FORTRESS TSAREVETS (КРЕПОСТ ЦАРЕВЕЦ)

Tsarevets Hill is one of Veliko Tarnovo's main attractions. It can be seen in the distance from almost every entrance to the town. You can walk up to it to get close to the remains of the fortress, and from the promenade it offers a magnificent view of Veliko Tarnovo and the meandering Yantra River. The hill was first occupied by the Thracians in the ^2nd millennium BC, but the fortress itself was founded in the ^12th century. Between 1185 and 1393, Veliko Tarnovo (then called Tarnovgrad) became the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, with the fortress as its center of political and religious power. It was eventually destroyed by the Ottomans, but impressive ruins can still be seen today. The royal palace can still be seen, along with numerous churches and dwellings. The main gate to the west was once equipped with a drawbridge; to the north is the Lobnata skala - a rock from which condemned prisoners were thrown to their deaths; and to the south is the Baudouin Tower. The church at the top, with its monumental frescoes dating from 1981, is a reconstruction of the original church.

Interesting fact: a Frenchman, Baudouin de Flandre, emperor of the Latin Empire, was imprisoned in the tower that bears his name. After the battle of Adrianople in 1205, he was taken hostage by the Bulgarian tsar Kaloyan, and legend has it that he was favored by the Bulgarian queen while in captivity.