The Museum of National Awakening and of the Constituent Assembly is housed in the former town hall. This edifice, with its pale-blue and white façade, is quite harmonious: the curved pediment rests on columns erected in 1872 by master builder Kolju F..

Built in 1861, the Banker's House shows the ability of builders to adapt to the irregularity of the land. There is only one storey on the street side, yet there are four on the river side. The ground floor, consisting of a large drawing room surround..

Gurko Street overlooks the river from the hillside along which it runs. Its old houses feature flower-decked façades, and seem to be literally clinging to the rock. Walking along the street, one senses the closeness of the River Yantra, often conceal..

Hadži Nikoli's Inn was commissioned in 1858 by a wealthy merchant from the master builder Kolju Ficeto. The street arcades hide an elongated inner courtyard framed by two storeys of arcaded galleries. The ensemble (slightly neglected and closed off b..

A walk along the remarkably well-preserved ramparts offers superb views of the city's terraced white houses. Note the ruins of a 12C church and of a 6C-7C basilica, protected by canopies. Note also the craftsmen's workshops and the Baldwin Tower. Thi..

The Church of the Forty Martyrs was built under the rule of Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II (1218-1241). A revered monument of the Second Bulgarian Empire, it was transformed into a mosque in the 18C, and later returned to the Orthodox Church after the l..

Carewec, "City of the Tsars", towers above the town of which it is the soul and heart. It has retained the memory of the saga which made the Asen dynasty (1218-1393) one of the most brilliant in Europe. At first sight, Carewec appears like ..

The church of St-Demetrios-of-Salonica, designed in the Byzantine style, is surrounded by a fine flower-decked enclosure. It is here that the brothers Theodore and Asen rose against Byzantine domination and laid the foundations of a future state: the..

The gorge dug by the River Yantra is the superb setting of the Monastery of the Transfiguration. Restored circa 1850 (by Dimitar Sofijaliata, then Kolju Ficeto), it features a church famous for its murals painted by Zahari Zograf. Note, in particular..

Rakovski Street is undoubtedly the most popular street with Veliko Turnovo's visitors. This is not surprising since, along this pedestrian street, lined with houses in the National Awakening style, there is an uninterrupted succession of wood-carvers..

The church of St-Cyrillus-and-St-Methodus, located inside a garden overhanging the street, was erected in 1861 by master builder Kolju Ficeto. An arcaded narthex leads to the sanctuary where the naves are surmounted by vaulting in the shape of an upt..

Off the beaten track at the foot of the Cravec and Trapezica hills, Asenov is today a peaceful district basking in the shade of the city of the Tsars. It lies either side of the Jantra, crossed here by a little bridge. Asenov has no fewer than five i..

Strangely wedged beneath the Arbanasi road, the current St-George's Church dates from 1616. From the street, one can only just catch sight of the small semi-circular apse and the powerful lateral buttresses. If you are lucky enough to enter the churc..