Tsarevets
Tsarevets
Tsarevets (Bulgarian: Царевец) is a medieval stronghold located on a hill with the same name in Veliko Tarnovo in northern Bulgaria. It served as the Second Bulgarian Empire's primary fortress and strongest bulwark from 1185 to 1393, housing the royal and the patriarchal palaces, and is a popular tourist attraction.
entrance
The earliest evidence of human presence on the hill dates from the 2nd millennium BC. It was settled in the 4th century and a Byzantine city, tentatively identified with Zikideva, was constructed near the end of the 5th century, on the grounds of which the construction of the Bulgarian stronghold was begun in 12th century. After the Vlach-Bulgarian Rebellion and the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire with its capital in Veliko Tarnovo, the fortress became the most important one in Bulgaria, often compared with Rome and Constantinople in magnificence. In 1393, the stronghold was besieged by Ottoman forces for three months before finally being conquered and burnt down on 17 July, which marked the fall of the Bulgarian Empire.
It has three entrances. The main entrance is located in the easternmost side of
the hill. The castle complex is located in the centre, surrounded by an internal
stone wall, two battle towers and two entrances - north and south .It consists
of a throne hall, castle church and the king's chamber. The restoration of the
fortress Tsarevets began in 1930 and was completed in 1981 in honor of the 1300
anniversary from the establishment of the Bulgarian state. Kings Petar, Asen,
Kaloyan and Ivan Asen the second lived there.
story of the Royals
The whole stronghold is girdled by thick walls (reaching up to 3,6 m) and was served by three gates. The main gate was at the hill's westernmost part, on a narrow rock massif, and featured a draw-bridge. The second gate is 18 m away from the first one and the third one, which existed until 1889, is 45 m further.
The palace is located on the hill's central and plain part, which was a closed
complex encircled by a fortified wall, 2 towers and 2 entrances, a main one from
the north and one from the south. It featured a throne room, a palace church and
a royal residential part and encompassed 4872 mē.
On the top of the hill is the patriarchate, a complex with an area of about 3000
mē. The Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Ascension of God, built on the grounds
of an Early Christian one, was reconstructed in 1981 and painted in 1985. The
frescoes inside, painted in a striking modernist style rather than in the style
of traditional Orthodox frescoes, depict conventional Christian subjects as well
as glorious and tragic moments of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
Baldwin's Tower (Балдуинова кула), a modern reconstruction of a medieval tower
modeled after the tower in Cherven and built in 1930, is located in the
southeastern part of the fortress. It is located at the place of the original
medieval tower where Latin Emperor Baldwin I of Constantinople found his death
as a prisoner of Kaloyan of Bulgaria.
During the Middle Ages, residential buildings, craftsman's workshops and
numerous churches and monasteries were situated on the slopes of the Tsarevets
hill. Archaeologists have discovered 400 residential buildings, differentiated
in quarters, over 22 churches and 4 monasteries.
Tsarevets hill is also the location of Execution Rock, an outcropping over the
Yantra River from which traitors were pushed to their deaths and their bodies
fell into the river. There Patriarch Joachim was executed by the Tsar Theodore
Svetoslav in the year 1300.
Text from Wikipedia
view of Veliko Tarnovo from Tsarevets hill
view of Veliko Tarnovo from Tsarevets hill
leaving Tsarevets hill
