North-Eastern Bulgaria at a Glance - Ivanovo, Shumen & Madara from Bucharest

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo

  Early morning pick-up from your accommodation in Bucharest. Head south, toward the Bulgarian border. We cross the Danube river on the Friendship Bridge, not far from the Bulgarian border town of Ruse. Ruse is the gateway to the Rusenski Lom, a twisting canyon where medieval monks turned caves near Ivanovo into a rock-cut complex of monasteries. In the 14th century a large community of monks lived here. At the peak of the monastery complex, the number of churches was about 40, while the other premises were around 300, most of which are not preserved today. During the winter season, when one can't visit Ivanovo rock-hewn church, we visit instead the Rock Monastery of St. Dimitar Basarbovski. Built into a sheer cliff east of Basarbovo, this is the only still functioning rock monastery in Bulgaria. The iconfilled church founded in the 15th century and named after the holy man and healer Dimitar of Basarbovo, is reached by a zig-zagging stone staircase.

  1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 2

  TRANSFORMERS IN STONE !!! Travel to the city of Shumen for a visit to the impressive Monument to "1300 Years of Bulgaria", also known as the "Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument", a large monument built on a plateau above the city of Shumen, Bulgaria. It was built in 1981 to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of the First Bulgarian Empire.

  1 hour • Admission ticket not included
• 3

  Next is Mosque Sheriff Khalil Pasha, also known as Tombul Mosque. Located in Shumen, it was built in 1744, and is the largest mosque in Bulgaria and the second largest in the Balkan Peninsula after the mosque Sultan Selim, located in the city of Edirne, the Republic of Turkey..

  1 hour • Admission ticket not included
• 4
  Madara Rider

  Last attraction of the day - the Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Bulgarian Empire before Bulgaria’s conversion to Christianity in the 9th century. The inscriptions beside the sculpture tell of events that occurred between AD 705 and 801. The Madara Rider is a unique relief, an exceptional work of art, created during the first years of the formation of the Bulgarian State, at the beginning of the 8th century. It is the only relief of its kind, having no parallel in Europe. It has survived in its authentic state, with no alternation in the past or the present. The inscriptions around the relief are, in fact, a chronicle of important events concerning the reigns of very famous Khans: Tervel, Kormisos and Omurtag.

  2 hours • Admission ticket not included

Additional info

• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Specialized infant seats are available
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
• A current, valid passport is required
• Please, make sure you owe all the necessary documents and permissions for crossing the border between Romania and Bulgaria.

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