According to ZIPCODESEXPLORER, the city of Ruse is located on the right bank of the Danube, 320 km northeast of Sofia. It is the fourth largest city in Bulgaria.
In the II century. The Romans built a fortification on this site called Sexaginta (Sexaginta Prista) – a city with 60 ships that protected the military port. Today’s city has the age of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. Later, the Turks erected a large Ruschuk fortress here, which played the role of an important trade and military center.
During the Renaissance, Ruse played an important role in the struggle against the Ottoman enslavers, playing the role of a link between the secret revolutionary committees in the country and the central revolutionary committee based in Bucharest. Today Rousse is the largest Bulgarian port on the Danube and an important industrial and cultural centre.
Rousse is considered the most European Bulgarian city. Because of the well-preserved ancient architecture, it is sometimes called “Little Vienna”. About 200 buildings in Ruse are listed in the Architectural and Historical Heritage Fund, 12 of them are especially valuable. First of all, this is a profitable building with a winged Mercury on the roof (the old theater). It was built in 1902 by the architects Raul Branck, Georgy Lang and Frank Scholz.
Freedom Monument (1908), the symbol of the city, is a remarkable work of the Florentine architect and sculptor Arnoldo Zocchi. Remarkable cultural and historical monuments also include the Musical Gymnasium, the Catholic Church with paintings on glass, the buildings of the Savings Bank, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Gymnasium for Men. Prince Boris, the Sailor’s House, the District Administration (provided as a museum), the Club of Cultural Figures, the Office of the Duty Free Zone, the House of the Simeonov Brothers.
Rousse – city of museums. There is the Pantheon of figures of the era of the Bulgarian National Revival, the City Historical Museum, the Museum of Grandmother Tonka, the house-museum of Zakhary Stoyanov, the house-museum of Toma Kirdzhiev, the Museum of Urban Life in the house of Calliope; the National Museum of Transport and Communications, housed in the building of the oldest railway station in Bulgaria; City Art Gallery.
Ruse is also a student city. Here is a large University of Rousse, founded in 1954. Prista ParkĀ is located 6 km from the city. It is distinguished by beautiful deciduous forests and well-decorated alleys. You can visit the Danube island of Ljulaka. 12 kilometers east of Rousse there is another major recreational facility – forest park Lipnik with dachas, restaurants, artificial lakes, a sports base and camping. 4 km from the forest park Lipnik there is an experimental station “Obratsov Chiflik” with beautiful centuries-old deciduous forests, fertile land and vineyards. The station is a model of economic development in the past.
Part of the valley of the Rusenski Lom River, together with its tributaries Beli, Malka and Cherni Lom, has been declared a Natural Park. This territory is located 20 km south of Ruse. The rivers have formed incredibly beautiful gorges in limestone rocks. The area is a popular destination for rock climbers. In the same area there was one of the most significant military, economic and cultural centers in Bulgaria in the 12th – 14th centuries. – city of Cherven. It stands on the right bank of the river Cherni Lom, near the village of the same name, 31 kilometers south of Ruse. Of the surviving ruins, the most interesting are parts of the fortress wall, a watchtower, two gates, a castle, the foundations of churches and boyar palaces, two unique water-drawing structures with vaulted stairs. In the late Middle Ages, many hermit monks settled in the valley. Entire monastic complexes were created (Ivanovsky, Small Paradise, Big Paradise, Kossuth), as well as churches with beautiful murals, some of which have survived to this day.
Murals in the Ivanovo rock churches (on the river Rusensky Lom) – one of the pinnacles of medieval Bulgarian art, the work of the masters of the Tryavna art school. In 1983 they were included in the UNESCO Cultural List.
On the banks of the river Rusenski Lom there is a tourist center “Alpinist”. This place provides excellent opportunities for rock climbing on routes of different categories and difficulty. It is located 1 km southeast of the village of Basarbovo. And not far from the tourist center is the Basarbovsky monastery.