The city of Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria with its population of 314,539 people. It is widely called the seaside capital of Bulgaria as it is the biggest city at the Bulgarian coast. The city lies in the Bay of Varna and is over 11 km long, while its width, including newly erected residential quarters, is nearly 9km. The city’s structure resembles an amphitheatre as it follows the curves of the Bay of Varna. It is surrounded by gardens, vineyards and groves-a wonderful combination between a modern resort and a big industrial centre, a city which has a long and eventful history.
The city of Varna is about thousand years old. Due to its favourable geographic location, the place was first inhabited by an ancient Thracian tribe, which had a small fishermen settlement there. In the 6th century BC a Greek polis, named Odessos, emerged there. Then it became a fishing and farming colony, which soon turned into commercial hub. The town developed a brisk trade with the Thracians and the Aegean port, and was a bustling place where Greek and Thracian cultures met and mingled. The Romans fortified the city, built a water-supply system and many temples and public buildings, the remains of some can still be seen today (the Roman Baths, also known as the Roman Thermae of Varna).
The settlement fell under the siege of Alexander of Macedonia’s troops in the 4th century BC, but as it stood the siege, the town was given autonomy within the limits of his Empire. Up to the 1st century BC it was an independent polis, which minted its own coins with the image of its god. Later on, conquered by Mark Lukulus’ legions, it became a Roman centre though gradually it lost supremacy in the region.
In the 9th century the town was named Varna and in the 13th century it was included in the territory of Bulgaria, during the reign of King Kaloyan. Despite its strong defence system, the city was conquered by the Turks in 1391 which gradually transformed it into an oriental town with typical Turkish town-halls, Turkish baths and mosques. In 1444, during the crusade of the Polish king Vladislav Yagello and the Hungarian leader Yanosh Huniady, the town was under the siege of the knights. The troops of the Christian coalition suffered a complete defeat. The young king Vladislav was killed and today there is a mausoleum built in his honour called Park-museum Vladislav Varnenchik.
In 1878 Varna was finally liberated from Ottoman rule and became the most important Bulgarian seaport. Even if the city was industrialised, it also developed into a seaside resort, and a favourite holiday place for the Bulgarian cultural elite.
Today, Varna is a natural bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa, a large industrialist, transport -, trade -, cultural and scientific center. The technical infrastructure of the region is well developed. The road system in the region has a length of 1200 km. In Varna the main traffic line Varna Sofia begins, through Varna leads also the road connection Constanta Varna Burgas Istanbul. One passenger port and five commercial ports are at the disposal to the transportation by sea. The port is ordered with 30 dock places for general cargo, chemical products, wood, grain, cattle and other goods. It is the largest in Bulgaria and in addition there are two container terminals and a ferry boat terminal. The telecommunications network in Varna is the best developed in Bulgaria. In Varna 44,4 % of the telecommunications network is digitized, in Varna region 36 %, with a state average of 21 %.
The city is a fabulous tourist destination with its numerous hotels, entertainment and sights.The climate of the region is a very pleasant moderate-continental sea-climate, which prolongs the tourist season up to 150 days. The health resort complexes have more than 135 hotels with a capacity of more than 35000 beds and 200 reconvalescent homes. The number of visitors in the tourism rose particularly in the last two years again strongly, which released a substantial building activity within this range. A new emphasis represents the development of the alternative tourism, including cultural or religious objects of interest as well as the village tourism (rural or traditional Bulgarian ways of life). In addition the beauty of nature is included more for the use of an ecologically compatible tourism than so far. The tourism, which took place in the Black Sea region until now mainly in the summer season, is to take place more strongly all year round. A further starting point for this are the numerous hot sources of mineral water, which can be used for balneological applications.
Always new and ever so old, Varna stays in the hearts all who visit it.
