Tsarevets Fortress (Veliko Tarnovo)
The hilltop stronghold of the medieval Second Bulgarian Empire, above a dramatic bend of the Yantra River.
About
Tsarevets stands on a rocky hill almost surrounded by the loop of the Yantra river, linked to the town by a single bridge. Long walls, towers and the stone gate remain, and from the top you look over the town stacked on the cliffs opposite.
Paths lead past the foundations of the royal palace, churches and houses up to the Patriarchal Cathedral, a modern reconstruction with striking dark murals. There is a fine view from the Baldwin Tower, and in summer there are occasional sound-and-light shows.
History
Tsarevets was the centre of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which began in 1185 when the brothers Asen and Peter led an uprising against Byzantine rule and made Tarnovo their capital. The hill held the royal palace, the patriarchal complex and, according to excavations, dozens of churches, while artisans and merchants lived on the slopes opposite. Under Tsar Ivan Asen II in the thirteenth century the empire was one of the strongest powers in the Balkans. According to tradition, Baldwin I, the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, was held prisoner in a tower here after he was defeated and captured in 1205. The Ottomans took Tarnovo in 1393 after a long siege, and the fortress fell into ruin. Large-scale excavation and reconstruction began in the twentieth century.