Bulgaria Destination Guide Videos

Albena is one of the major resorts (45 km) North of Varna and occupies a pretty stretch of the coast, just South of Cape Kavarna. During medieval times the bay had two large fresh water wells and residents earned a living by selling drinking water to Nessebar, which had none of its own. Started back in 1958, Albena resort has gradually become one of Bulgaria s largest summer resorts. The wide, six-kilometers-long beach is protected by natural dunes and touted as the best on the coast, with an average water temperature of 24 degrees C (75F) and loads of sunny days. With more than 43 (2 to 4 stars) hotels capable of accommodating some 20,000 visitors, the resort can get pretty crowded during peak season but most of the hotels are set back from the beach, in numerous small shaded parks and gardens. Albena lives up to its motto of Where families come first! Children and toddlers are kept occupied with the likes of kiddie trains, well-equipped playgrounds, and organized festivals. But not only kids have all the fun. Adult sports include: windsurfing, sailing, parasailing, speedboating, scooter-driven parachuting, pedalboating, waterskiing, horseback riding, archery, mini-golf, roller and in-line skating, bowling, tennis, bicycling, beach volleyball and wall climbing (for the truly bored). To soothe sore muscles after all that physical exertion there are balneo-therapy treatment centers. Night Life is as equally varied and includes casinos, discos and nightclubs with live cabaret acts and colorful floor shows. Some 130 restaurants and taverns are accustomed to catering to foreign tastes so there s something for everyone. Albena is ecologically clean spa resort with fresh air, crystal clear sea, mineral water and perfectly organized medical and spa centers with highly qualified professionals. The combination of natural factors: specific sea climate – clean air, ozone, calcium, iodine with optimal air humidity – 63-65% and the mineral water – hypothermal with 30C temperature, slightly mineralised, hydrocarbonate with calcium and magnesium, all work in perfect symbiosis for the successful treatment of disturbances of the locomotive system – arthritic and rheumatic complaints, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, post-traumatic states, gout diseases of the muscles and tendons, etc. Photo Gallery of Albena - click here source: http://orienttravel-bg.com Be FIRST, get all the latest NEWS about Bulgaria Property Market! Enter your E-mail to receive our Weekly Reports Enter your E-mail to receive our Daily Reports ShareThis

 Bulgarians Have Spent More Abroad than Foreign Tourists in the Country For the first two months of 2008, revenues from foreigners in Bulgaria were less then the expenditures of Bulgarian tourists abroad, despite the 23.4% growth in the number of visitors compared t the same months in 2007. Revenues totaled EUR 97.8 m, marking a 9% increase. Yet Bulgarians spent for vacations abroad EUR 137 m in the first two months of the year, a 32.4% increase compared to the same period last year. source: National Statistical Institute ShareThis

Coming from the past - going to the future Yambol is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha in the historical region of Thrace. Today, the town has 85,966 inhabitants as of 2006. Although the surrounding area has been inhabited since the Neolithic and was the location of the Thracian royal city of Cabyle (later conquered by Philip II of Macedon and the Romans, but destroyed by the Avars in 583), what is today Yambol was founded by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 293 as Diospolis (’city of Zeus’). The name later evolved through Diampolis and Diamboli to become Yambol. History As the Slavs and Bulgars arrived in the Balkans in the Middle Ages, the fortress was contested by the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantines until 1373, when it fell to the Ottomans after a prolonged siege. Yambol (Ottoman Turkish Yanbolu) was an important centre of the Ottoman Empire until liberated by Russian forces in January 1878 to become part of Eastern Rumelia and later Bulgaria after the Unification in 1886. The predominant religion is Eastern Orthodoxy with a number of churches being present (among them one of the Holy Trinity, one of St George and one of St Nicholas), but there also exist Eastern Rite Catholic and Protestant religious buildings, as well as a 15th-century mosque. Yambol in pictures ShareThis

Background The generosity of nature toward Sliven is incontestable. The rocky massif “Sinite Kamani” (The blue stones), the fresh air, the abundance of water, the temperate climate, the mineral springs, the fruitful valley of the Tundja river and the plain of Sliven are only a small part of her gifts. The area of the town has been inhabited for many centuries. History takes us back to the time of Thracians and then layer after layer we discover the presence of Romans, Slavs, ancient Greeks and we feel the spirit of the First and the Second Bulgarian kingdoms. Our ancestors have established the town on a crossroads and this is one of the biggest advantages of Sliven, which has played a major role in the past and the present development of the town. Economy Sliven plays an important role in the economic life of Bulgaria. The first steps toward the industrialization of Bulgaria were made here, due to the geographic and historic circumstances in combination with the enterprise of the resident of Sliven called Dobri Jeliaskov. In 1834 he established the first factory for textiles on the Balkan Peninsula. It had a strong influence on the future development and the contemporary aspect of Sliven. History Unalterable mark of the ancient history of the town is also its spirituality. A cultural centre since high antiquity, the town has added a new sense to these functions during the early Christianity and the Middle Ages. Sliven was amongst the most significant spiritual centers in Bulgaria in the Renaissance. It is the birth place of the first Bulgarian poet Dobri Chintulov, the first Bulgarian artist who graduated academic education, Dimitar Dobrovich, of many notable Bulgarians whose names are related to the development of Bulgarian and the European science and culture, of the enlightenment activities and the economic development. In 1827, in Sliven was founded a school and in 1860 was established the community center “Zora”. Today’s contribution of Sliven to the cultural treasury of Bulgaria is remarkable. Many names of contemporary eminent artists and scientists are related to our town. Since the early centuries of the Ottoman rule, Sliven and its region has become a centre of the haidouck movement – the most common form of resistance against the Ottoman yoke. Thus Sliven attained the fame of the town of a hundred voivodas. It is also known as the birth place of the national heroes Hadji Dimitar and Panaiot Hitov. Information Contemporary Sliven combines both the functions of an economic and spiritual centre with these of a regional and municipal administrative centre. With its 112 103 /2006/ residents Sliven is the 8th biggest town in the country. Source: http://sliven.net Photos from Sliven ShareThis