Ruse is the biggest Bulgarian port on the Danube River. Nowadays, this is one of the major industrial and cultural centers in the country. Besides that, Ruse is an incredibly attractive area with multiple buildings and dwellings of the nineteenth century. Daily motorboat voyages on the Danube have become a popular pastime in Ruse. Besides its rich architectural heritage, Ruse is globally recognized as a large center of music in Bulgaria. The city hosts music days and folklore festivals every year. Tourists from all over the world come to Ruse to enjoy a walk on the old streets of the city and see the attractions of the Bulgarian settlement.
The first settlement on the site of modern Ruse existed yet during the prehistoric time. The Thracians were the first inhabitants in this region. Later, the Thracian town turned into a Roman settlement named Sexaginta Prista. This was a fortress settlement and a port that had enough space for sixty ships. The original settlement was destroyed several times during the invasions of Goths and Gets. In the 9th century, the Bulgarians built a new fortress on the ruins of the old settlement. They called it Ruse. When the Ottomans captured this territory, they changed its name to Ruscuk. In the years of the war between Russia and Turkey, during the reign of Alexander I, several major battles took place near the fortress.
Would you like to visit the main cultural establishment in Bulgaria? In Ruse, tourists can visit the Rousse Regional Historical Museum that is famous not only in the city and its suburbs but also in other parts of the country. The venue opened its doors for the first time in 1904. The Rousse Regional Historical Museum has a big collection of artifacts discovered during archaeological excavations. Year after year, the museum’s collection was growing. Thanks to this, the museum became the main cultural venue in the city in 1952 and received the status of the regional museum at the beginning of our century.
Nowadays, the museum’s collection features one hundred and thirty thousand exhibits. Moreover, the Rousse Regional Historical Museum has several permanent open-air exhibitions such as the ancient city of Cherven, the ruins of the Roman Sexaginta Prista fortress, and almost all Ivanovo churches carved in the rock. The museum’s visitors can also see collections of relics of the extinct animals such as mammoths and mastodons, household items used during the prehistoric times, ancient sculptures and ceramic items, medieval frescoes, and much more. Museum halls exhibit many unique items such as the Borovo Treasure that dates back to the 4th century BC, the Thracian period in the history of Ruse. The treasure is a ritual wine set made from gilded silver.
In Ruse, tourists can visit the Orthodox Church of the Assumption. The construction of the shrine started on 22 April 1928. Metropolitan Dorostolski laid the first foundation stone of the future church on 23 September of the same year. It took almost two years to build the shrine. A large cupola and a bell tower were the last elements of the gorgeous church. In 1933, the State Furniture College received a large order – to make a detailed iconostasis in strict accordance with the project. It was decided to use the linden tree wood to make a wall that separates the altar from the church hall.
Stefan Ivanov is the author behind the gorgeous images of the saints – the artist made almost twenty icons. Todor Yankov created fourteen paintings. In the bell tower, there was a bell, the weight of which was almost five hundred kilograms. The finished Orthodox Church of the Assumption was consecrated on 28 August 1934. Since that time, a shrine that is three hundred and twelve square meters large has been open in Ruse. The church has a length of twenty-six meters, and its width is 12 meters. The cupola has a diameter of nine and a half meters.
Even though there is an airport in Ruse, tourists from most countries cannot fly directly to this city. The closest airport is located in Bucharest. It is possible to reach Ruse by train from Sophia. The journey time is six to seven hours in this case. There is also a daily train that connects Ruse to Bucharest. The ride lasts three hours in this case. Traveling by bus is faster – it takes one hour less to arrive in Ruse compared to the train. At the airport, travelers can always rent a car and explore the country independently or call a taxi.
