Northern Bulgaria from Bucharest - Day Trip to Veliko Tarnovo

Morning pick-up from your accommodation in Bucharest. Head south, toward the Bulgarian border. We cross the Danube river on the Friendship Bridge, not far from the Bulgarian town of Ruse. Ruse is the gateway to the Rusenski Lom, a twisting canyon where medieval monks turned caves near Ivanovo into a rock-cut complex of monasteries. In the 14th century a large community of monks lived here. At the peak of the monastery complex, the number of churches was about 40, while the other premises were around 300, most of which are not preserved today. Only the Tsurkvata cave has been kept as a museum and is filled with vivid New Testament frescoes. If Ivanovo rock-hewn church is closed, we visit instead the Rock Monastery of St. Dimitar Basarbovski. Built into a sheer cliff, this is the only still functioning rock monastery in Bulgaria. The iconfilled church founded in the 15th century and named after the holy man and healer Dimitar of Basarbovo, is reached by a zig-zagging stone staircase.

Reach Veliko Tarnovo. Visit Tsarevets fortress, Veliko Tarnovo's highlight attraction. With only pedestrian access one can peacefully wander around the ancient ruins, walk along the fortress walls, with views onto the surrounding hills of Sveta Gora, Momina Krepost and the overgrown Trapezitsa, at the foot of which is the picturesque old artisan’s quarter of Assenova Mahala. The main sites of the fortress are clearly identified and the visitor can follow a gentle path around. One can see the Execution Rock at the northern end of the fortress, Baldwin’s tower, the ruins of the tsar palace and on top of the hill, where once the Patriarch’s complex stood, the restored patriarchal church of the Ascension, with its stark modern interior and the dramatic murals painted by Teofan Sokerov in 1985. The murals depict the history of Bulgaria from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (1185) onward and on the floor is a symbolic tombstone with the names of the Bulgarian Kings.

The ethnographic complex "Samovodska charshia" in Veliko Tarnovo is one of the main attractions of the city and consists of restored Renaissance-style buildings with high stone walls, houses with balconies overhanging over the street and small workshops. The quarter was developed during the second half of the 19th century, when the town began to grow. The two narrow cobblestone streets become the economic centre of the city with many commercial shops. One of the streets starts from the small square, known nowadays as the Samovodski pazar (market). In the past the villagers from the surrounding villages use to gather here and to offer their agricultural products. Gradually, around the newly formed market, the local merchants started to open stores, workshops and inns.

After lunch, we visit the village of Arbanasi, a perfect example of the Bulgarian Revival architectural style. The house-museum "Konstantsalieva kashta" was built at the end of 17th century and was reconstructed several times. It is an example of the unique Arbanasi architectural style - solid house-fortress surrounded by high stone walls. Nowadays the house is turned into an ethnographic museum where they show on display an exhibition about the lifestyle of people from Arbanassi in the 19th century.

This is the earliest and the most richly decorated church in the village of Arbanasi. It was built in different stages. The oldest layer of wall-paintings is from the end of XVI century.The entire interior of the church is covered with paintings of icons, this being carried out in stages – in the years 1597, 1632, 1638, 1643, 1649, 1681. In these almost nine decades arises the unique mural assembly, which has no equal in the Bulgarian lands as coverage and thematic encyclopedia. The church consists of a naos, a narthex, a gallery and a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist.