THE ETERNAL TOWN

Some towns have a long and glorious history and time seems to stand still in their streets and squares. Other towns belong to the present and impress one with their vitality and youthfulness.
There are towns, however, in which past and present blend giving them a unique character and charm. Tarnovo is one of these towns.
Before passing into oblivion, every period has left an indelible trace here. And these traces are many, because Tarnovo’s birthday is lost somewhere in the distant centuries, but life in this inimitable town still goes on.
Ancient and modern times, Eastern and Western civilizations are happily wedded here. Their influences have intermingled to produce an original town, which has no equal.
Man has enriched it to the best of his abilities. But actually he has only put a finishing touch to nature’s work, which has generously endowed it with beauty and charm. And time, for its part, has done the rest like a sculptor.
It is the scientists’ task to establish which part of it belongs to geology, which to history and which to art. The layman, however, prefers general impressions and the inimitable scenic beauty of the place. And as he cannot take with him a record of all he has seen, he has to content himself with his memories.
Compared with the other Bulgarian towns, Tarnovo’s situation is unique. The town is built on rocky terraces, the lowest of which descend steeply to the picturesque Yantra River, which meanders through deep limestone canyons carved by the water in bizarre shapes throughout the centuries.
Winding its way from south to north through high cliffs, the Yantra enters the Tarnovo Gorge at Oustie, takes a course to the north, then bends sharply in the opposite direction, curves around Sveta Gora, flows right to the south and then again to the north alter a new whimsical bend, encircles the Tsarevets Hill on three sides, threads its way round the Trapezitsa Hill, and turns again to the north to leave the town at the fascinating Dervent Gorge, the cliffs of which seem to stand guard over the river as it flows north towards the wide expanse of the Danubian Lowland.
Tarnovo is crossed by roads, which run in every direction. The motorist bound for the Black Sea resorts Drouzhba and Zlatni Pyassatsi (Golden sands) and coming from the west via Sofia, has to pass through it. The most convenient road for the traveller from the north, who wishes to visit the picturesque southern Black Sea shore and its resorts “Slunchev Bryag (Sunny beach), ancient Nessebur and delightful Sozopol or is heading to the Orient through Edirne and Istanbul, must also pass viaTarnovo, crossing the Balkan Rangethrough ShipkaPass.
The Tarnovo valley is dotted with lovely small towns and villages, the history of which is closely connected with that of the old capital.
The Yantra River divides the hilly Tarnovo valley into two large halves - Balkanska in the west, and Arbanashka in the east, but the eye can hardly distinguish them. For they fit into each other like the fingers of two hands. The river both separates them and brings them together into a lovely harmonious landscape.
As it runs its course round the cliffs the Yantra forms four small high peninsulas: Momina Krеpost in the east, Sveta Gora in the south, Trapezitsa in the north, and Tsarevets in the northeast. The Momina Krepost and Trapezitsa hills and the high hill of Garvanets, which is closely connected with them by a saddle back, are part of the Arbanassi heights, which also include the Ksilifor forests and the Sveta Gora massif, while 'Tsarevets is the end of the large Orlovets massif.
It has not been established yet: how and when the town came into being and who was its founder. It is mentioned in the earliest manuscripts under the name of Tarnovgrad, Tsarevgrad, Megas- Tornovos, to come down to us as Tarnovo. Some historians call it the King’s Town, the Town of Glory, the second Constantinople, the third Rome...
Legend has it that an unknown shepherd advised his lord to build his capital on one of the Tarnovo hills. The only passage up to the summit was a small footpath which was so narrow that a thistle could block it. Hence the settlement was named Tarnovgrad (Thistle Town) and the hill where the king built his castle, Tsarevets (King’s Hill).
But a legend is merely a legend and cannot satisfy science. Some historians have tried to attribute the town's name to the Latin word turris (tower), as the place was dotted with many towers; others see its origin in the Latin words tri naves (three ships), which the three hills of the old town - Tsarevets, Tiapezitsa and Momina Krepost, resemble.
In the last century and a half, scientists have shown great interest in Tarnovo. The French scholar Ami Boue was the first to write about it in 1836. The traveller coming from the west, first stops at Marno, or Marino Pole. In former days, there was a small village here far from the old town, with a tiny wooden church in the centre. The last Bogomils of Tarnovo were settled here, which probably happened after one of the last anti-Bogomil councils during Ivan Alexander’s reign (1331-1371), when their leaders were anatemized and expatriated. Towards the middle of the 17 th century, the inhabitants of Marino Pole became Catholics. Later on, they were gradually assimilated by the surrounding population.
According to an old legend Princess Tamara, the sister of the last Tarnovo King Ivan Shishman (1371-1393), was promised to Sultan Murad after Shishman became the vassal of the Padishah in 1375. She parted with her family at Marino Pole before making this great sacrifice to save her family and people. Saint Euthymius of Tarnovo, Bulgaria’s last Patriarch, also accompanied her, she kissed his hand and headed for Adrianopole, where the conquerer was waiting for her. That is why the place was called Marino Pole (Mara’s field), but in the course of time the name was shortened to Marno.
Orlovets height towers above the town to the north. It curves along the whole length of Tarnovo, to drop its vertical cliffs over one of Yantra’s bends opposite Trapezitsa and Tsarevets. The northern suburb of the town is perched on its imposing flank, pressing itself against it, as if in search of a shelter. Orlovets was once overgrown with dense forests. The king and his boyars went hunting there. The rocky northern slopes of the hill were haunted by eagles, whence its name, Orlovets (Eagle’s Haunt).
A branch of Orlovets projects between the two arms of the Yantra and stretches to the east to end in a high rock terrace, girdled on three sides by the river and linked with the hill by a narrow strip. This naturally fortified terrace is Tsarevets, where the king’s palace rose in all its splendor.
The connecting strip, which seems to link Tsarevets with Orlovets is in fact divided by a deep crevice, several metres wide. The rock looks as though it has been cut with a sword and the people have named it Sechena Skala (Cut Rock).
Sechena Skala is an interesting freak of nature, The crevice made Tsarevets a natural fortress. Today the hill is connected with the town by means of a massive bridge, but in former days a drawbridge spanned the precipice. Constructed in King Assen’s reign (1187-1196), it survived up to 1856.
The other hill, Garvanets, descends steeply towards a lyreshaped curve of the Yantra in the south, forming a high triangular rock terrace. This is Trapezitsa, once called the Bulgarian Jerusalem, owing to the numerous churches and chapels built here.
In the old days Trapezitsa was accessible only from the north, where a massive stone wall with an impenetrable gate rose before the unwelcomed visitor. Like Tsarevets, Trapezitsa is girdled by the river on all sides.
The high Arbanassi Plateau spreads east of Tsarevets, beyond the Yantra River. Somewhere in it, beyond the reach of the eye, lies the old village of Arbanassi, the former summer residence of the Trnovo rulers.
Right opposite Tsarevets, beyond the river, stand the ruins of Momina Krepost (Maiden Fortress). In former days, the oldest of all fortresses in this part of the country rose on the commanding hill. Its foundations were laid by the Thracians.
The people’s imagination has created a romantic legend about the name of this ancient fortress. It was guarded by a valorous young man. One day, the fortress was surrounded by enemy troups on all sides and the young man got up to one of the turrets to signal danger with a red banner An enemy arrow pierced him and he met his death. His sister, Malina, picked up the banner and waved it. Arrows flew up to her from all sides, but she did not let the flag down till warriors from the neighbouring fortress noticed it and came to the rescue. The girl died of her wounds and was buried below the wall of the tower, wrapped in the blood-soaked banner.
The wooded Sveta Gora (Holy Forest; height rises south of the river. It owes its name to the numerous hermits’ caves of the old days. Sveta Gora stretches as far as the sharpest bend of the Yantra in the north, where it ends with a high rocky slope. The western end of the hill is connected with the town by means of the Stambolov suspension bridge, built in 1892, a remarkable achievement of the building technique of that day.
In Ottoman days no Bulgarian was allowed on Sveta Gora, as it was reserved for the harems of the influential Turks of Ichmahlesi, the quarter which lay at the foot of the hill, beyond the river. For a curious visitor might have caught a glimpse from the top of the hill of the Turks’ holy of holies - the large yards of the beys’ houses, and of an unveiled Turkish woman.
The Stara Zagora-Rousse railway passes through a long tunnel, pierced into the rocky hill, and crosses the Yantra over an iron bridge. Then it vanishes into the rocks again, to reappear below the famous Sarafkina Kushta, in the narrowest part of the town. On leaving the rocks below the Balkantourist Hotel, the train whisks over a second iron bridge over the Yantra, stops for a while at Trapezitsa station, built at the foot of Trapezitsa, and makes its way through the picturesque Dervent Gorge towards the Gorna Oryahovitsa railway junction.
For a long time the fascinated eye of the traveller wanders over the rocky terraces, which rise above the meandering river, and the trim white houses perched on them. It is impossible to see the whole of Tarnovo from a single spot, not even from a helicopter. Each street, square or hill has a charm of its own.
Every hour of the day offers the visitor something new. It is, a wonderful experience to see this huge maze of gorges and cliffs shimmering in the morning haze.
Noon the sun rays pierce the transparent veil, till it finally meits away and the sun lights up the belfries and the tile roofs of the houses. In early morning, while the sun is still struggling through the haze, the houses seem to be creeping up the slope as they did in the distant past, when their inhabitants preferred to live on the steep Orlovets Hill rather than on Marno Pole, so as in have some security from the incessant attacks of the enemy.
This is how these narrow, steep, crooked streets came into being, these clusters of houses piled on top of each other, hanging from the heights of Orlovets down to the very banks of the Yantra. Quite often, while the facade of a house is in three storeys, the back of it has only one floor. There are as many different architectural styles as there are houses. They are amazing, both because of the resourcefulness of their builders and the capricious taste of their owners, for everybody tried to be different from his neighbours and to go even one better than them. This variety of styles, however, blends into one beautiful whole, which is the most typical feature of Tarnovo.
As the traveller wanders by, dozens of friendly faces appear at the quaint gates or windows, offering to show the way with a smile. For it is hard to get one’s bearings in this maze if one steps off the main street, which runs through the whole town and divides it into two uneven halves.
The moment the sun blazes over the town, thousands of small suns flare up before one’s eyes. The light reflected by the window-panes is so strong, that one instinctively closes one’s eyes. In the afternoon, when the sun begins to set, Tarnovo is mirrored in the river’s smooth surface, and this is yet another aspect of this fairy-tale town.
The reflections are especially beautiful at night, when the river mirrors the myriads of lights on the hillside and the stars above them.
This symphony of colours and shapes varies not only with the place and the hour, but also with the season of the year. In spring it is scented with lilac. The shrubs, which are dead in autumn and winter, now come to life. The once bare hillsides are covered with blossoms.
In summer, the Yantra drags its waters rather sluggishly along. Its bed is denuded here and there. But when there is rain, the river comes down in spate, and begins tossing its waters among the rocks, splashing them against the walls of the houses along its banks.
After rain, the town looks like new. The water drains rapidly down the slopes, washing the cobbled streets. Snow never lasts very long, but actually turns the town into a winter’s tale. The Yantra is bound in ice. The vertical cliffs of the Dervent look like huge icebergs in a strange ocean, while Tsarevets and Trapezitsa resemble lonely ships, shackled in ice.
When Felix Canitz, the Hungarian ethnographer and traveller, saw Tarnovo in 1871, he called it a "sea of houses". But it is also a sea of cliffs and people. The cliffs are its past, the houses, its present, and the people, its future.
Everyone who has set foot in Tarnovo has been fascinated by its rare beauty. Some travellers have expressed their admiration in eloquent phrases, others have been struck dumb by its beauty. "It is impossible to describe it," said Peter Bogdan, the Bulgarian Catholic missionary who visited it in 1640.  

"The Yantra girdles the fortress like a crescent," wrote Hadji Kalfa, the Turkish traveller, who saw Tsarevets in 1652.
And Helmuth von Moltke, who visited the town with Sultan Mahmud II in 1837 before becoming a German fieldmarshal, wrote to his wife: "Imagine a narrow mountain valley in which the Yantra has laid its rocky bed amongst vertical sandy cliffs, winding its way between them in whimsical curves... I have never seen Much a bizarre combination of rocks in my life."
"Turnovo’s situation on the hillsides along Yantra’s bends is breath-taking," Felix Canitz added. 

"Rock terraces, separated from each other, vertical grey walls without any trace of vegetation, and in the midst of this maze of natural fortresses the Yantra River winds its silvery ribbon." This is how Konstantin Jirecek, the Czech historiographer, described the Tarnovo valley in 1883.

"Tarnovo is a photograph of God’s dream," Pencho Slaveikov, the Bulgarian poet, said in 1908.
Tarnovo is a sacred place for every Bulgarian and a source of delight to the foreign visitor. Once he has seen it, he feels attracted to it no less than the local inhabitants. Because its charm is irresistible and its treasures - incalculable.
The town draws tourists and inspires artists and poets. Both have devoted works to it. But the best is probably yet to appear, because Tarnovo is growing more and more beautiful. Archaeologists, historians, architects and economists take no lesser interest in it.
Every stone in Tarnovo recalls the past, full of profound meaning and wisdom. Every period has left its imprint. Like the dendrologist, who figures out the age of a tree by the concentric circles in its stem, the traveller studies the relics of Tarnovo to glean into the history of this town which belongs both to the past and the future. One needs but tour it from end to end to realize this, certain things crumble and die out, others are restored and new ones added.

 Author: Ivan Bogdanov, translated by E. Mladenova

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