The Roman Theatre, 2nd c, Plovdiv

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Please have a look at 11 DAYS TOUR OF BULGARIA

Bulgarian archaeology is breathtaking and majestic! Rich cultural and artistic layers are dating back to prehistoric times. Present Bulgarian lands treasure over 8000 years of history. Bulgaria is Europe’s most ancient civilization. Due to its geographic position at the borders between Europe and Asia, Bulgaria has always served as a main bridge between east and west, north and south. It has been a crossroads for many cultures throughout history. Numerous tribes and peoples have inhabited these lands as early as the prehistoric and the antiquity ages, and through the middle and late middle ages of world’s history: Thracians, Hellenic Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Slavs, Proto-Bulgarians, Ottomans, to mention just a few. Thus, one cultural level has built over the previous one, both merging and influencing one another.  

Prehistoric landmarks

•   The Karanovo tell, 6 millennium BC , is world-famous. The cultural layer of the Karanovo tell is 12, 45 m thick and consists of successive settlements from the Neolithic to the Bronze age.The archaeological excavations at Karanovo enabled the establishment of the Karanovo Chronological System and provided the basis for division into periods of the Neolithic, Copper Age and Early Bronze Age not only in Thrace but of South-East Europe as well.
  

•   The fabulous Varna archaeology museum houses the internationally renowned ‘Varna Gold', the oldest gold in the world and Europe's most ancient civilization, even older than the Mesopotamian and the Egypt civilization.


Finds from Varna Eneolithic necropolis 4600- 4200 BC

The Land of Orpheus

  The Thracians reached high level of cultural development

The Sveshtari  Tomb, 4th -3rd  c. BC, UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Valley of Thracian Kings

Golden Mask of an Odrysian Orphic dynasty, 5th c. BC., “Svetitza”  tumulus, The Valley of Thracian Kings, close to Kazanlak.

  Thracian Treasures

The Rogozen Treasure 5– 4 century BC, which consists of 165 silver vessels, weighting 20 kg.	The Vratza Treasure, 4th century BC The fabulous treasure of a rich Thracian Princess is jewelry of exceptional exquisiteness. The crown, which resembles a branch of laurels, is made of pure gold- 24 carats.
The world famous Panagyurishte golden treasure, 4th-3rd  c BC.
The Borovo Treasure- 4 century BC,  silver with gilding with inscriptions with the name of Thracian king Kotys /383- 359 BC /	The Kralevo Treasure , 3 c. BC.

Fabulous Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Sites   

Sample Itinerary:
Sofia (2 nights) – Plovdiv (2 nights) – Kazanlak (1 night) – Nessebar (1 night) –
Varna (2 nights) – Shumen (1 night) – Veliko Tarnovo (2 nights) – Sofia (1 night) -

Day 1:
Arrive Sofia airport. Meet your local guide, transfer and settle in at your hotel in Sofia. Overnight in Sofia.

Day 3:
All Day Transfer: Depart Sofia and travel to Plovdiv via Rila Monastery in the Rila Mountains. Driving distance: 320 km; driving time: 5 hours
Morning: En route we’ll visit the Rila Monastery, a remarkable UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the majestic Rila Mountains. The monastery is an original national museum with a century-old history that dates back to the 10th century. The present building was built in mid-19th century (1816–1848). Located in the gorgeous mountain scenery of the mountains, it is considered the highest achievement of Bulgarian monumental architecture of the National Revival period.
Afternoon: Continue our scenic drive through the Rila Mountains via the town of Samokov and Borovets mountain resort.
Late afternoon arrival in Plovdiv and settle in at your hotel. Overnight in Plovdiv

Day 4:
Plovdiv: All Day Bulgaria’s second city has astonishing historical and cultural heritage that dates back thousands of years, traces of which have survived to the present day. British archaeologists have proclaimed recently this ancient and picturesque city to be the sixth oldest in the world. The earliest inhabitation dates back to 4,000 BCE. The city was originally a Thracian settlement before becoming a major Roman city.
Guided walking city tour will include 2nd century Roman forum, stadium and fortress, as well as the fabulous amphitheatre, which was built during the time of Emperor Trajan in the 2nd century; a 15th century mosque, one of the oldest of the continent; the fascinating Old Town, built in the 18th-19th centuries as a centre of the Bulgarian National Revival architecture. Overnight in Plovdiv.

Plovdiv
 

Day 5:
All Day Transfer: Travel from Plovdiv to Kazanlak via the city of Stara Zagora, situated in the vast fields of the upper Thracian lowland. We’ll also visit the renowned prehistoric Karanovo site. Driving distance: 190 km; driving time: 2 hours 30 min.
En route: we’ll spend the morning in Stara Zagora to see the Neolithic Dwellings site, which is a unique archaeological museum of two houses from the Neolithic age (6th millennia BC), the new History Museum, the Forum of Roman Augusta Traiana (2nd century) and late ancient mosaics (4th–6th centuries), including a fragment of excavated Roman town and villa. Later on we’ll continue our drive to visit the world-famous 6th millennium BC huge settlement mound of Karanovo.
Late afternoon arrival in Kazanlak and settle in at your hotel. Overnight in Kazanlak.

Day 6:
Morning: we’ll start the day with a visit to the local History Museum to learn about the glorious Thracian history and culture of this area, which became known recently as The Valley of Thracian Kings, due to the breathtaking archaeological finds of the Thracian epoch discovered here. Then we’ll visit the exceptional Kazanlak mound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a most remarkable Thracian monument, with frescoes dating to the end of the 4th century BC. We’ll also drive through the countryside to see some more fascinating examples of decorated and furnished Thracian tombs.
Afternoon Transfer: Travel from Kazanlak to Nessebar on the Black Sea coast. Driving distance: 220 km; driving time: 3 hours.
Arrive and settle in at your hotel in Nessebar. Overnight in Nessebar.

Day 7:
Morning: guided tour in the charming seaside town-museum of Nessebar, ancient Messambria, which is another renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is particularly beautiful both in its location on a headland by the sea, and because of its many brightly painted 18th and 19th century traditional timber houses and cobbled streets. It is also famous for the impressive remains of fortifications and for the well-preserved late Byzantine churches, built in the period 11th - 14th centuries at the time of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.
Afternoon Transfer: Travel from Nessebar to Varna. Driving distance: 100 km; driving time: 1 hour 30 min.
Arrive and settle in at your hotel. Overnight in Varna.

Day 8:
Varna: All Day Bulgaria’s largest and most important city on the Black Sea is an ancient settlement, founded by sea-faring Greeks in the 6th century BC, who funded a colony which they named Odessos. The town got its present day name after the foundation of the Bulgarian State in 681. Nowadays Varna is an important port on the Black Sea and an international resort area as well, often referred to as the ‘Bulgarian Riviera’.
Morning: We’ll start the day visiting the Museum of History and Archaeology. The museum houses the outstanding collection of the internationally famous "Varna Gold". It was excavated in a prehistoric necropolis close to the city and its age is estimated to 4600 - 4200 BC. This collection, which consists of exceptional golden decorations and objects, is considered the oldest manufactured gold in the world and testifies for the high level of cultural development and artistic achievements of the people who populated these lands, and who, quite likely, belonged to Europe’s most ancient civilization. We’ll also visit the archaeological site of the well-preserved 2nd century Roman baths, which was the largest of that kind in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire.
Afternoon excursion: we’ll drive north, following the coastal line and will admire the picturesque scenery. We’ll visit Balchik, ancient Dionysopolis, to see local museum and the astonishing finding of the ancient temple of Cybele, the Mother of the Gods. Later, continue drive to reach cape Kaliakra, a ‘beautiful headland’ with Hellenistic, late Roman and Medieval fortifications on a dramatic rocky promontory, and Yaila, a late Roman fortified settlement on a rocky coast.
Overnight in Varna.

Day 9:
All Day Transfer: Travel from Varna to Shumen via Devnya – Pliska – Madara Horse-Rider – Preslav. Driving distance: 160 km; driving time: 3 hours.
Today and tomorrow we’ll make a number of stops en route to visit some of the most remarkable archaeological and historical sites in the Northeast of Bulgaria.
In the morning, we’ll stop in Devnya, ancient Marcianopolis, 30 km east of Varna, to see the unique Museum of Mosaics built over the remains of a late Roman house with mosaics of high quality.
Later, we’ll see the outstanding 8th century Madara Horse-Rider rock-cut relief, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only rock-cut relief in Europe. The sacred rocks of the Madara plateau and the caves inside them were a major spiritual centre during the period of the First Bulgarian Empire (681-1085). In 2008 the Madara Horse-Rider was elected national symbol of Bulgaria, based on the results of a national survey
Also, during the day we’ll stop to visit the national archaeological reserves and museums of the first Bulgarian capital cities: Pliska (681 – 893) and Veliki Preslav, i.e. Preslav the Great (893 – 972).
Late in the afternoon arrive in Shumen and settle in at your hotel. Overnight in Shumen.

Day 10:
Transfer Day: Travel from Shumen to Veliko Tarnovo via Sveshtari – Razgrad. Driving distance: 250 km; driving time: 4 hours 30 min.
We’ll spend most of the morning in the town of Shumen, located 90 km east of Varna, which is a major administrative, economic, educational and cultural centre of Northeast Bulgaria. We’ll see the medieval Fortress, located on the nearby plateau, which is a nature park. Due to its strategic location is has played an important role in the history of Medieval Bulgaria. Next, we’ll visit the beautiful Tombul Mosque (1744), which is the largest in Bulgaria and the second largest on the Balkans.
We depart Shumen and drive north, heading to Sboryanovo Archaeological Reserve where we’ll visit the fascinating Sveshtari Thracian tomb, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site, dating from the 4th - 3rd centuries BCE.
Later in the afternoon we’ll call at Razgrad to see archaeological site of ancient Abrittus, one of the most impressive Fortifications of the Roman Empire in the 2nd– 4th centuries.
Arrive in Veliko Tarnovo and settle in at your hotel. Overnight in Veliko Tarnovo.

Day 11:
Veliko Tarnovo All Day Perched on steep hills overlooking the Yantra River, Veliko Tarnovo is by all means one of the most picturesque Bulgarian towns. It was the capital city of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185 – 1396), where arts, culture and spiritual life flourished. During the time of the Bulgarian National Revival (18th – 19th century) it was an important centre of education, crafts and trade, and played the major role in the establishment of modern Bulgaria after the liberation from Ottoman domination in 1878, being the birth-place of the First Bulgarian Constitution.
In the morning we’ll visit the Archaeology Museum and will explore the medieval fortress on Tsarevets Hill. In the afternoon we’ll drive to the nearby historical village-museum of Arbanassi, famous for its traditional architecture and beautifully decorated churches, dating from the 17th – 18th centuries and will see one of them. Later, drive to see Nicopolis ad Istrum, an ancient Roman city, 25 km north of Veliko Tarnovo. Overnight in Veliko Tarnovo.

Day 12:
Transfer Day: Travel from Veliko Tarnovo to Sofia via Tryavna and Etara in the Balkan Mountains. Driving distance: 270 km; driving time: 4 hours.
En route we’ll visit two of the most picturesque architectural and ethnographical sites in the Balkan Mountains: the museum-town of Tryavna, which is famous for its woodworking traditions and National Revival-style houses; and the ethnographical and architectural reserve of Etara, which is a beautiful open-air museum-village with numerous artisan workshops.
Late afternoon: arrive in Sofia and settle in at your hotel. Overnight in Sofia.

Day 13:
Morning free in town.
Transfer to Sofia Airport for departure. Tour ends.

Sofia, The National Theater