Veliko Tarnovo (Cyrillic: Велико Търново, "Great Tarnovo", also Veliko Turnovo) is a city of approximately 65,000 people in North-central Bulgaria, 240km north-east of Sofia. It is the capital of the regional government (oblast) of the same name. The city sits upon the side of a ridge at the base of which runs the Yantra River. The river makes four sharp bends below the city and around three largely uninhabited hills: Tsaravets, Sveta Gora, and Trapezitsa. The city of Sofia (Bulgarian: София), at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, has a population of 1,208,930 (2003), and is the biggest city and capital of the Republic of Bulgaria. ... An oblast (Slavonian verbalism or term, Czech: oblast, Slovak: oblasÅ¥, Russian, Ukrainian: о́бласть, Bulgarian: о́бласт) English equivalent area, province or zone. ... Yantra is a river in Bulgaria. ...

Map
Information
Population	65,031(15 Mar 2004)
Area	530 sq/km
Altitude	320 m
Coordinates	43° 5′ 8″ N, 25° 39′ 20″ E
Website	veliko-tarnovo.net

History

The known history of Veliko Tarnovo begins in the 4th millennium BC with evidence of human habitation in the western area of the city. Archaeological evidence of human settlement dating to the 3rd millennium BC has been found on Trapezitsa Hill. In the 2nd millennium BC the Thracians settled on the banks of the Yantra River below the steep sides of Tsaravets Hill. The hill was fortified by the Romans in the 1st century AD and in the 5th century the Byzantines, under Emperor Justinian, built a keep enclosing a small town on the hill. The Thracians were an Indo-European people, inhabitants of Thrace and adjacent lands (present-day Bulgaria, Romania, northeastern Greece, European Turkey and northwestern asiatic Turkey, eastern Serbia and parts of Republic of Macedonia). ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centred at its capital in Constantinople. ... Justinian I depicted on the famous Byzantine mosaics of the St. ...

In 681 AD a truce between Bulgarian khan Asparouh and Byzantine emperor Constantine IV established the First Bulgarian Empire. The kingdom flourished and expanded while hostility with Byzantium increased. In 972 Byzantine emperor John Tzimisces declared Northeast Bulgaria a Byzantine province. By 1018 all of Bulgaria was under Byzantine rule. // Events August 9 - The Bulgars win the war with the Byzantine Empire; the latter signs a peace treaty, which is considered as the birth-date of Bulgaria Wilfrid of York is expelled from Northumbria by Ecgfrith and retires into Sussex Births Deaths January 10 - Pope Agatho Ebroin, Mayor of the... This is a list of Byzantine Emperors. ... Events Otto II marries Theophanu, Byzantine princess. ... Ioannes, protected by God and the Virgin Mary. ... Events Bulgaria becomes part of the Byzantine Empire. ...

In 1185 the brothers Asen and Petar declared an uprising against the Byzantine Empire and the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire with Tarnovgrad, as Veliko Tarnovo was called then, as its capital. In 1186 the church "St. Dimitar" was inaugurated and Petar was proclaimed king. The city flourished and grew for 200 years until on July 17, 1393, Tarnovgrad is taken by the Ottoman Empire after a three-month siege and the fortress on the hill was destroyed. Tarnovgrad was the location of two uprisings against the Ottoman Empire in 1598 and 1686 that failed to liberate Bulgaria. Events April 25 - Genpei War - Sea Battle of Dan-no-ura leads to Minamoto victory in Japan Templars settle in London and begin the building of New Temple Church End of the Heian Period and beginning of the Kamakura period in Japan. ... Events John the Chanter becomes Bishop of Exeter. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... Events Ottoman Turks occupy Veliko Turnovo in north-central Bulgaria. ... Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (the Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Bursa (1335 - 1365), Edirne (1365-1453), İstanbul (Constantinople) (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ... Events The League of Augsburg is founded. ...

Tarnovgrad, along with the rest of Bulgaria, remained under Ottoman rule until the 19th century when national identity and culture re-asserted 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 Tarnovgrad. On April 23, 1876, the April uprising in the city marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman occupation. It was soon followed by the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). On the 7th of July, 1877 Russian General Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko liberated Tarnovgrad. Bulgarian revolutionaries assisted by the Russian army ended 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 April 17, 1879, the first National Assembly convened in Veliko Turnovo to ratify the countries new constitution, known as the Tarnovo Constitution, and officially make Sofia the capital of Bulgaria. 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... April 23 is the 113th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (114th in leap years). ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The April Uprising ( Априлско въстание), was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May, 1876, the indirect result of which was the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1878 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Field Marshal Joseph Gourko Count Joseph Vladimirovich Romeyko-Gourko (the first name is also sometimes transliterated Ossip) (1828-1901) was a Russian Field Marshal prominent during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78. ... 1878 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Treaty of Berlin was the final Act of the Congress of Berlin (June 13-July 13, 1878), by which the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Turkey revised the Treaty of San Stefano signed on March 3 of the same year. ... The Danube (Donau in German; Dunaj in Slovak; Donava in Slovene; Duna in Hungarian; Dunav in Croatian and Serbian; Dunav or Дунав in Bulgarian; Dunăre in Romanian; Дунай (Dunay) in Ukrainian; Danuvius in Latin) is Europes second-longest river (after the Volga). ... Stara Planina, Rhopode, Rila and Pirin Mountains The Stara Planina (Old Mountain) or Balkan mountain range is an extension of the Carpathian mountain range, separated from it by the Danube River. ... April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

The old section of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.

In deference to the city's past, Tsar Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg Gotha chose the "Saint Forty Martyrs" church in Veliko Tarnovo as the place to declare the complete independence of Bulgaria on October 5, 1908. The old section of Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria. ... The old section of Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria. ... Ferdinand Maximilan Charles Leopold Marie, Ferdinand of Bulgaria (February 26, 1861 - September 10, 1948) was monarch of Bulgaria as well as an author, botanist and philatelist. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1965 Tarnovo was renamed to Veliko Tarnovo. 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ...

Sights of interest

• The ruins of the fortress Tsarevets, which once housed the royal palace, on the top of a large hill. The place includes the newly-restored Ascension Church.
• Museum of the National Revival (at ul. Ivan Vazov), which depicts Bulgaria's cultural and religious resurgence during the 19th century, after centuries of Turkish domain.

Photos

External links

Wikimedia Commons has more media related to:

Veliko Tarnovo

• The official site of Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgarian and English).
• Veliko Tarnovo, in English
• Another site in Bulgarian.
• Pictures from Veliko Tarnovo