Visitors enter through fortified gates and walk along restored walls and the remains of the palace and dozens of houses and churches. On the summit, the Patriarchal Church, rebuilt in 1981, is decorated with striking modernist murals of Bulgarian history. Other landmarks include Baldwin’s Tower, linked to the captured Latin emperor Baldwin I, and Execution Rock above the river. On some evenings, the Sound and Light show bathes the hill in colour and music.
Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
Tsarevets Fortress
Crowning a hill in a loop of the Yantra River in Veliko Tarnovo, Tsarevets Fortress was the main stronghold of the Second Bulgarian Empire from 1185 until 1393. That year, Ottoman forces captured and burned it after a three-month siege. Within its walls stood the royal palace and the residence of the Bulgarian patriarch, making it the political and spiritual heart of medieval Bulgaria.
- Patriarchal Church
- Baldwin’s Tower
About Tsarevets Fortress
More to see in Veliko Tarnovo
