I had a really good time visiting Mira’s family in Sevlievo, Bulgaria. I am intrigued by the culture and sensibilities in small town Bulgaria.
We started with visiting the old St. Prophet Eliah Church. The last place I was allowed to take photos was the entrance. It was pretty quaint on the inside, but we were not allowed to take any pictures.
Shipka memorial church is a Bulgarian Orthodox church built in the style of a Russian Orthodox church.
It was build during late 19th century as a dedication to the Bulgarian, Russian, and Ukrainian soldiers who lost their lives in liberating Bulgaria from the Ottoman empire. The gold plated domes are of typical Muscovite style from the late 19th century.
Continue reading “Shipka Memorial Church”If you are in northern Bulgarian, I recommend stopping by Troyan Monastery. It is definitely worth a couple of hours of your time.
Walking up to it, the entrance is fairly simplistic, which is to be expected from a monastery.
The mosaic on top of the left entrance doorway is a new modern day recreation of a roman style mosaic of virgin Mary with baby Christ.
Continue reading “Troyan Monastery”Hitar Pitar is a quaint little restaurant and hotel in the village of Beli Osam in Bulgaria (close to the Troyan Monastery). It has a neat collection of decorative artifacts that make for an interesting collection of photos.
The restaurant is located on the banks of the Beli Osam river.
Tsarevets fortress was a medieval stronghold of the erstwhile Second Bulgarian Empire located near the city of Veliko Tarnovo (which was also the capital city of that empire). While the fortress is in ruins, the recent reconstructions and restorations make it worth visiting.
The fortress itself is situated on top of a hill of the same name. The stronghold consisted of two forts, one on each hill. You can see the ruins of the second fort on the hill in the left hand side of the photograph above. The second fort is not reconstructed well enough to attract tourists.
Let’s step inside.
Continue reading “Tsarevets: a photo essay”