BULGARIA : RUSE
Ruse is the center of an administrative region. It is situated on the
right bank of the Danube at the mouth of the Roussenski Lom river, 20 km
northeast of Sofia.
The largest Bulgarian city on the Danube has a long history - from the
5000-year-old prehistoric settlement, the Roman town of Sexaginta
Prista, or the Port of the Sixty Ships, and the important Ottoman
harbour and fortress, to the present economic and cultural centre where
Art Nouveau-inspired ornamentation drips from delicate turn-of
the-century houses. Durring the Renaissance Ruse was a cultural center
and the center of the national liberation movement activists in
Bulgaria. From the times of the Turkish yoke ruins of the Konu Kapia
gate and of the Levent Tabia fortress have been preserved. A Pantheon
has been constructed where the ossa of Lyuben Karavelov, Stefan Kardzha,
Angel Kanchev, Zahary Stoyanov, Panayot Hitov, baba Tonka and other
distinguished Bulgarians are kept.
About 200 buildings in Ruse are listed in the architectural and
historical heritage of Bulgaria, the most outstanding of which are: the
1908 Liberation Monument, the Drama Theatre and High School of Music,
the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Dohodnoto Zdanie, the Kaliopa
house and many others. The ancient places of interest include Leventabia
Fortress, the Kyuntukapu Gate, the 1632 Holy Trinity Church, the Mahmoud
Column.
In the vicinity of the town are the forest park Lipnik and the
Roussenski Lom natural reserve, home to the dramatic Rock Monastery of
Ivanovo and the ruined town of Cherven.
The Bridge of Friendship over the Danube connect Ruse with Romania town
of Gyurgevo and is the border cross point between Bulgaria and Romania.
