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'Veliko Tarnovo' (; also transliterated as 'Veliko Turnovo' is a city in central northern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists with its unique architecture.

Contents

History

Prehistory and Antiquity

Middle Ages

Ottoman rule

Liberated Bulgaria

Places of interest

Higher education

Photos

Notable people

Born in Veliko Tarnovo

Died in Veliko Tarnovo

Living in Veliko Tarnovo

Twin cities

External links

History

Prehistory and Antiquity

Veliko Tarnovo is one of the oldest settlements in Bulgaria, having a history of more than 5 millennia, as the first traces of human presence dating from the 3rd millennium BC are on Trapezitsa Hill.

Middle Ages

The historical part of town, which was the capital of Bulgaria during the Second Bulgarian Empire, lies on three hills – Tsarevets, Trapezitsa and Sveta Gora (Holy Mountain). Veliko Tarnovo is the place where brothers Asen and Peter declared the end of Byzantine rule in Bulgaria, proclaiming the city a capital. Veliko Tarnovo grew quickly to become the strongest Bulgarian fortification of the Middle Ages between the 12th and 14th century and the most important political, economic, cultural and religious centre of the empire. In the 14th century as the Byzantine Empire weakened Tarnovo claimed to be the Third Rome based on its preeminent cultural influence in the Balkans and the Slavic Orthodox world.

Ottoman rule

The city flourished and grew for 200 years until falling to the Ottoman Empire on 17 July 1393 after a three-month siege, the fortress on the hill being eventually destroyed.
Veliko Tarnovo, known in the Middle Ages as Tarnovgrad (Търновград), was the location of two uprisings against Ottoman rule, in 1598 (the First Tarnovo Uprising) and 1686 (the Second Tarnovo Uprising), both of which failed to liberate Bulgaria.
Tarnovgrad, along with the rest of present-day Bulgaria, remained under Ottoman rule until the 19th century, when national identity and culture reasserted themselves as a strengthening resistance movement. The idea of the establishment of an independent Bulgarian church and nation motivated the 1875 and 1876 uprisings in town. On 23 April 1876, the April Uprising marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman occupation. It was soon followed by the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

Liberated Bulgaria

On 7 July 1877, Russian general Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko liberated Veliko Tarnovo, ending the 480-year-rule of the Ottoman Empire. In 1878, the Treaty of Berlin created a Principality of Bulgaria between the Danube and the Stara Planina range, with its seat at the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo.
On 17 April 1879, the first National Assembly convened in Veliko Turnovo to ratify the state's first constitution, known as the Tarnovo Constitution, the key result of which resulted in the transfer of Parliament from Tarnovgrad to Sofia, which today remains the Bulgarian capital.
In deference to the city's past, Tsar Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg Gotha chose the St Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo as the place to declare the complete independence of Bulgaria on October 5, 1908.
In 1965, the city, then officially known as ''Tarnovo'', was renamed to ''Veliko Tarnovo'' (Great Tarnovo) to commemorate its rich history and importance.

Places of interest

One of Bulgaria's primary tourist destinations, Veliko Tarnovo boasts many historical monuments and landmarks, such as the ruins of the castle Tsarevets on the hill of the same name, which housed the royal and patriarchal palace, and Trapezitsa, the second fortress of the inner city on the right bank of Yantra. Other attractions are the St Demetrius of Thessaloniki Church, St Forty Martyrs Church, the numerous Bulgarian National Revival buildings with their typical architecture, the many museums on various topics.

Higher education

★ Veliko Tarnovo University

★ The "Vasil Levski" National Defence University with its

★
★ Combined Forces Facility (Former Higher Military School of Ground Forces, now also providing basic military knowledge for air force and navy cadets)

Photos

Notable people

Born in Veliko Tarnovo

★ Patriarch Evtimiy (c. 1325–c. 1403), cleric

★ Gregory Tsamblak (c. 1365–1420), cleric, Metropolitan of Kiev

★ Petko Slaveykov (1827–1895), writer and politician

★ Stefan Stambolov (1854–1895), politician, Prime Minister of Bulgaria

★ Vasil Zlatarski (1866–1935), historian

★ Vesela Lecheva (born 1964), sportswoman and politician

★ Mariya Ilieva (born 1977), singer

★ Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov (born 1983), professional sumo wrestler (Kotooshu Katsunori)

Died in Veliko Tarnovo

★ Saint Sava (c. 1175–c. 1236), Serbian cleric

★ Bacho Kiro (1835–1876), revolutionary, teacher and writer

★ Dobri Voynikov (1833–1878), cultural figure

★ Kolyu Ficheto (1800–1881), architect

Living in Veliko Tarnovo

★ Trifon Ivanov (born 1965), former international football player.

Twin cities

Veliko Tarnovo is twinned with the following cities:^[1]
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★ Bayonne, France

★ Kraków, Poland

★ Niš, Serbia

★ Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia

★ Serres, Greece

★ Sopron, Hungary

★ Toledo, Spain

★ Tver, Russia

★ Colonia Tovar, Venezuela

★ Tarxien,Malta

External links

★ The official site of the Veliko Tarnovo Tourist Information Office

★ The official site of Veliko Tarnovo in English

★ The official site of Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgarian

★ Veliko Tarnovo

★ Veliko Tarnovo

★ International Folklore Festival Veliko Tarnovo

★ Bulgarche folk group from Veliko Tarnovo

★ The Frontier Times - Bulgaria's English Language Newspaper (published in Veliko Tarnovo)

★ Veliko Tarnovo accommodation guide