Bulgaria

We will spend 3 nights in the capital city of SOFIA.  The word ‘Sofia’ means wisdom and roads from all parts of the world have been meeting here for nearly 7000 years.  People have come and gone; civilisations have advanced and declined but the city remains and today there are more than 250 historic, archaeological and architectural landmarks.

• CITY TOUR – to include Parliament Square, the churches of St Sofia and St George, both dating from the late Roman/early Byzantine period, and the Russian Church of St Nikolas.
• ALEXANDER NEVSKI MEMORIAL CATHEDRAL – built to commemorate the Russian soldiers who died during the War of Independence (1877-1878), and housing a valuable collection of icons dating from the 13th to the 19th centuries.
• BOYANA MEDIEVAL CHURCH – a small church adorned with extraordinary frescoes dating back to 1259. It is today a UNESCO Heritage site.
• NATIONAL HISTORICAL MUSEUM – boasting an extensive collection of old Thracian treasures, it presents the history of Bulgaria by means of an excellent array of artefacts from prehistoric times to the early 20th century.
• RILA – Bulgaria’s finest monastery, founded in the 10th century by the hermit St John of Rila and displaying wooden balconies and azure fretwork, colonnades, façades and colourful frescoes.
• TROYAN MONASTERY – one of the country’s most renowned, it has fine timbered courtyards and a beautiful frescoed church. This will be visited en-route from Sofia to Veliko Turnovo.

Visits from VELIKO TURNOVO include the following:

• THE TSAREVETS – the old royal citadel, spectacularly situated with impressive fortifications overlooking the winding gorge of the River Yantra on three sides, and to the restored patriarchate at the summit.
• CHURCH OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL – containing some remarkable medieval frescoes.
• ARBANISSI VILLAGE – visit the Church of the Nativity with its complete set of 17th century frescoes, perhaps the finest set in any church in Bulgaria, and a ‘museum house’, formerly the home of one of the village’s wealthy merchants.
• ETURA/SHIPKA – a lovely complex of traditional houses viewed on the way to the dramatic summit of the Shipka Pass, the site of a crucial battle in Bulgaria’s war of independence c.1877. At the foot of the mountain on the far side is the Shipka Memorial Church, built in colourful Russian style in memory of those who died in the struggle.
• KAZANLUK – site of the Thracian tomb with fine Hellenistic frescoes. A visit will also be made to the ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, where the latest spectacular finds from the Thracian royal tombs in the area are displayed.

PLOVDIV – located on the banks of the River Maritsa it is surrounded by three hills and there is much architectural evidence to support its occupation by Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, Ottoman Turks and Bulgarians.

• Visits will include the remains of the BYZANTINE CITY WALLS, the exteriors of several well-preserved TIMBERED TOWNHOUSES dating from the end of the Ottoman period, the ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM, the impressive ROMAN THEATRE, the CHURCH OF ST. KONSTANTINE AND ELENA, and another of the elegant ‘MUSEUM HOUSES’, which once belonged to local merchant families.
• BACHKOVO MONASTERY – a spectacular 11th century monastery in the Rhodope Mountains which houses a series of wonderful medieval frescoes.
• KOPRIVSHTITSA – where the April Uprising of 1876 began against the Ottoman regime. This ‘conservation village’ nestles in wooded hills high above lowland Bulgaria and combines superb vernacular architecture with quaint cobbled streets. This will be visited en route from Plovdiv back to Sofia.