- Type
- Fortress
- Location
- Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
- Coordinates
- 43.0833°, 25.6528°
History
The hill wrapped by a bend of the Yantra was inhabited in antiquity, and in the early Middle Ages a Byzantine town stood here. In 1185 the brothers Asen and Peter raised a revolt against Byzantium in Tarnovo, and Tsarevets became the main fortress of the capital of the revived Bulgarian state. The hill held the tsars' palace, the patriarch's residence and many churches, all ringed by massive walls. After a siege of several months the Ottomans took the fortress on 17 July 1393, ending Bulgarian independence for almost five centuries. From the 1930s the ruins were excavated and partly rebuilt, and in 1981 the Patriarchal Church was reconstructed.
What to see
You enter the fortress across a narrow neck of land and through successive gates. The Patriarchal Church of the Ascension on the summit is decorated with striking modern murals by Teofan Sokerov, and below it spread the foundations of the royal palace. At the edges of the hill stand Baldwin's Tower and Execution Rock above the cliffs. In the evenings a sound-and-light show plays over Tsarevets.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q512147
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