This is our second visit to Bulgaria and quite different from the first, which comprised two visits to Bulgaria’s Black Sea port cities. (This occurred just after Russia invaded the Crimea in 2015, changing our Black Sea cruise itinerary considerably. I really did want to visit Yalta and Sevastopol, but Putin cancelled all this. We were lucky to get to Odessa.) This trip we docked temporarily at the village of Nokopoi and bused two hours into the interior of the country to visit Veliko Tarnovo. Veliko Tarnovo was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire between the 12th and 14th centuries.
The road was rough for the first hour of the ride, traveling through areas in which rural and small village houses were decaying from neglect and abandonment. Bulgaria has lost 20% of its population since the end of the communist regime and with the current low birth rate won’t recover soon.
A shot from the bus of a cave opening. Approaching town, we saw an interesting fence display.
We did not know what to expect on arrival in Veliko Tarnovo but, frankly, we were disappointed that our tour did not include a visit to the Tsarevets Fortress above town nor any significant structures in the city. Rather, we were led through the market area of town, the inclined Samovodska Charishia Street, which delighted the shoppers in the group, but did little for Frances and me.
After a lunch in a city restaurant we were driven to the high plateau village of Arbanasi for a visit to two interesting and historical structures.
The first was the 17th century Konstantsaliata House, a preserved home from that Ottoman period.
Even more interesting was our visit to the Nativity of Christ Church. This church is one of the very rare churches constructed (in stages) during the Ottoman occupation. Hence its modest exterior, a lack of dome and a lack of an exterior cross.
