Everything about Varna totally explained
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, third-largest in
Bulgaria after
Sofia and
Plovdiv, and
80th-largest in the European Union, with a population of 357,270. The actual daily population, including
commuters, is widely believed to have made it the country's second-largest city.
Commonly referred to as the marine (or summer) capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a major tourist destination, university centre,
seaport, and headquarters of the
Bulgarian Navy and merchant marine, as well as the centre of
Varna Province and Bulgaria's North-Eastern planning region (
NUTS II), comprising the provinces of
Dobrich,
Shumen,
Targovishte, and Varna.
In April 2008, Varna was designated seat of the Black Sea Euro-Region (a new regional organization, not identical to the
Black Sea Euroregion), by the
Council of Europe.
Geography, climate, and transportation
Varna occupies an area of 205 km² on verdant terraces descending from the calcareous Frangen Plateau (height 356 m) along the horseshoe-shaped Varna Bay of the
Black Sea, the elongated
Lake Varna, and two waterways bridged by the
Asparuhov most. It is the centre of a growing conurbation stretching along the seaboard 20 km north and 10 km south (mostly residential and recreational sprawl) and along the lake 25 km west (mostly transportation and industrial facilities).
The urban area has in excess of 20 km of sand beaches and abounds in thermal mineral water sources. It enjoys a mild continental climate influenced by the sea with long, mild, akin to Mediterranean, autumns, and sunny yet considerably cooler than Mediterranean summers moderated by a breeze. January and February can be bitterly cold at times. Black Sea water has actually became cleaner after 1989 due to decreased chemical fertilizer usage in farming; it has low salinity, lacks large predators or poisonous species, and the tidal range is virtually imperceptible.
The city lies 470 km north-east of Sofia; the nearest major cities are
Dobrich (45 km to the north),
Shumen (80 km to the west), and
Burgas (125 km to the south-west). Varna is accessible by air (
Varna International Airport), sea (
Port of Varna Cruise Terminal), railroad (
Central Train Station), and automobile. Major roads include
European routes
E70 to
Bucharest and E87 to
Istanbul and
Constanta,
Romania; national motorways A-2 (
Hemus motorway) to Sofia and A-5 (
Cherno More motorway) to Burgas. There are bus lines to many Bulgarian and international cities from two bus terminals and train ferry and ro-ro services to
Odesa,
Port Kavkaz,
Russia, and
Poti,
Georgia. Varna is connected to other Black Sea cities by the submarine Black Sea Fiber Optical Cable System.
The public transit system (
map
) is extensive and reasonably priced, with over 80 local and express bus, electrical bus, and fixed-route minibus lines; there's a large fleet of taxicabs. In 2007, a number of double-decker buses were purchased; the mayor vowed that by summer 2008, all city buses would be retrofitted with air conditioners and later fueled by methane.
Climate chart
History
Antiquity and Bulgarian conquest
Varna is among Europe's oldest cities.
Miletians founded the
apoikia (trading colony) of
Odessos in 570 BCE (
in the time of Astyages) at the site of an earlier
Thracian settlement. The name
Odessos, first mentioned by
Strabo, was pre-Greek, perhaps of
Carian origin. Long before the Thracians populated the area by 1200 BCE, several prehistoric settlements best known for the
eneolithic necropolis, eponymous site of the
Varna culture and the world's oldest large find of gold artifacts (mid-5th millennium BCE radiocarbon dating), existed within modern city limits. Odessos was a member of the Pontic
Pentapolis and a contact zone between the urban
Ionians and the Thracians (
Getae, Crobyzi, Terizi) of the
hinterland—a mixed Greco-Thracian community (see also
Darzalas).
In 339 BCE, the city was unsuccessfully besieged by
Philip II but surrendered to
Alexander the Great in 335 BC, and was later ruled by his
diadochus Lysimachus. The
Roman city, Odessus (first included into the
Praefectura orae maritimae, then in 15 CE annexed to the province of
Moesia, later Moesia Inferior), occupied 47 hectares in present-day central Varna and had prominent public baths,
Thermae, erected in the late 2nd century, now the largest Roman remains in Bulgaria (the building was 100 m wide, 70 m long, and 25 m high) and fourth-largest known Roman baths in Europe.
Odessus was an early Christian centre, as testified by ruins of perhaps ten early basilicas
(External Link), a monastery, and indications that one of the
Seventy Disciples,
Ampliatus, follower of
Saint Andrew (who, according to the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church legend, preached in the city in 56 CE), served as bishop there. In 442, a peace treaty between
Theodosius II and
Attila was done at Odessus. In 536,
Justinian I made it the seat of the
Quaestura exercitus including Moesia,
Scythia, Caria, the
Aegean Islands and
Cyprus.
Theophanes the Confessor first mentioned the name
Varna, as the city came to be known with the Slavic conquest of the Balkans in the 6th-7th century. The name may be older than that; perhaps it derives from
Proto-Indo-European root we-r- (water)
(External Link) (see also
Varuna). In 681,
Asparukh, the founder of the
First Bulgarian Empire, routed an army of
Constantine IV north of the Danube delta and reached
the so-called Varna near Odessos. Recent scholarship has suggested that the first Bulgarian capital was perhaps located around Varna before it moved to
Pliska. Asparukh fortified the Varna river lowland by a rampart against a possible
Byzantine naval landing; several 7th-century
Bulgar settlements have been excavated.
Middle Ages
Control changed from Byzantine to Bulgarian hands several times during the
Middle Ages. In the late 9th and the 10th century, Varna was the site of a principal
scriptorium of the
Preslav Literary School in a monastery founded by
Boris I who may have used it as his monastic retreat. In 1201,
Kaloyan took over the fortress on
Holy Saturday using a
siege tower, and annexed it to the
Second Bulgarian Empire.
By the late 13th and 14th century, it had turned into a thriving commercial hub frequented by
Genoese,
Venetian and
Ragusan merchant ships (the three republics held consulates and had expatriate colonies there) and flanked by two fortresses with smaller ports of their own, Kastritsi and Galata, within sight of each other. Wheat and other local agricultural produce for the Italian and Constantinople markets were the chief exports, and Mediterranean foods and luxury items were imported. Shipbuilding developed in the
Kamchiya river mouth.
14th-century Italian
portolan charts showed Varna as perhaps the most important seaport between
Constantinople and the Danube delta; they usually labeled the region
Zagora. The city was unsuccessfully besieged by
Amadeus VI of Savoy in 1366; in 1386, it briefly became the capital of the spinoff
Principality of Karvuna, then was taken over by the
Ottomans in 1389 (and again in 1444), ceded temporarily to
Manuel II Palaiologos in 1413 (perhaps until 1444), and sacked by
Tatars in 1414.
Battle of Varna
On
November 10,
1444, one of the last major battles of the
Crusades in European history was fought outside the city walls. The
Turks routed an army of 20,000 crusaders led by
Ladislaus III of Poland (also Ulászló I of
Hungary), which had assembled at the port to set sail to Constantinople. The Christian army was attacked by a superior force of 55,000 or 60,000 Ottomans led by sultan
Murad II. Ladislaus III was killed in a bold attempt to capture the sultan, earning the sobriquet
Warneńczyk (
of Varna in Polish; he's also known as
Várnai Ulászló in Hungarian or
Ladislaus Varnensis in Latin). The failure of the
Crusade of Varna made the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 all but inevitable, and Varna (with all of Bulgaria) was to remain under Ottoman domination for over four centuries. Today, there's a
cenotaph of Ladislaus III in Varna.
Late Ottoman rule
Varna was made one of the
Quadrilateral Fortresses (along with
Rousse,
Shumen, and
Silistra) severing
Dobruja from the rest of Bulgaria and containing Russia in the
Russo-Turkish wars. The Russians temporarily took over in 1773 and again in 1828, following the prolonged
Siege of Varna, returning it to the Ottomans two years later after the medieval fortress was razed. The British and French campaigning against Russia in the
Crimean War (1854-1856) used Varna as headquarters and principal naval base; many soldiers died of cholera and the city was devastated by a fire. A British and a French monument mark the cemeteries where cholera victims were interred. In 1866, the first railroad in Bulgaria connected Varna with the Rousse on the Danube, linking the Ottoman capital
Istanbul with
Central Europe; for a few years, the
Orient Express ran through that route. The
port of Varna developed as a major supplier of food—notably wheat from the adjacent breadbasket
Southern Dobruja—to Istanbul and a busy hub for European imports to the capital; 12 foreign consulates opened in the city.
Liberated Bulgaria
With the national
liberation in 1878, the city, which numbered 25-26 thousand inhabitants, was ceded to Bulgaria by the
Treaty of Berlin; Russian troops entered on
July 27. Varna became a front city in the
First Balkan War and the
First World War; its economy was badly affected by the temporary loss of its agrarian hinterland of Southern Dobruja to Romania (1913-16 and 1919-40). In the
Second World War, the
Red Army occupied the city in September 1944, helping cement communist rule in Bulgaria.
Over the first decades after the 1878 liberation, with the departure of most ethnic
Turks and
Greeks and the arrival of
Bulgarians from inland, Northern
Dobruja,
Bessarabia, and
Asia Minor, and later, of refugees from
Macedonia, Eastern
Thrace and Southern Dobruja following the
Second Balkan War and the First World War, ethnic diversity gave way to Bulgarian predominance, although sizeable minorities of
Gagauz,
Armenians, and
Sephardic Jews remained for decades.
One of the early centres of industrial development and the Bulgarian labor movement, Varna established itself as the nation's principal port of export, a major grain producing and
viticulture centre, seat of the nation's oldest institution of higher learning outside Sofia, a popular venue for international festivals and events, as well as the country's
de facto summer capital with the erection of the
Euxinograd royal summer palace (currently, the Bulgarian government convenes summer sesions there). Mass tourism emerged since the late 1950s. Heavy industry and trade with the Soviet Union boomed in the 1950s to the 1970s.
In 1962, the 15th
Chess Olympiad, also known as the World Team Championship, was here. In 1969 and 1987, Varna was the host of the World
Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. From
September 30 to
October 4,
1973, the 10th
Olympic Congress took place in the Sports Palace.
Varna is running for
European Capital of Culture for 2019.
Economy
Varna is the second most important economic centre for Bulgaria after Sofia
(External Link), the country's foremost trade link to Russia, and one of the
major hubs for the Black Sea region.
The economy is service-based, with 61% of net revenue generated in trade and tourism, 16% in manufacturing, 14% in transportation and communications, and 6% in construction
(External Link). Financial services, particularly banking, insurance, investment management, and real-estate securitization are booming. The city is the easternmost destination of
Pan-European transport corridor 8 and is connected to corridors 7 and 9 via Rousse. Major industries traditionally include transportation (
Navibulgar, Port of Varna, Varna International Airport), distribution (
Logistics Park Varna (External Link)),
shipbuilding (see also
Oceanic-Creations), ship repair, and other marine industries.
In June of 2007,
Eni and
Gazprom disclosed the
South Stream project whereby a 900-km-long offshore natural gas pipeline from
Russia's Dzhubga with annual capacity of 31 cubic kilometers is planned to come ashore at Varna, possibly near the Galata offshore gas field, en route to
Italy and
Austria.
With the nearby towns of
Beloslav and
Devnya, Varna forms the
Varna-Devnya Industrial Complex, home to some of the largest chemical, thermal power, and manufacturing facilities in Bulgaria, including Varna Thermal Pover Plant and Sodi Devnya, the two largest cash privatization deals in the country's recent history. There are also notable facilities for radio navigation devices, household appliances, textiles, apparel, food and beverages, printing, and other industries. Some manufacturing veterans are giving way to post-industrial developments: an ECE shopping mall is taking the place of the former VAMO diesel engine works and the Varna Brewery is being replaced by a convention centre.
Tourism is of foremost importance with the suburban beachfront resorts of
Golden Sands, Holiday Club Riviera, Sunny Day,
Constantine and Helena, and others with a total capacity of over 60,000 beds (2005), attracting millions of visitors each year (4.74 million in 2006, 3.99 million of which international tourists
(External Link)). The resorts received considerable internal and foreign investment in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and are environmentally sound, being located reassuringly far from chemical and other smokestack industries. Varna is also Bulgaria's only international
cruise destination (with over 30 cruises scheduled for 2007) and a major international convention and spa centre.
Real estate boomed in 2003-2008 with some of the highest prices in the nation, by fall 2007 surpassing Sofia. Commercial real estate is developing major international office tower projects
(External Link),
(External Link),
(External Link).
In retail, the city not only has the assortment of international big-box retailers
(External Link) now ubiquitous in larger Bulgarian cities, but boasts made-in-Varna national chains with locations spreading over the country such as retailer
Piccadilly, restaurateur
Happy, and pharmacy chain
Sanita.
In early 2008, there were two shopping malls operating and another five projects in various stages of development, turning Varna into an attractive international shopping destination (Pfohe Mall, Central Plaza, Mall of Varna, Grand Mall, Gallery Mall, Cherno More Park, and Varna Towers)
(External Link), plus a retail park under development outside town. The city has many of the finest eateries in the nation and abounds in ethnic food places.
Economically, Varna is among the best-performing and fastest-growing Bulgarian cities; unemployment, at 2.34% (2007), is over 3 times lower than the nation's rate; in 2007, median salary was the highest
(External Link), on a par with Sofia and Burgas. Many Bulgarians regard Varna as a boom town; some, including from Sofia and Plovdiv, but mostly from Dobrich, Shumen, and the greater region, are relocating.
In September 2004,
FDI Magazine (a
Financial Times Business Ltd publication) proclaimed Varna
South-eastern Europe City of the Future (External Link) citing its strategic location, fast-growing economy, rich cultural heritage and higher education. In April 2007, rating agency
Standard & Poor's announced that it had raised its long-term issue credit rating for Varna to BB+ from BB, declaring the city’s outlook "stable" and praising its "improved operating performance"
(External Link).
In December 2007, Varna was voted "Best City in Bulgaria to Live In"
(External Link) by a national poll by
Darik Radio, the
24 Chasa daily and the information portal
darik.news.
Population
The first population data date back to the mid-1600s when the town was thought to have about 4,000 inhabitants
(External Link). After the Liberation in 1878, the first population census in 1881 counted 24,555
(External Link) making it the second-largest in the
Principality. With
Unification, Varna became Bulgaria's third-largest city and kept this position steadily for the following 120 years, while different cities took turns in first, second, and fourth places.
Varna is officially (according to GRAO and NSI) the third-largest city by permanent address, but various sources, including
Bulgarian National Television, national newspapers, marketing research, the mayor's office and local police, claim it has a daily population, including commuters, of over 520,000 (considerably more with the seasonal workers in summer
(External Link)), making it the second-largest city. Deputy Mayor Venelin Zhechev, who is also chief architect, once reported population of about 650,000
(External Link).
The
metro area (including Varna municipality and adjacent parts of Aksakovo, Avren, Beloslav, and Devnya municipalities, and excluding adjacent parts of
Dobrich Province) population is estimated by official data (permanent address) at about 416,000. Here, the "Varna-Devnya-
Provadiya agglomeration" isn't considered identical to "Varna metro area".
Varna is one of the few cities in Bulgaria with a positive population growth and new children's day care centers opening.
(External Link)
Most Varnians are ethnic
Bulgarians (85.3% in the province, but perhaps a higher percentage in the city
(External Link)).
Turks traditionally rank second (8.1% in the province, perhaps less in the city); by 2007,
Russians and other
Russian-speaking recent immigrants, estimated at over 20,000, may have outnumbered them. There are smaller numbers of
Roma, mostly in three distinctive ethnic neighborhoods: Maksuda; Rozova Dolina in the Asparuhovo district; and part of the Vladislavovo district.
Armenians,
Greeks,
Jews, and other long-standing ethnic groups are also present, plus a growing number of new Asian and African immigrants and corporate
expatriates.
Historical population
| Year |
1852 |
1878 |
1887 |
1896 |
1910 |
1920 |
1926 |
1946 |
| Population |
16,000 |
24,555 |
24,830 |
33,687 |
41,419 |
50,810 |
60,536 |
76,954 |
| Year |
1956 |
1965 |
1975 |
1982 |
1990 |
2001 |
2007 |
| Population |
120,345 |
180,110 |
251,654 |
295,038 |
314,913 |
416,174 |
649,031 |
Sights
Varna Archaeological Museum, exhibiting the
Gold of Varna, the
Roman Baths, the
Battle of Varna Park Museum, the Naval Museum in the Italianate
Villa Assareto displaying the
museum ship Drazki torpedo boat, the Museum of Ethnography in an Ottoman-period compound featuring the life of local urban dwellers, fisherfolk, and peasants in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The Sea Garden is the oldest and perhaps largest park in town containing an open-air theatre (venue of the International Ballet Competition, opera performances and concerts), an
aquarium (opened 1912), a
dolphinarium (opened 1984), the Nicolaus Copernicus
Observatory and Planetarium, the Museum of Natural History, a terrarium, a zoo, an alpineum, a children's amusement park, and other attractions. The National Revival Alley is decorated with bronze monuments to prominent Bulgarians, and the Cosmonauts' Alley contains trees planted by
Yuri Gagarin and other Soviet
cosmonauts in the 1960s. The Garden is a national monument of landscape architecture.
The waterfront promenade is lined by a string of beach clubs offering a vibrant scene of rock, hip-hop, Bulgarian and American-style pop, techno, and
chalga. In October 2006,
The Independent dubbed Varna "Europe's new funky-town, the good-time capital of Bulgaria"
(External Link). It enjoys a nationwide reputation for its rock and hip-hop artists and related events such as
July Morning, international rock and hip-hop (including graffiti
(External Link)) venues.
The city beaches, also known as
sea baths (морски бани,
morski bani), are dotted with hot sulphuric mineral water sources (used for spas, swimming pools and public showers) and punctured by small sheltered marinas. Additionally, the 2.05 km long, 52 m high
Asparuhov most bridge is a popular spot for
bungee jumping. Outside the city are the
Euxinograd palace, park and winery, the
University of Sofia Botanical Garden (Ecopark Varna), the
Pobiti Kamani rock phenomenon, and the medieval
cave monastery,
Aladzha.
Churches
Notable old Bulgarian
Orthodox temples include the metropolitan Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral (of the diocese of Varna and Veliki
Preslav); the early 17th-century Theotokos Panagia (built on the site of an earlier church where Ladislaus III was perhaps buried); the
St. Athanasius (former
Greek metropolitan cathedral) on the footprint of a razed 10th-century church; the 15th-century
St. Petka Parashkeva chapel; the seamen's church of
Saint Nicholas; the
Archangel Michael chapel, site of the first Bulgarian secular school from the
National Revival era; and the Sts.
Constantine and
Helena church of the 16th-century suburban monastery of the same name.
The remains of a large 4th-5th-century basilica in Dzhanavara Park just south of town are becoming a tourist destination with some exquisite mosaics displayed
in situ. The remains of another massive 9th-century basilica adjacent to the scriptorium at Boris I's Theotokos Panagia monastery are being excavated and conserved. A 4th-5th-century episcopal basilica north of the Thermae is also being restored. There is also a number of newer Orthodox temples; two, dedicated to apostle Andrew and the local martyr St. Procopius of Varna, are currently under construction.
There is an old
Armenian Apostolic church; two
Roman Catholic churches (only one is now open and holds mass in Polish on Sundays), a thriving
Evangelical Methodist episcopal church offering organ concerts, active
Evangelical Pentecostal,
Seventh-day Adventist, and two
Baptist churches.
Two old mosques (one is open) have survived since Ottoman times, when there were 18 of them in town, as have two once stately but now dilapidated synagogues, a
Sephardic and an
Ashkenazic one, the latter in
Gothic style. A new mosque was recently added in the southern Asparuhovo district serving the adjacent
Muslim Roma neighborhood.
There is also a
Buddhist centre.
On a different note, spiritual master
Peter Deunov started preaching his
Esoteric Christianity doctrine in Varna in the late 1890s, and, in 1899–1908, the yearly meetings of his Synarchic Chain, later known as the Universal White Brotherhood, were convened there.
Architecture
By 1878, Varna was an
Ottoman city of mostly wooden
houses in a style characteristic of the Black Sea coast, densely packed along narrow, winding
alleys. It was surrounded by a stone wall restored in the 1830s with a
citadel, a moat, ornamented iron gates flanked by towers, and a vaulted stone
bridge across the River Varna. The place abounded in pre-Ottoman relics, ancient ruins were widely used as stone quarries.
Today, very little of this legacy remains; the city centre was
rebuilt by the nascent Bulgarian middle class in late 1800s and early 1900s in Western style with local interpretations of
Neo-Renaissance,
Neo-Baroque,
Neoclassicism,
Art Nouveau and
Art Deco (many of those buildings, whose ownership was restored after 1989, underwent renovations).
Stone masonry from demolished city walls was used for the cathedral, the two elite high schools, and for paving new boulevards. The middle class built practical townhouses and coop buildings. Elegant mansions were erected on main boulevards and in the vineyards north of town. A few industrial working-class suburbs (of one-family cottages with small green yards) emerged. Refugees from the 1910s-1920s' wars also settled in similar poorer yet vibrant neighbourhoods along the city edges.
During the rapid urbanization of the 1960s to the early 1980s, large
apartment complexes sprawled onto land formerly covered by small private vineyards or agricultural cooperatives as the city population tripled. Beach resorts were designed mostly in a sleek modern style, which was somewhat lost in their recent more lavish renovations. Modern landmarks of the 1960s include the
Palace of Culture and Sports (1968).
Upscale apartment buildings mushroomed both downtown and on uptown terraces overlooking the sea and the lake. Varna's vineyards (лозя, lozya), dating back perhaps to antiquity and stretching for miles around, started turning from mostly rural grounds dotted with summer houses or
vili into affluent
suburbs sporting opulent villas and family hotels, epitomized by the researched
postmodernist kitsch of the
Villa Aqua.
With the new suburban construction far outpacing infrastructure growth, ancient landslides were activated, temporarily disrupting major highways. As the number of vehicles quadrupled since 1989, Varna became known for traffic jams; parking on the old town's leafy but narrow streets normally takes the sidewalks. At the same time, stretches of
shanty towns, more befitting Rio de Janeiro, remain in
Roma neighbourhoods on the western edge of town due to complexities of local politics.
The beach resorts were rebuilt and expanded, fortunately without being as heavily overdeveloped as were other tourist destinations on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, and their greenery was mostly preserved. New modern office buildings started reshaping the old centre and the city's surroundings..
Education
Higher learning institutions
The
University of Economics, founded in 1920 as the Higher Business School, is the second oldest Bulgarian university, the oldest one outside Sofia, and the first private one—underwritten by the Varna Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Prof. Tsani Kalyandzhiev, who was educated at
Zürich and made a career as a research chemist in the
United States, was its first Rector (President).
The
Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy is successor to the nation's oldest technical school, the Naval Machinery School, established in 1881 and renamed His Majesty's Naval Academy in 1942. Other higher schools include the Medical University, the Technical University, the
Chernorizets Hrabar Varna Free University—the first private university in the land after 1989, three junior colleges, and two local branches of other Bulgarian universities.
There are four
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences research institutes (of oceanology, fisheries, aero and hydrodynamics, and metallography), a government research institution (shipping), and a now-defunct naval architecture design bureau. The Institute of Oceanology (IO-BAS) has been active in
Black Sea deluge theory studies and deepwater archaeology in cooperation with
Columbia University,
MIT,
UPenn, and
National Geographic.
in 2007, Varna was home to a total of 2,500 faculty and researchers and over 30,000 students.
Local universities:
Other universities' local branches:
New Bulgarian University Local Centre Varna
Bishop Constantine of Preslav University of Shumen Teacher Information and Qualification Centre (graduate)
Noted high schools (gymnasia)
First Language School (English and German)
Dr. Petar Beron High School of Mathematics
Acad. Metodi Popov High School of Science and Mathematics
Frédéric Joliot-Curie Fourth Language School (French and Spanish)
John Exarch Language School (English, German, and French)(External Link)
Constantine of Preslav National High School for the Humanities and Arts
Dobri Hristov National School of Arts (instrumental and vocal music, dance, and visual arts)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry private gymnazium (IT, languages, and PR)
Libraries
Pencho Slaveikov Public Library
Culture
Varna has some of the finest and oldest museums, professional arts companies, and arts festivals in the nation and is known for its century-old traditions in visual arts, music, and book publishing, as well as for its bustling current pop-culture scene. Over the past few decades, it developed as a festival centre of international standing. Varna is a front-runner for European Capital of Culture for 2019, planning to open several new high-profile facilities such as a new opera and concert hall, a new exhibition centre, and a reconstruction of the Summer Theatre, the historic venue of the .
Museums
Varna Archaeological Museum (founded 1888)
Naval Museum (founded 1923)
Roman Baths
Aladzha Monastery
Battle of Varna Park Museum (founded 1924)
Museum of Ethnography
National Revival Museum
History of Varna Museum
History of Medicine Museum
Health Museum (children's)
Puppet Museum (antique puppets from Puppet Theatre shows)
Bulgar Settlement of Phanagoria ethnographical village (mockup, with historical reenactments)
Aquarium (founded 1912)
Nicolaus Copernicus Observatory and Planetarium
Naval Academy Planetarium
Museum of Natural History
Terrarium
Zoo
Dolphinarium (founded 1984)
Galleries
Boris Georgiev Art Gallery
Georgi Velchev Gallery
Modern Art Centre
Print Gallery
Numerous smaller fine and applied arts galleries (External Link)
Performing arts professional companies
Opera and Philharmonic Society (opera, symphonic and chamber music, ballet, and operetta performances; earliest philharmonic society founded 1888)
Stoyan Bachvarov Drama Theatre (founded 1921)
Puppet Theatre (in Bulgarian, founded 1952; performances for children and adults)
Other performing arts groups
Morski Zvutsi Choir School (academic choirs)
Dobri Hristov Choir School (academic choir)
Varna Ensemble (traditional folk music and dance)
Other institutions
Festival and Congress Centre (in Bulgarian, 1986; concerts, film, theatre and dance shows, exhibitions, trade shows)
Palace of Culture and Sports (1968; sports events, concerts, film shows, exhibitions, trade shows, sports classes, fitness)
International arts festivals
, founded 1964 (biennial)
Varna Summer International Music Festival, founded 1926 (annual)
Varna Summer International Jazz Festival (annual)
International May Choir Competition (annual)
European Music Festival (annual)
Operosa Euxinograd opera festival (annual)
Sea and Memories international music festival devoted to popular sea songs (annual)
International Folk Festival (annual)
Discovery International Pop Festival (annual)
Song on Three Seas pop and rock competition (annual)
Varna Summer International Theatre Festival (annual)
Golden Dolphin puppet festival (triennial)
Love is Folly film festival (annual)
International Festival of Red Cross & Health Films (biennial)
World Animation Festival (discontinued)
International Print Biennial (founded 1980)
August in Art festival of visual arts (annual) (in Bulgarian)
product Festival of Contemporary Art (annual)
Slavic Embrace Slav poetry readings (annual)
National events
Golden Rose Bulgarian Feature Film Festival (biennial)
May Arts Saloon at Radio Varna
Navy Day (second Sunday of August)
Urban Folk Song Festival
Christmas Folk Dance Competition
Local events
Easter music festival
Golden Fish fairy tale festival
Kinohit movie marathon
Crafts fair
Dormition of the Theotokos festival, cathedral patron, Varna Day (August 15)
Beer Fest
Saint Nicholas Day (December 6)
Christmas festival
New Year's Eve concert and fireworks (Independence Square)
Media
Local newspapers
Cherno More
Chernomorie
Narodno Delo
Dialog - The free positive newspaper (weekly)
Pozvanete
Varna (weekly)
Vlastta (online publication)
National newspapers' local editions
24 Chasa More
Morski Dnevnik
Morski Trud
Magazines
Morski Sviat
Prostori
Publishing houses
Alfiola (New Age)
Alpha Print (advertising)
Atlantis
Kompas
Liternet (poetry, fiction, non-fiction: electronic and print)
Обяви Варна (безплатни обяви)
Naroden Buditel (history)
Slavena (history, children's books, travel, multimedia, advertising)
Local radio stations
Alpha Radio
DarikNews (Varna)
FM+ Varna
Radio Bravo
Radio Varna
Local TV stations
BNT Varna
MSAT
TV Varna
Web portals
Varna Info (general info, English)
Moreto.net (general info, news)
ida.bg (general info, news)
ole-bg (sports)
varna-sport.com (sports)
Biznesa (business)
Programata (free cultural guide)
Parvi dubal (movies)
Liternet (books)
Varna na mladite (youth)
Sports
Football is the biggest spectator sport with two rival clubs in the nation's top professional league, Cherno More (the Sailors), founded in 1913 and four times national champion, including the first championship in 1925, and Spartak (the Falcons), founded in 1918, one time champion and participant in the UEFA Cup in 1983, when it reached the second knockout round and played Manchester United.
In the late 1800s, Varna was considered the birthplace of Bulgarian football with a Swiss gym teacher coaching the first varsity team at the men's high school. In February 2007, the city decided to replace its antiquated 1950's municipal stadium with a new arena according to UEFA/FIFA specifications (External Link). The new venue will seat 30,000 (40,000 for concerts including standing room). Another state-of the-art track-and-field stadium with a capacity of 5,000 seats and training halls for professional and public use will open in the Mladost district in 2009 to compensate for the lost track-and-field capacity of old Varna stadium(External Link).
Men's basketball, women's volleyball, gymnastics, boxing, martial arts, and sailing are also vibrant. The 4-km swimmimg marathon Cape Galata—Varna is a popular venue. Varna hosts international competitions, including world championships, and national events in several sports on a regular basis, including auto racing and motocross. Bulgarian national basketball and volleyball teams host their games, including Volleyball World Cup games, at the Palace of Sports, the country's largest arena. Currently (2007), three 18-hole golf courses of professional quality are being developed north of the city in the vicinity of Balchik and Kavarna, with more to come. A hippodrome with a horseback riding school is located in the Vinitsa neighborhood, and Asparuhov most is the foremost bungee jumping spot in the nation due to the local Club Adrenalin.
In early August 2007, a new municipal sports complex with fields for football, basketball and volleyball was opened as a part of a larger complex of sports facilities, mini-golf, tennis, biking alleys, mini-lakes and ice-skating rinks in the district of Mladost. Smaller municipal fields opened in the Sea Garden, Asparuhov Val Park, and elsewhere; the municipal Olympic-size swimming pool complex was rebuilt also in 2007, and the first segment of a bike lane to connect the Sea Garden with the westernmost residential districts was completed outside City Hall(External Link). Paying tribute to the golf course development mania, the mayor vowed to build a free municipal driving range in the district of Asparuhovo(External Link). The new city regulation plan (under discussion in early 2008) envisages a large public amateur sports complex south of Lake Varna(External Link) and a ski run with artificial snow covering.
Varna athletes won 4 of the 12 medals for Bulgaria at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Organized crime
As in other Bulgarian cities, some sectors of the economy, including gambling, corporate security, tourism, real estate, and professional sports, are believed to be controlled in part by shady business groups with links to Communist-era secret services or the military; the TIM group (External Link) is one example. In 2003, Iliya Pavlov, chairman of MG Holding (former Multigroup), owner of the posh St. Elias resort at Constantine and Helena and president of PFC Cherno more, was gunned down in Sofia, as was Emil Kyulev, chairman of DZI Financial Group and owner of the stylish Holiday Club Riviera resort at Golden Sands, in 2005. The perpetrators are still unknown. Varna has also seen gangland- (mutri-) style bombings, and is believed to be a hangout for Russian and Chechen mafias.
However, it's noted that in Varna, the mutri presence is by no means as visible as it's in smaller coastal towns and resorts. Over the last couple of years, crime has subsided, which is said to have contributed to Varna's naming as Bulgaria's Best City to Live In (2007)(External Link); in 2007, the regional police chief was promoted to the helm of the national police service.
Twin cities
Varna's twin cities are:
| Aalborg, Denmark
Dordrecht, Netherlands
Kharkiv, Ukraine
Odessa, Ukraine
Malmö, Sweden
Turku, Finland
Miami, United States
Rostock, Germany
Novorossiysk, Russia
Pireus, Greece
|
|
Memphis, United States
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Washington, England
Karlsruhe, Germany
Boston, United States
Wels, Austria
Vysoké Mýto, Czech Republic
Genoa, Italy
Lyon, France
Saint Petersburg, Russia
|
In March 2008, the municipal council voted to sign twinning contracts with Barcelona, Liverpool, Novosibirsk, and Stavanger. (External Link)
Trivia
Varna Peninsula on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Varna. (External Link)
Varna was the point of origin of the ship Demeter in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. (External Link)Further Information
Get more info on 'Varna'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://varna.totallyexplained.com">Varna Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
