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The city of Varna (population 314 539) is situated at the Bay of Varna, 470 km east of Sofia. Varna is the biggest city at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. It is situated at the same latitude with Cannes, Nice, Monaco and Livorno.
. It is nestled in the deep valley between the Frengen Plareau and the Avren Plateau, where two lakes  were formed during the polyotsen - the Beloslav Lake is to the west of the city and the other - Varna Lake is within the limits of the city itself. Varna is a city over 11 km long, its width, including the new residential quarters is nearly 9 km. The city is like an amphitheatre and follows the curves of the Bay of Varna. It is surrounded by lots of gardens, vineyards and deciduous groves. Almost the whole territory is occupied with private country-houses and their small farms. The city is a regional admin- istrative centre.History: Varna has a history that could be traced back for thousand years. Due to its favourable location and visibility of almost 270 degrees the small cape, which now hosts the sea station, was inhabited by an ancient Thracian tribe - Corbisy in their small fishermen's settlement. In 6th century BC a Greek polis (settlement) inhabited by colonists and settlers from Millet emerged here under the name of Odessos.
The town became a fishing and farming colony and later on in the 5th century BC it turned into a real centre of commerce. Up to the Roman domination the Thracian god Darzalas was worshipped rather than the common gods Apollo and Dionyssus. Old Greek and Roman sources evidence that in Darzalas' honour processions, mysteries, games and competitions were organised. The town had been under the siege of the troops of Alexander of Macedonia in the middle of the 4th century BC but after the siege was put down the town was given autonomy within the limits of his Empire. After the uprising and its liberation during the rule of Lisimah the town re-established its supremacy at the north Black Sea coast.Up to the 1st century BC it was an independent polis and minted coins with the effigy of its patron god. Conquered by Mark Lukulus' legions, it became a Roman regional centre of great importance. There the great epic poet of Rome Ovidii stayed in his way to the town of Tommy (nowadays  Kyustendzha, Romania) where he was sent on exile. Gradually Odessos lost its supremacy in the region, which was then gained by the town of Martsianopolis (nowadays Devnya) founded by the Emperor Trayan. Beeing conquered and devastated several times during the barbarian invasions it was for some time within the Byzantine Empire then out of its territories. In 9th century it was already called Varna.
It is supposed that the name originates from the horse people in Central Asia-toponymy (name of an area) and hydronymy (name of a water basin) in India (the river that runs into the Ganges at Varanassi) and from the concept of caste (colour). After the numerous wars between Bulgaria and Byzantine, the town was included in the territory of Bulgaria in the beginning of the 13th century during the reign of King Kaloyan. Its defence system consisted of three strongholds: one - at the Cape Galata; other - at Cape St. Dimitar and the third, called Petrich was near the lake of Beloslav. Despite its reliable defence system, the town was conquered by the Turks in 1391 and it soon declined
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In 1444, during the crusade of the Polish king Vladislav Yagello (Varnenchik) and the Hungarian leader Yanosh Huniady, the town was under the siege of the knights. Despite the fact that the troops of the Christian coalition fought bravely they suffered a complete defeat. The young king Vladislav was killed. The citizens of Varna built a mausoleum in his honour. In the course of time the town more and more acquired an Oriental outlook. Many Turks settled there. Mosques, konaks (town-halls) and Turkish baths were built. The construction of churches was strongly forbidden for a long time. Varna became a mighty stronghold, which guarded the north-east borders of the Ottoman Empire and a commercial and craftsmen' cen- tre of great importance. |
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