Turnovo City in Bulgaria

The splendid capital of the second Bulgarian kingdom (1185-1396), Turnovo is famous both for the remains of its past and for the exceptional beauty of its situation. Its many thousand houses overhanging the Jantra River, seem to be huddling together, in Ivan Vazov`s words, like `a flock of frightened sheep`. Turnovo is situated in the northern part of the pre-Balkan, at a point where the Jantra has cut deeply into the mountains and formed the separate hills of Tsarevets, Trapezitsa, Orlov Vrah, Garga Bair and Sveta Gora. In this fantastic landscape have been written some of the most glorious pages in the history of Bulgaria. The mediaeval town was divided into three parts. The inner town comprised the hills of Tsarevets and Trapezitsa, on which were the residences of the Tsar and the boyars, the Patriarch and the higher clergy. The outer town extended along the banks of the Jantra and consisted of three districts in which lived the craftsmen and merchants of Turnovo. The suburbs lay outside the walls and the Jantra bend, and were occupied by the poorer people of the town. Tsarevets was a very strong fortress protected by three massive gates which were guarded night and day. At the southern end is Baldwin’s Tower which has been restored. According to an old tradition Baldwin I of Flanders, the first Latin Emperor of the East, was imprisoned and killed in this tower. The higher part of the hill was occupied by the Patriarchate and the Royal Palace. The palace buildings occupy a total area of over 7000 square yards. Outside the town, the old cemetery of Turnovo was discovered in 1960. The material found in three - gold earrings, fragments of silk, belts, pottery vases, etc. provided useful information on the dress and jewellery worn by the boyars and their wives.