Bulgaria

The nation of Bulgaria has cities with a very long history. More recently, Bulgaria was under Ottoman control for four centuries. The written Bulgarian language uses the Cyrillic, or Russian, alphabet. The Bulgars were a nomadic people who settled in the area that is now Bulgaria. With regard to religion, Bulgaria is generally Orthodox with some Catholics.

Bulgaria was the center of two separate medieval Bulgarian Empires. The first was more to the north of Bulgaria. The second included part of Greece. Bulgaria had also been part of the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria was on the losing side in both world wars, and was part of the East Bloc during the Cold War. It was a kingdom, ruled by a tsar, from 1908 until Communist rule after the Second World War.

Hisarya is an ancient town with Roman ruins.

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Sofia is the capital city of Bulgaria. It is a very ancient settlement and was an important Roman city. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is built very much in the style of the Hagia Sophia, which shouldn't be surprising as Bulgaria was under both Byzantine and Ottoman control. Alexander Nevsky was a medieval saint and prince of the Kievan Rus. The famous Nevsky Prospect street in St. Petersburg is also named for him. The first three images of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral are from Google Earth and Street View.

 

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Sofia's best-known street is Vitosha Blvd. The first image, from Google Earth, is looking along Vitosha Blvd.

 

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The area around Capital Fort is a modern business district. The first image is from Google Earth.

 

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Plovdiv is Bulgaria's second city. It has Roman ruins and is now an industrial city. Plovdiv has seen a long parade of conquerors in it's history. This is a look at the Old Town. The first image of the orange roofs that are so common to eastern Europe is from Google Earth.

 

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Plovdiv is also a modern city.

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On the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria is the city of Varna. This coast is known as the Bulgarian Riviera and was a popular seaside resort during the Communist era. Dormition Cathedral has the same name as a cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. The first two images are from Google Earth.

 

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Here is the modern city of Varna.

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Burgas is further south on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast and was an important city to both the Byzantines and the Ottomans.

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Ruse is an industrial city on Bulgaria's northern border, with Romania. The river is the Danube.

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