Feel the heart of the city. Stroll along the Svoboda and Batenberg squares and feel the unique atmosphere that Ruse offers. Each street hides its secrets waiting to be discovered, and the magnificent buildings tell stories about the past and the present. Touch the architecture of the city and feel the pulse of the largest Danube city in Bulgaria.
Sites:
The Holy Trinity Cathedral
Ruse State Opera
Ruse Courthouse and Clock
The Monument of Freedom
The Profit-Yielding building
The Ecomuseum
The Regional History Museum
The Regional Library "Lyuben Karavelov"
The Church of the Holy Trinity is the oldest in Ruse. It was built in 1632. It is a three-nave pseudo-basilica dug into the ground with external dimensions of 15.60 x 31.20 m. The church houses the miraculous icon of the Holy Mother of God of Mercy, created at the end of the 17th century. The bell tower is 19 m high, hexagonal, and built of hewn stones taken from the destroyed fortress wall of Ruschuk. It has five bells. In 1983, a museum of the Ruse Metropolis was established.
The Ruse Opera was founded in 1949, and its first production was Verdi's La Traviata. In 1999, the Ruse National Opera and the State Philharmonic Orchestra - Ruse merged into one institution, which was initially called the Opera and Philharmonic Society - Ruse, and since 2010, the State Opera - Ruse.
The Courthouse building in Ruse was built on the site of the former Balakchi Market (Fish Market). Construction of the building began in 1929 and was completed in 1939. The Courthouse building in Ruse was designed as the first such building in Bulgaria.
The clock – a favorite meeting place for Ruse residents. The clock was installed in the period 1896-1900 on the building, which at that time was the joint-stock savings company "Girdap" (the first private bank in Bulgaria).
The Monument of Freedom in Ruse was designed in the early 20th century by the Italian sculptor Arnoldo Dzoki and crafted by Georgi Kiselinchev. Over time, it has gained importance as one of the symbols of the city and is part of its coat of arms.
The profit-yielding building is a place for cultural events, concerts, and theatrical performances, for conferences and exhibitions, for exhibitions and for other artistic performances. The building was built in the period 1898-1902 according to the design of the Viennese architect Peter Paul Branck.
The facade of the building is neoclassical and is decorated with plastic ornaments and architectural details typical of the late 19th century.
An ecomuseum with an aquarium was opened on September 28, 2014. The museum is located on four floors, where you can see a rich collection of fossils, as well as a variety of animal species in a real environment. Here is also the largest freshwater aquarium in Bulgaria with inhabitants from the Danube River. Special attention in the exhibition is paid to prehistoric animals - a model of a woolly mammoth in real size is presented.
Working hours:
09:00 – 18:00 (no day off)
The oldest building in Ruse, in the neoclassical style and the first administrative building in Bulgaria after the Liberation, is the District Administration (today the Regional History Museum). It is located in the old center of the city of Ruse. It was built in 1882 according to a design by the Viennese architect Friedrich Grünanger, the same one who carried out the reconstruction of the former konak into a princely palace in Sofia.
Working hours:
09:00 – 18:00 (no day off)
The Regional Library "Lyuben Karavelov" in Ruse is one of the oldest and earliest established spiritual centers in Bulgaria. It is a logical conclusion of the national revival, part of the spiritual rise, and our legitimization before the world after the Liberation in 1878. It began in 1888, when patriotic cultural figures (members of the educational society "Danube"), with the material support of the City Municipality, set out to create the Ruse Library.
