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State Art Museum
Dramatically situated in a tight bend of the Yantra River, the State Art Museum contains paintings of Veliko Târnovo and the region by numerous artists. The 2nd floor exhibits more artworks, mostly on permanent loan from galleries in Silistra, Dobrich and Ruse. Guided tours (Englis
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Basarbovo Rock Monastery
The only working rock monastery in Bulgaria, Basarbovo is in the village of the same name 10km south of Ruse near the Rusenski Lom River on the road to Ivanovo Monastery.Established some time before the 15th century, the complex has been much restored and extended over time. Visito
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Art Gallery
Just past the Hotel Lovech is the pokritiyat most (covered footbridge) – the Balkans’ only such structure. Built in 1872, and completely restored twice since, it once again features its original wooden design. Arts and crafts shops and cafés are here. Passing the square beyond the
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Monument to the Soviet Army
Near the entrance to Borisova Gradina, this gigantic monument was built in 1954 and is a prime example of the forceful socialist-realism of the period. The place of honour goes to a Red Army soldier atop a column, surrounded by animated cast-iron sculptural groups depicting determi
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Kaleto Fortress
Almost blending in with the surrounding rocks is the Kaleto Fortress, originally built by the Romans and later expanded by the Byzantines, Bulgarians and Turks. Most of what you see today was completed in the 1830s. You can wander round three courtyards and explore the defensive bu
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Boyana Church
The tiny, 13th-century Boyana Church is around 2km south of the National Museum of History. It’s on Unesco’s World Heritage list and its 90 murals are rare survivors from that period, and are among the very finest examples of Bulgarian medieval artwork. They include the oldest know
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Historical Museum
A few blocks south of pl Vazrazhdane, the huge town museum houses 24 galleries of exhibits, including neolithic pottery, polychrome Roman mosaic floors, folk costumes, reconstructions of traditional rural homes and 19th-century furnishings and fashions.
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National Museum of History
Housed in the former communist presidential palace, this museum occupies a stunning, if inconvenient, setting; unless a coach party turns up, you may have the place to yourself. The exhaustive collection includes Thracian gold treasures, Roman statuary, folk costumes, weaponry and
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Tombul Mosque
Arguably Bulgaria’s most beautiful mosque, and definitely the largest still used, Shumen’s Tombul Mosque (1744) is also called the Sherif Halili Pasha Mosque. Its Turkish nickname, tombul (plump), refers to its 25m-high dome. The 40m-high minaret has 99 steps. Local Muslim belief s
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Lyutov House
Also called Topalov House, after the original owner, Lyutov House was built in 1854 in a style that mimicked Plovdiv’s characteristic baroque houses. It’s Koprivshtitsa’s best-preserved house-museum, featuring a lavish salon with intricately carved ceilings; the landscapes painted
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Museum of National Revival & Constituent Assembly
This museum, in a former Turkish town hall built in 1872, was where Bulgaria’s first National Assembly was held to write the country’s first constitution in 1879.The ground floor contains costumes, books and photos about Veliko Târnovo’s history. The former assembly hall, upstairs,
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National Art Gallery
This gallery holds one of the country’s most important collections of Bulgarian art, with several galleries full of mainly 19th- and 20th-century paintings. All the big names are represented, including the ubiquitous Vladimir Dimitrov, whose orange, Madonna-like Harvester hangs in
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Daskalov House
Across the stone Arch Bridge (1844) is ul PR Slaveikov, one of Bulgaria’s nicest cobblestone streets. On the left-hand side is Daskalov House . Completed in 1808, this walled home with garden also contains the intriguing and unique Museum of Woodcarving & Icon Painting . It fea
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Sveta Bogoroditsa Church
You can see Karlovo’s main sights by walking up ul Vasil Levski to pl 20 Yuli. Stop first at pl Vasil Levski, where the great man is immortalised in a grand statue depicting him with a lion (a reference to the adopted nickname of ‘lion’ given to him by his peers). Turn right, and r
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Baba Vida Museum
About 1km north of the centre, overlooking the river, the marvellously intact Baba Vida Museum-Fortress is largely a 17th-century Turkish upgrade of 10th-century Bulgarian fortifications, which in turn were built upon the ruins of the 3rd-century Roman fort of Bononia. Theres littl
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Nativity Church
First in precedence is the Nativity Church, the oldest surviving one in Arbanasi. It features a kaleidoscopic frescoed interior, with paintings (created between 1632 and 1649) covering its five chambers. The churchs hand-carved central iconostasis is also magnificent. Over 3500 fig
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Museum of Speleology & Karst
Also called the Cave Museum, the Museum of Speleology & Karst is unique in Bulgaria and, possibly, the Balkans. Minerals, bottled bats, remains of ancient cave-dwelling animals such as lions and bears, are exhibited, along with displays on the Trigrad and Yagodina caves. A tape
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Kaliakra Nature Reserve
Most of the cape is part of the 687-hectare Kaliakra Nature Reserve , the only reserve in Bulgaria that partially protects the Black Sea (up to 500m offshore). The reserve also protects fragile wetlands at Bolata and Taukliman (Bay of Birds), about 100 remote caves and over 300 spe
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Byzantine Baths Complex
Below present ground level just behind the Church of Sveti Spas are the partly excavated remains of this once huge 6th-century Byzantine Baths Complex. Though not much to look at now, in its day this was one of the regions biggest and best spas, renowned for its curative waters; al
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Iskra Museum & Art Gallery
This gallery displays extensive archaeological finds including pottery, jewellery and tools from excavations of Thracian tombs like that in Tyulbe Park. All explanations are in Bulgarian, so the brochure (2 lv) in English, French or German is helpful.Upstairs, numerous paintings ar
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