Veliko Tarnovo /Turnovo /- one of the most ancient Bulgarian towns, standing in tiers above Yantra River which meanders through the elevations of Turnovo and the three hills - Tsarevets, Trapezitsa and Sveta Gora, 240km north-east of Sofia. Population of 69 000.

The picturesque situation and panoramic view of the town, its rich cultural and historical heritage wins Veliko Tarnovo the recognition as a historical, cultural and tourist center of contemporary Bulgaria. The town was founder of the foot of the Northern Fore - Balkan Range. Historians date it back to the 4th millenium B. C.. The town of Veliko Tarnovo had inherited centuries-old Prehistoric, Thracian and Antique culture and in 1185 it became a center of the Bulgarian Uprising against Byzantine domination and the capital of the restored Bulgarian state. The medieval town of Tarnovo was rapidly expanding and developed into the strongest Bulgarian fortress during the 12-14th centuries. It become the most significant political, economic, cultural and religious centre of Bulgaria. The Tarnovo Schools of Literature and Arts were established and developed here. Remarkable architectural monuments were created; miniature and monumental painting, literature, plastic arts and crafts achieved high artistic level.

After the Liberation from Ottoman domination in 1877 until the wars in 1912 - 1913and in 1915 - 1918 as a historical capital Tarnovo played a significant role in the political, administrative and cultural formation of independent Bulgaria. In 1879 Bulgaria was restored for the second time. Then the Constituent Assembly drafted the supreme fundamental laws of the nation - the Tarnovska Constitution in the hall of the former Turkish konak (municipality building). The 1st, The 3th, The 4th and The 5th Grand National Assemblies (in 1879, 1887, 1893 and 1911) were held in Veliko Tarnovo.

In 1990 The 7th Grand National Assembly was established in same Town Hall where the Constituent Assembly was in session in 1879. The 7th Grand National Assembly drafted the new Constitution of Bulgaria - the nations fundamental laws for modern democratic changes.

Modern Veliko Tarnovo is a town - museum rich in many cultural museums and monuments and architectural preserves. Every year the town is visited by thousands of tourists from Bulgaria and from abroad. It is a prime concern of the whole nation to study and preserve the numerous historical and architectural monuments, the rich museums and the museum stock.

Veliko Tarnovo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 specific architecture.

History

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 Bynzatine 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 policital, economic, cultural and religious centre of the empire.

Ottoman rule

The city flourished and grew for 200 years until falling to the Ottoman Empire on 17th 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 and 1686, 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 23rd 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 7th 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 17th 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.