Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (+43.0825, +25.6375)

In May 2024 we took a river cruise on the Danube River. On one of our day excursions, we took a bus trip and visited the “City of the Tsars” (Veliko Tarnovo) in northern Bulgaria. The landscape is beautiful in the Balkans, but more importantly to my interest, this city is located very near latitude 43 North. Eight hundred years ago, Tarnovo was the capital of the Bulgarian Empire, and there are still remainders of fortifications in the mountains around the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veliko_Tarnovo

Arbanasi, Bulgaria (+43.09896, +25.6653)

In the area are many worthwhile places. Five kilometers away, in the town of Arbanasi, we toured a Seventeenth Century fortified house (the “Konstantsaliev house”). Nearby is The Church of the Nativity, an Orthodox Church with well-preserved icons, built in 1649. The outside is very plain, which helped prevent ransacking by anti-Christian looters. No photos were allowed inside.

As part of our excursion, we ate lunch at an authentic Bulgarian restaurant with folk dancers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbanasi_(Veliko_Tarnovo)

It was a worthwhile excursion.