Varna, the marine capital of Bulgaria

Today I will take you on a walk through the center of Varna. Varna is our marine capital and the third largest city of Bulgaria.

It is not a favourite city of mine I have to say, it is pretty busy, haotic and dirty. However in the city center there is a lot of pretty and colourful architecture in Western style with local interpretations of Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Baroque, Neoclassicism, Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

Unfortunately almost all of the beautiful buildings in the center got additionally "decorated" with huge advertisements, which i find pretty grotesk and ugly...The sea garden along the beach is the oldest and biggest park of the city.

Varna is a front-runner for European Capital of Culture for 2019, planning to open several new high-profile facilities such as a new opera house and concert hall, a new exhibition centre, and a reconstruction of the Summer Theatre, the historic venue of the International Ballet Competition.

And something with which Varna beats even Sofia....is of course the sea:-) And last but not least Varna offers a great attraction with the its dolphinarium!

Pobitite kamyni next to Varna/ Побити камъни

"Pobiti kamyni" are natural rock phenomenon around 17 km away from Varna, on the road to Sofia. The place consists of several groups of stone columns (between 5 and 7 metres high and from 0.3 to 3 metres thick) on a total area of 70 km². The columns are instead hollow and filled with sand, and look like they are stuck into the surrounding sands, which gives the phenomenon its name ("Pobiti kamyni" means stones put in the ground).

Several rocks have names, such as the "Throne", the "Camel" or the "Lion"...The place is believed to charge visitors with positive energy. "Pobiti kamyni" are a nature reserve since 1937.

The origin of these rocks is still not confirmed. The place was under water some 50 millions years ago. One theory says the limestone columns represents the result of coral activity. The other theory is minaral based and supposes connection to bubbling reefs.

There is no doubt, its an impressive place to visit, as well as the amazing colours in a field we also had the pleasure to admire on the way to it!