Varna
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| Varna Варна |
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| Nickname(s): Морската столица (The Marine Capital) | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Bulgaria | ||
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| Province | Varna Province | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Kiril Yordanov | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 205 km2 (79.2 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 80 m (262 ft) | ||
| Population (2008-06-16) | |||
| - Total | ▲352,211 | ||
| - Density | 1,718/km2 (4,449.6/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
| Website: varna.bg | |||
Varna (Bulgarian: Варна, IPA: /ˈvar.nə/) 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 352,211.[1]
Commonly referred to as the marine (or summer) capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a major tourist destination, business and 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.[2]
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[edit] Geography, climate, and transportation
Varna occupies an area of 205 km²[3] on verdant terraces descending from the calcareous Franga Plateau (height 356 m) on the north and Avren Plateau on the south, along the horseshoe-shaped Varna Bay of the Black Sea, the elongated Lake Varna, and two waterways connecting the bay and the lake and 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 and more regular rainfall. Although Varna receives about two thirds of the average rainfall for Bulgaria, abundant groundwater keeps its wooded hills lush throughout summer. January and February can be bitterly cold at times, with blizzards. 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, Ukraine, 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 is 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. Timetables for the city's bus services can be found here.[1]
[edit] Climate chart
 Weather averages for Varna  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 5 (41) |
5 (41) |
11 (52) |
15 (59) |
21 (70) |
27 (81) |
29 (84) |
30 (86) |
28 (82) |
22 (72) |
12 (54) |
7 (45) |
17 (63) |
| Average low °C (°F) | -1 (30) |
-1 (30) |
2 (36) |
7 (45) |
11 (52) |
20 (68) |
24 (75) |
20 (68) |
14 (57) |
10 (50) |
4 (39) |
1 (34) |
9 (48) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 30 (1.18) |
40 (1.57) |
30 (1.18) |
30 (1.18) |
30 (1.18) |
40 (1.57) |
40 (1.57) |
20 (0.79) |
30 (1.18) |
30 (1.18) |
50 (1.97) |
60 (2.36) |
440 (17.32) |
| Source: weatherbase.com [4] | |||||||||||||
[edit] History
[edit] Antiquity and Bulgarian conquest
- See also: Varna Necropolis
Varna is among Europe's oldest cities. Miletians founded the apoikia (trading colony) of Odessos in 570 BCE (in the time of Astyages) within 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 old European Varna culture and the world's oldest large find of gold artifacts (mid-5th millennium BCE radiocarbon dating), existed within the modern city limits. Odessos was a member of the Pontic Pentapolis and a mixed Greco-Thracian community—contact zone between the Ionians and the Thracians (Getae, Crobyzi, Terizi) of the hinterland (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 [2], 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. The Jireček Line, or the approximate linguistic frontier between Latin and Greek, ran through the Balkans from Odessus to the Adriatic.
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) [3] (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. It has been 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.
[edit] 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 secured it for 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.
[edit] 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[5] 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 is 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 is a cenotaph of Ladislaus III in Varna.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Economy
Varna is the second most important economic centre for Bulgaria after Sofia [4], 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 [5]. Financial services, particularly banking, insurance, investment management, and real-estate securitization are booming. As of December 2008, the fallout of the global financial crisis has not yet been hard. 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 [6]), shipbuilding (see also Oceanic-Creations), ship repair, and other marine industries.
In June 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, security systems, 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 [7]). 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 (this still holds true in December 2008). Commercial real estate is developing major international office tower projects [8], [9], [10].
In retail, the city not only has the assortment of international big-box retailers [11] 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 2008, there were three shopping malls operating and another four 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) [12], 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 [13], 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 [14] 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" [15].
In December 2007 (and again in October 2008), Varna was voted "Best City in Bulgaria to Live In" [16] by a national poll by Darik Radio, the 24 Chasa daily and the information portal darik.news.
[edit] Population
The first population data date back to the mid-1600s when the town was thought to have about 4,000 inhabitants [17]. After the Liberation in 1878, the first population census in 1881 counted 24,555 [18] 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 the first, second, and fourth places. There has been some speculation in recent years, that Varna had overtaken Plovdiv and was the second most-populous city in Bulgaria [6] [7]. Official statistics, however, do not support these claims.
Varna is officially (according to GRAO and NSI) the third-largest city by permanent address, but various sources, including the 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 [19]), making it the second-largest city. Deputy Mayor Venelin Zhechev, chief architect, reported population of about 650,000 [20]. At the end of 2008, Mayor Kiril Yordanov claimed the real number of the permanent residents in the city is 970,000 [21], considerably larger than the official 359,801, which shows that there are 60% unregistered people living in Varna, according to Yordanov.
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.[1] Here, the "Varna-Devnya-Provadiya agglomeration" is not 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.[22]
Most Varnians are ethnic Bulgarians (85.3% in the province, but perhaps a higher percentage in the city[23]). 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 Chengene Kula in 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.
[edit] 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 | 302,841 | 313,408 | 349,416 |
[edit] City government
[edit] Executive
The city chief executive is the mayor (кмет, kmet: the word has the same etymology as count). Since the end of the one-party communist rule in 1990, there have been three mayors: Voyno Voynov, SDS (Union of Democratic Forces), ad interim, 1990-91; Hristo Kirchev, SDS, 1991-99; Kiril Yordanov, independent, 1999 - present. Yordanov was reelected for a third consecutive term in 2007. [24]
[edit] Legislative
As of January 2009, the city council (the 51-member legislature) is composed as follows: centre-left Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), 9 council members; centre-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), 9; Dvizhenie Nashiyat Grad (Our Town Movement, a local group), 6; Red, Zakonnost i Svravedlivost (Order, Rule of Law, and Justice, another local group), 5; the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), 4; coalition of SDS and Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB), another centre-right party, 3; other groups, 15. Borislav Gutsanov (BSP) is council chairman. [25]
[edit] Party politics
The largest political parties in the city are BSP and SDS, with the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NDSV) as a distant third. Varna is currently represented by 4 ministers in Sergey Stanishev's cabinet: Nikolay Vasilev (NDSV, State Administration), Daniel Valchev (NDSV, Education and Science), Miglena Tacheva (BSP, Justice), and Petar Dimitrov (BSP, Economy and Energy). Other Varna politicians include Ilko Eskenazi (SDS), Aleksandar Yordanov (SDS), and Borislav Ralchev (NDSV).
[edit] Judicial
The city is the seat of a regional, district, and military court, and a court of appeal; regional, district, military, and apellate prosecutor's offices. [26]
[edit] Consulates
There are consulates of the following countries: the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom [27].
[edit] Boroughs and urban planning
The city is divided by law into five boroughs, each with its mayor and council: Asparuhovo, Vladislav Varchenchik, Mladost, Odessos (the historic centre), and Primorski (also comprising the seaside resorts north of the city centre). The boroughs are composed of various districts with distinctive characters and histories.[8]
As of January 2009, a heated public discussion of a new draft general plan has been under way for a few months; it is expected to be passed by the city council later this year. [28]
[edit] Sights
City landmarks include the 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.
- See also: Sea Garden (Varna)
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"[29]. 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[30]) 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.
Like other cities in the region, Varna still has its share of stray dogs, but for the most part they are calm and friendly, flashing orange clips on the ears showing they have been castrated and vaccinated. However, urban wildlife is dominated by the ubiquitous seagulls.
[edit] Churches
- See also: Dormition Cathedral, Varna
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 (it is undergoing restoration). 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.
[edit] 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).
With the country's return to capitalism since 1989, 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.[9] [10]
[edit] Education
[edit] 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:
- University of Economics and College of Tourism
- Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy
- Technical University and Varna College
- Prof. Paraskev Stoyanov Medical University and Medical College
- Chernorizets Hrabar Varna Free University
Other universities' local branches:
- New Bulgarian University Local Centre Varna
- Bishop Constantine of Preslav University of Shumen Teacher Information and Qualification Centre (graduate)
[edit] Noted high schools (gymnasia)
- First Language School (English and German)
- Dr. Petar Beron Second High School of Mathematics
- Acad. Metodi Popov Third High School of Science and Mathematics
- Frédéric Joliot-Curie Fourth Language School (French and Spanish)
- John Exarch Fifth Language School (English, German, and French)[31]
- 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)
[edit] Libraries
[edit] 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 house and concert hall, a new exhibition centre, and a reconstruction of the Summer Theatre, the historic venue of the International Ballet Competition.
[edit] 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)
[edit] Galleries
- Boris Georgiev Art Gallery
- Georgi Velchev Gallery
- Modern Art Centre
- Print Gallery
- Numerous smaller fine and applied arts galleries [32]
[edit] 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; often cited as the finest one in the nation, performances for children and adults)
- Varna Ensemble (traditional folk music and dance)