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Top Attractions in Varna Province

Varna Aquarium

The Varna Aquarium or Aquarium Varna is a public aquarium in Varna, Bulgarias largest city on the Black Sea coast. The aquariums exhibition focuses on the Black Seas flora and fauna which includes over 140 fish species, but also features freshwater fish, Mediterranean fish, exotic species from faraway areas of the World Ocean, mussels and algae. The foundation of the aquarium was initiated by Prince Ferdinand I on 6 January 1906 in the Euxinograd palace. Ferdinand entrusted Doctor Parashkev Stoyanov with the establishment of a maritime biological station. The monarch also requested assistance from the prominent German biologist Anton Dohrn, founder of the Stazione Zoologica in Naples, who provided Ferdinand with blueprints and photographs of the Naples station. On 25 January 1906, the Varna Municipal Council allotted money for the aquariums construction and appointed a commission in order to select a suitable location for the building. The foundation stone was laid on 22 October the same year in Varnas Sea Garden in the presence of Prince Ferdinand and the Bulgarian Royal Family, as well as many important statesmen and intellectuals. The aquariums edifice was constructed to the design of Munich-educated Varna architect Dabko Dabkov. The buildings facade is decorated with a sizable bas-relief of a clam and smaller reliefs of popular Black Sea species. The edifice was completed by 1911. However, the outbreak of the Balkan Wars in 1912 delayed the opening of the aquarium. In 1913, Ferdinand made the building property of Sofia University. World War I and the severe sanctions imposed on Bulgaria with the Treaty of Neuilly did not permit the unveiling of the aquarium until 1932, when the maritime biological station was inaugurated by Tsar Boris III. Until 1932, the building had accommodated army units, Bulgarian refugees from Thrace, the School of Mechanics and the School of Fishing. Today, the aquariums research unit, the adjoined Institute for Fish Resources, includes 12 scientists who conduct research related to hydrobiology, hydrochemistry, marine microbiology, ichthyology, plankton and benthos. The Varna Aquariums library houses 30,000 volumes of specialized literature, including rare 19th-century books and maps.

Devnya

Devnya is a town in Varna Province, Northeastern Bulgaria, located about 25 km away to the west from the city of Varna and The Black Sea Coast. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Devnya Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 8,383 inhabitants. It lies at the western shore of Lake Beloslav in the northeastern end of the Devnya Valley and along the southern slopes of the Dobruja Plateau, in the close proximity to the Black Sea. Two rivers, Devnya and Provadiya, empty into the lake nearby. The landscape is mostly karst with 30 karst springs with a debit of 3700 litres per second used for water supply for Devnya, Varna and the local industries. One of the largest springs, feeding a pool, is open for visitors. Along the river mouths there are extensive wetlands once rich in fish and crabs but now polluted by industrial waste. Local landmarks include Roman remains of ancient Marcianopolis, including an amphitheatre and the Mosaics Museum, featuring some exquisite Roman mosaics in situ, and Pobiti Kamani , a rock phenomenon to the east.

Varna Archaeological Museum

The Varna Archaeological Museum is an archaeological museum in the city of Varna on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. Founded on 3 June 1888, when a museum, part of the City Library was established, the Varna Archaeological Museum is situated in a historic building designed in the Neo-Renaissance style by the noted architect Petko Momchilov and built in 1892–1898 for the Varna Girls School. It became state property in 1945 and since 1993 the museum occupies all of the building, parts of which it has used since 1895. One of the largest museums in Bulgaria, it features 2,150 m² of exhibition area and displays objects from the prehistoric, Thracian, Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman periods of the regions history, as well as from the times of the medieval Bulgarian and Byzantine Empires, the Ottoman rule and the Bulgarian National Revival . The Museums arguably most celebrated exhibit is the Gold of Varna, the oldest gold treasure in the world, excavated in 1972 and dating to 4600-4200 BCE, which occupies three separate exhibition halls. The museum also manages two open-air archaeological sites, the large Roman baths in the city centre and the medieval grotto of Aladzha Monastery at Golden Sands Nature Park. Four other sites are undergoing conservation and will be added to the museum roster: the 4th-5th-century episcopal basilica on Khan Krum Street; the basilica and monastery of the same period at Dzhanavara; the 9th-10th-century Theotokos monastery and scriptorium of the Preslav Literary School at Pchelina; and the Mediaeval fortified settlement of Kastritsi at Euxinograd. The museum has also a library, a childrens study museum, a gift shop, and a cafeteria. Its courtyard lapidarium hosts the annual Varna Summer International Jazz Festival.

Pobiti Kamani

Pobiti Kamani, also known as The Stone Desert, is a desert-like rock phenomenon located on the north west Varna Province border in Bulgaria. It is considered the only desert in Bulgaria and one of few found in Europe. The desert consists of sand dunes and several groups of natural rock formations on a total area of 13 km². The formations are mainly stone columns between 5 and 7 meters high and from 0.3 to 3 meters thick. The columns do not have solid foundations, but are instead hollow and filled with sand, and look as if they were stuck into the surrounding sand, which gives the phenomenon its name. Sandstorms and sand twisters have also been known to commonly occur in this desert region of Bulgaria. The Stone Desert is not only a well known European tourist attraction due to its desert like habitat, but it is one of few places in which desert type vegetation such as cactus is known to grow. It is also the only desert in Europe in which desert reptilians and other desert type animalia are found to thrive. The Stone Desert along with the Tabernas Desert of Spain is one of two naturally formed deserts in all of Europe and the only known naturally formed desert in Eastern Europe. In order to be preserved, Pobiti Kamani was designated a natural landmark in the late 1930s. There are a number of theories regarding the phenomenons origin, divided roughly into two groups — supporting an organic or a mineral origin. According to the former, the formations are the result of coral activity, while the latter explain the phenomenon with the prismatic weathering and desertification of the rocks, the formation of sand and limestone concretions, or lower Eocene bubbling reefs. Based on field observations and a petrographic and stable isotope geochemical study, evidence now exists that these structures represent an exceptionally well exposed paleo-hydrocarbon seep system; giving it the vast desert-like landscape. The dynamic reconstruction of the origin of these structures, the processes of fluid migration and possible microbial interference in the process of carbonate precipitation are presently under study by researchers from the Catholic University of Leuven, in collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Oceanology, RCMG, the Geobiology Lab of the University of Goettingen and the University of Bologna.

Sea Garden

The Seaside Garden is the Bulgarian port city of Varnas largest, oldest and best known public park, also said to be the largest landscaped park in the Balkans. Located along the citys coast on the Black Sea, it is an important tourist attraction and a national monument of landscape architecture. The site where today the Seaside Garden is located was until the middle of the 19th century a bare field outside the city walls. In 1862 a small garden was arranged on the orders of the citys Ottoman mayor. After the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 mayor Mihail Koloni suggested the arrangement of a city garden and a seaside park in 1881, and despite suspicions a small sum was granted. As a result the Seaside Garden was expanded to 26,000 m² and further developed according to the plan of French engineer Martinice. The person primarily associated and regarded as having done most for the gardens modern appearance is the Czech gardener Anton Novák, who had specialized at the Schönbrunn and Belvedere palaces in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. He was invited to work in Varna by his compatriot Karel Škorpil at the request of the municipality in 1894 and arrived in 1895, at the age of 35. One of Varnas best known buildings, the Varna Aquarium, was constructed in the garden in 1906–1911. During his time in Varna Novák did an immense work: he radically rearranged the garden and ordered the planting of valued plants from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. His contract with the municipality was extended in 1899, when he was built a house still standing next to the entrance to the garden. The garden gradually grew to reach 90,000 m² in 1905. Several fountains were added in 1912–1913, as well as partially electric lighting. The central alley was decorated with monuments of prominent Bulgarians by a special committee. The seaside casino was built in the 1930s and acquired its modern appearance after a reconstruction in 1960–1961. The 1930s saw the planting of species from the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic and France, as well as the construction of nursery gardens. The garden was expanded to the south to reach the house of the Italian consul Assaretto, today the Varna Naval Museum. The garden reached its present borders in the 1950s and the trees in the centre of the central alley were substituted with flower beds in the 1960s, which thus reached 20,000 m² in the entire Seaside Garden. In 1939, the architect Georgi Popov designed the gardens modern central entrance with a wide plaza and tall columns. An Alley of Cosmonauts was arranged in the 1960s, with the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin planting the first plant, a silver fir, on 26 May 1961 before a large crowd. The Pantheon of the Perished in the Fight Against Fascism was erected in the same year. The Observatory and Planetarium were opened in 1968 on the site of the old open-air theatre and the Varna Zoo was inaugurated in 1961. A swan-shaped sundial was installed in front of the main entrance. The present open-air theatre, flanked by the Alpineum and the childrens amusement park, is the venue of the Varna International Ballet Competition since its inception in 1964, and the dolphinarium was erected in 1984. Recently, the Exotic Zoo terrarium was added, and plans for expansion of the Natural History Museum and the Aquarium were announced. In the park you could also visit the Naval Museum where you could find an interesting display of historic naval objects such as the famous bulgarian Drazki torpedo boat. The park is the favourite place for recreation and fun of the citizens of Varna. Apart from the long alleys for promenades, the sea coast with the beach and numerous restaurants, bars and clubs, one could also enjoy a swimming pool complex and a childrens playing ground with mini-entertainment park and a small pond with boats. Just before the main alley of the garden is situated the so called "bridge of wishes"- a small bridge which is believed to fulfil wishes if you cross it walking backwards and with your eyes closed.

Aladzha Monastery

Aladzha Monastery is a medieval Orthodox Christian cave monastery complex in northeastern Bulgaria, 17 km north of central Varna and 3 km west of Golden Sands beach resort, in a protected forest area adjacent to the Golden Sands Nature Park. The monastery caves were hewn into a 25-m high vertical karst cliff near the upper edge of the Franga plateau on several levels. The complex includes two small nearby catacombs. Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, it was an active hesychast monastic community of the Second Bulgarian Empire since the 12th century and perhaps survived until the early 18th century. Nearby, remains of a 5th-century cave monastery have been found. A cave monastery may have existed not far from the modern monastery Aladzha, near Varna. Its early dating to the fourth century is secured by fragments of glassware, but coins of Justinian indicate that the complex may have still been in use during the 500s. As late as the early 20th century, the forested hills surrounding the monastery and known as Hachuka or Latin, were regarded by locals as sacred and inhabited by a mythical chthonic daemon treasure keeper, Imri Pop or Rim-Papa. Today, the grotto is a popular tourist destination. Its present name appeared in the late Ottoman period; Alaca referred to its colourful murals, now almost destroyed. Thematic light shows are being staged in the summer.

Varna Free University

Varna Free University „Černorizec Hrabǎr“ is a private university in the Bulgarian town of Varna, created in 1991 by resolution of the 37th National Assembly. The university is institutionally accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Agency at the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria, receiving the maximum period and assessment grade, 6 years and 9.20 respectively. Varna Free University is recertified under the international standard ISO 9001:2008 and has been granted certificates from UKAS and ANAB for the implementation of accepted international standards. Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" is the first and only university in Bulgaria certified with the signs DS Label, ECTS Label and HR by the European Executive Agency for Education and Culture at the European Commission of the European Union. Varna Free University organizes regular, part-time and distance learning for all the education-and-qualification degrees set in the Law on Higher Education such as "Bachelor", "Master" and "Doctor". It has more than 27,000 alumni. Every year Varna Free University offers new scholarship programs which are open to students with the highest grades but also to the prominent acting and dancing talents and sportspersons. Part of the campus is based as a university branch in the town of Smolyan. It educates more than 12,000 students above 80 undergraduate and 20 graduate programs and in 20 accredited research courses for PhD students.

Varna Power Plant

Varna Thermal Power Plant is located on the northern shore of the Lake Varna near the village of Ezerovo at 12 km to the west of Varna, eastern Bulgaria. It was bought by the Czech energy company CEZ Group. The plant was constructed at that location because it works with anthracite coal imported mainly from the Ukraine. There is a coal port built nearby with room for three ships - two for ships up to 12,000 t and one for ships up to 55,000 t. The plant has 6 turbines with installed power of 210 MW which makes a total of 1,260 MW. It has two chimneys, each with a height of 150 metres. Varna TPP is the second largest coal power plant in the Balkan peninsula after Maritsa Iztok 2 which is also situated in Bulgaria. In 2006, it produced 3 billion kWh electricity. Varna TPP has 900 employees. The income from the sold electrical energy is worth of 173,000,000 BGN or approximately €80,000,000. Two turbines working with gas with installed power of 440 MW each are planned to be constructed by 2012 as a part of the company's strategy to reduce pollution.

Lake Varna

Lake Varna is the largest by volume and deepest liman or lake along the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, divided from the sea by a 2 km-wide strip of sand and having an area of 17 km², maximal depth 19 m, and a volume of 166 million m³. The lake has an elongated shape, its south shores are high, steep and wooded, and the north slant. Lake Varna was formed in a river valley by the raising of sea level near the end of the Pleistocene. Its bottom is covered by a thick alluvium of slime and hydrogen sulphide mud in the deepest parts; there are large deposits of medicinal fango . A number of rivers pour into the lake, including Devnya and Provadiyska that empty near the western shores of Lake Beloslav, which is connected to Lake Varna. Until the 20th century, fresh water from the lake emptied into the Black Sea through the Devnya River, but following the construction of the modern Port of Varna East (and the subsequent draining of the river), a canal was dug through the strip of sand between the sea and the lake between 1906 and 1909, which led to the lake's level dropping by 1.40 m and the incursion of sea water into the lake, which became brackish. In 1976, when a new 12 m-deep canal crossed by the Asparuhov most began operating, the lake was dredged along the stream. Another navigable canal to the west lead through the neighboring Lake Beloslav to the Port of Varna West and the Railroad Ferry Terminal. A couple of smaller specialized ports dot Lake Varna's north shore, notably the Port of LesPort and the Port of Varna Thermal Power Plant. Industrialization came at the cost of the lake's reputation of a rich fishing ground that had sustained human settlements for nearly 100,000 years. The Varna Necropolis, where the oldest gold treasure in the world was found, is located near the north shore, while the city of Varna is situated at the lake's eastern extremity. Also along the north shore are the villages of Kazashko and Ezerovo, and the villages of Zvezditsa and Konstantinovo overlook the lake from the southern heights.

Sv. sv. Konstantin i Elena

Saints Constantine and Helena is a resort town on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast within a landscaped park 10 km north of downtown Varna, 2 km east of its Vinitsa quarter, and 7 km south of Golden Sands. Bulgaria's oldest Black Sea resort was also known in the past as Druzhba and Varna Resort . It is served by the Varna International Airport and bus lines of the Varna public transit system. Landmarks include the 16th-century Eastern Orthodox monastery of Sts. Constantine and Helena, the Euxinograd royal summer palace, park and winery, and the Sofia University Botanical Garden, also known as Ecopark Varna. One of the best preserved medieval settlements in the country, Kastritzi, also mentioned by the Crusaders in 1444 as Macropolis, was unearthed in archaeological excavations inside Euxinograd. In the mid-14th century, Kastritzi was a bustling port of the Second Bulgarian Empire frequented by Venetian, Genoese, Ragusan, and Byzantine merchant ships. In Polish : Święci Constantine i Helena miasto kurortu na bułgarskim Morzu Czarnym jest wybrzeżem w obrębie urządzonego parku 10 km na północ od śródmiejskiej Varna, 2 km na wschód od jego Vinitsa ćwierć, i 7 km na południe od Złotych Piasków. Najstarszy kurort Bułgarii Morza Czarnego również był znany dawniej jako Druzhba i Varna Resort . To jest obsłużone przez Varna lotnisko zagraniczne i linie autobusowe Varna system ludzi przejściowy. Punkty orientacyjne obejmują XVI wiek wschodni monaster Sts. Constantine i Helena, Euxinograd królewski letni pałac, park i wytwórnia win, i Sofia ogród botaniczny uniwersytecki, również znany jako Ecopark Varna. Jedno z najlepszych zachowanych średniowiecznych porozumień na wsi, Kastritzi, również wspomnieć przez Bojowników w 1444 jako Macropolis, został odnaleziony w archeologicznych wykopach wewnątrz Euxinograd. W mid-14th wiek, Kastritzi był krzątającym się portem Drugiego bułgarskiego Imperium, w którym wenecjanin, Genueńczyk, Ragusan, i B bywali Constantine and Helena also comprises the Grand Hotel Varna and Sunny Day luxury resorts and several villa communities. There are sandy beaches, punctured by rocky promontories, hot mineral springs, modern hotels, and sports and health facilities, including spa centres and yacht marinas.
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