are eating outdoors and while I like dogs, many people don't.
At around three hours from the coast Veliko Tarnovo is perhaps a little too far for a day trip for visitors staying at the beach, though I do know some companies offer trips as far away as the capital. However, if you are travelling independently I would thoroughly recommend a visit to this charming town.
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