Suzanne
01-06-06, 03:31 PM
Thousands of tourists flock to see spectacular show on the royal hill
http://standartnews.com/archive/2006/06/01/pics/481216c.jpg
Picture A model of the royal palace on Tsarevets hill
The royal palace of Tsarevets on the hill of the same name, Veliko Tarnovo, northern Bulgaria, spreads over about 0.5 ha. In the course of 207 years the supreme political and religious power of medieval Bulgaria resided here (from 1185 to 1393, the time of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom). High stonewalls, about tow-metre thick surrounded the palace. Guard towers rose by the gates. The palace premises closed round a large inner yard. The throne room and the reception chambers stood in its western part. The cathedral, decorated with colourful mosaic and frescoes rose in the centre. Three tombs and fragments of a sarcophagus where some of the Bulgarian kings had been buried, were found in the church. The first settlement on the hill appeared in the late Chalcolithic (4200 BC). It developed throughout the Bronze Age and flourished in the Iron Age when the Thracians inhabited it. In the period from 5th to 7th AD century, Zikideva, the largest Byzantine city in the province of Lower Mizia was established. It was ruined, though, during the invasions of Avars and Slavs in the beginning of the 7th century. In the 9th century a Bulgarian settlement originated over the ruins that gradually developed and enlarged at the time of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. In the 12th century the town was fortified and the residence complex of the nobility as well as churches were erected. Tsarevets was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, a time of great cultural and literary growth. Nowadays, thousands of tourists from all over the world, the distant USA and Japan included, come to Bulgaria especially to watch the phenomenal spectacle Light and Sound show on the royal hill.
http://standartnews.com/archive/2006/06/01/pics/481216c.jpg
Picture A model of the royal palace on Tsarevets hill
The royal palace of Tsarevets on the hill of the same name, Veliko Tarnovo, northern Bulgaria, spreads over about 0.5 ha. In the course of 207 years the supreme political and religious power of medieval Bulgaria resided here (from 1185 to 1393, the time of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom). High stonewalls, about tow-metre thick surrounded the palace. Guard towers rose by the gates. The palace premises closed round a large inner yard. The throne room and the reception chambers stood in its western part. The cathedral, decorated with colourful mosaic and frescoes rose in the centre. Three tombs and fragments of a sarcophagus where some of the Bulgarian kings had been buried, were found in the church. The first settlement on the hill appeared in the late Chalcolithic (4200 BC). It developed throughout the Bronze Age and flourished in the Iron Age when the Thracians inhabited it. In the period from 5th to 7th AD century, Zikideva, the largest Byzantine city in the province of Lower Mizia was established. It was ruined, though, during the invasions of Avars and Slavs in the beginning of the 7th century. In the 9th century a Bulgarian settlement originated over the ruins that gradually developed and enlarged at the time of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. In the 12th century the town was fortified and the residence complex of the nobility as well as churches were erected. Tsarevets was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, a time of great cultural and literary growth. Nowadays, thousands of tourists from all over the world, the distant USA and Japan included, come to Bulgaria especially to watch the phenomenal spectacle Light and Sound show on the royal hill.