Veliko Turnovo

The old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Turnovo, residence of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (1187-1393), the city in which 22 tsars in succession bore the scepter of authority, was situated on three hills: Tzarevetz, Trapezitza and Sveta Gora. Tzarevetz is a natural inaccessible fortress where the royal palace, patriarchal church and a multitude of smaller cross-domed churches once stood. The outer walls of the fortress have been restored and all archaeological finds inside are displayed intact and exhibited as they were discovered. Central among them are the ruins of the royal palace with the Baldwin Tower and the patriarch's church. Many churches have been pre served as monuments of early medieval architecture and painting.

Trapezitza hill rises on the opposite bank of the Yantra River. Here were the boyars' homes and some public buildings, churches above all. Seven teen of these have been unearthed. At the foot of the two hills, outside the fortress walls, several mediaeval churches from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom have been preserved: St. Dimiter of Salonika, Holy Forty Martyrs, Sts. Peter and Paul.

Tzarevetz Hill Between the 12th and the 14th century Sveta Gora Hill was the centre of Bulgaria's religious and cultural life. It is the Turnovo literary and painting school that has given the world the Manasses' Chronicle and King Ivan Alexander's Four Gospels. It exerted a significant and lasting influence throughout South-East Europe.