Tsarevets in Veliko Turnovo (source – Wikipedia)

I was in 1991 for the very first time in Veliko Turnovo. My Bulgarian friend was a perfect guide. I fell directly in love with this wonderfull and lovely town. It is in the middle of Bulgaria, south of the Balkan mountains. The Bulgarians say “old mountain”.

I was very happy to show it, as a tour leader, to tourists from Netherlands in 2006 and 2007. By that time, my Bulgarian was perfect.

The Tsarevets hill, towering high and proud above the town, is the big eye catcher. It is just a bunch of ruins, but in the Bulgarian Middle Ages (1196 – 1396) it was Bulgaria’s proud capital. And the emperors and their families ruled the country from the Tsarevets. In 1393 the Turkish army destroyed it all.

When Bulgaria got its freedom back in 1878, the very first session of the new parliament was in Veliko Turnovo. That buliding is a museum.

Most Bulgarians, also the female archive professor in my novels, have a soft spot for the town. In touristic travels, Veliko Turnovo is a must see. You cannot overlook the lovely Yantra river, that snakes through the town.

Veliko Turnovo does have a real and existing university. It atttacts Bulgarian and foreign students. Some lectures are in English, some in Bulgarian. In the summer time you can study Bulgarian language.

Unlike the fictional Balkan University Bulgaria in my romantic archive thrillers, it is located in a southern outskirt. According to Slavic traditions, it is named after two saints – Cyril and Method.

They created around the year 860 AD a brand new alphabet. Today that is called “Cyrillic alphabet”. Bulgarian is one of the languages that uses that alphabet. The goal was that people could read the Bible in their own language.