Rousse (also transliterated as Ruse or Russe; Bulgarian: Русе [ˈru.sɛ]) is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria with a population of near 175,600. Rousse is situated in the north-eastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, 300 km from the capital Sofia and 200 km from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is the most significant Bulgarian river port, serving an important part of the international trade of the country.
Rousse is known for its 19th- and 20th-century Neo-Baroque and Neo-Rococo architecture, which attracts many tourists. The Rousse-Giurgiu Friendship Bridge, the only one in the shared Bulgarian-Romanian section of the Danube, crosses the river here.
Rousse is located on the right bank of the Danube, which is the high bank, having two underwater terraces and three land terraces at 15–22 m, 30–66 m, and 54–65 m. The average altitude is 45.5 m AMSL. The urban area is an approximately 11-km ellipse running along the river. The city extends from the land-connected Matey (Матей) island and the mouth of Rusenski Lom on the west to Srabcheto (Сръбчето) hill on the east. During the 20th century, the west end of the city was significantly modified by moving the mouth of Rusenski Lom to the west, as well as by moving the bank itself with its fairway considerably to the north. Sarabair (саръбаир) hill is to the south of the city and is 159 m high. The Rousse TV Tower is built there on the remains of Leventtabia, a former Turkish fortification.
Notable citizens * Elias Canetti, winner of the 1981 Nobel Prize for Literature
* Albert Aftalion (1874–1956), French economist and economic situation theoretician
* Silvester Maria Braito (1898–1962), Czech catholic Dominican priest, theologian, poet, literary critic, journalist
* Michael Arlen (1895-1956), original name Dikran Kouyoumdjian, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter
* Jules Pascin (1885-1930), painter
* Tanyu Kiryakov, pistol shooter, Olympic champion
* Zdravko Kissiov, poet
* Vlad Kolarov, cartoonist
* Radi Nedelchev, painter
* Tonka Obretenova, 19th-century revolutionary
* Neshka Robeva, rhythmic gymnastics player and coach
* Veselin Topalov, chess player, FIDE world champion 2005-06
* Stefan Tsanev, writer
* Venelina Veneva, high jumper
* Orlin Anastassov, opera singer
* Alemdar Mustafa Pasha Ottoman Grand Vizier
Regular events * The March Music Days is an international music festival for classical music.
* St George's Day (6 May) is Rousse's holiday. A local fair is organized for a week around this date.
* The Danubian Carnival is a masquerade held around 24 June, Enyovden.
* The Sexaginta Prista Summer Stage is an urban festival. Events are hosted at the Roman castle every Friday from May through October.
* At the end of October are BG MediaMarket and the Bulgarian Europe Media Festival.
Museums
* National Transport Museum
* Battenberg Palace, built 1892, which now hosts the Rousse Regional Historical Museum
* Pantheon of National Revival Heroes
* Kaliopa House, a museum depicting the old urban lifestyle
* Zahari Stoyanov Museum
Religious buildings * Church of the Holy Trinity
* Church of the Holy Theotokos
* Church of St George
* Church of Holy Archangel Michael
* Church of the Holy Ascension
* Church of St Petka
* Russian Church of St Nicholas the Miracle Worker
* Roman Catholic St Paul of the Cross Cathedral, built 1890
* Armenian Surp Astvadzadzin Church
* Evangelical Baptist church
* Evangelical Methodist Church
* Seid Pasha Mosque
* Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, a World Heritage Site, is situated 20 km to the south.
The typical architecture of Rousse
The Catholic Eparchy in Rousse
Dozodno Zdanie or the theatre building in the central part of Rousse
In 1978, the All Saints Church was destroyed and the Pantheon of National Revival Heroes was built thereupon.
The Jewish community in Rousse built and consecrated a synagogue in 1797. It was destroyed in the 1810 fire, but two other synagogues were later built in 1826 and 1852.
TransportRuse is a major road and railway hub in Northern Bulgaria. Railway transportation in the city dates back to 1867 when it became a station of first railway line in Bulgaria Ruse - Varna. There are railways to Southern Bulgaria, Sofia, Varna and Bucharest. Ruse has two railway stations for passenger services (Central and Razpredelitelna) and other 2 for freight transport services. There are intercity busses which link Ruse with cities and towns all over the country and some European countries. They are based in two bus stations: South and East.
Ruse has an extensive public transport system including around 30 bus and trolleybus lines. There are also several suburban bus lines.
Approximately 15 km southeast of Rousse is the village of Shtraklevo, near which is the former military Rousse Airport (currently closed). Plans exist to redevelop and reopen the airport by 2008–09 for internal, charter, and cargo flights. The runway is long enough for Boeing 747s (Jumbo Jets).
Antiquity and Early Middle AgesThe city emerged as a Thracian settlement from the 3rd to 2nd millennium BCE, when pottery, fishing, agriculture, and hunting developed. Excavations reveal several layers, suggesting that the place was attacked by neighbouring tribes and suffered some natural disasters. Ancient sanctuaries were found nearby, where idols of a pregnant woman, a fertility goddess, were prevalent. The Thracian settlement later developed into a Roman military and naval centre during the reign of Vespasian (69-70 CE) as part of the fortification system along the northern boundary of Moesia. Its name, Sexaginta Prista, suggests a meaning of "a city of 60 ships" (from Latin: sexaginta — "60" and Greek: pristis — a special type of guard ship), based on the supposed 60 nearby berths. The fortress was located on the main road between Singidunum (modern Belgrade) and the Danube Delta and was destroyed in the sixth century by Avar and Slavic raids. Hungarian historian Felix Philipp Kanitz was the first to identify Sexaginta Prista with Rousse, but the Škorpil brothers demonstrated the link later through studying inscriptions, coins, graves, and objects of daily life. An inscription from the reign of Diocletian proves that the city was rebuilt as a praesidium (a large fortification) after it was destroyed by the Goths in 250 CE.
Rousse, Ruse, Pyce is the largest Bulgarian river port on the Danube. Because of that it has always absorbed the culture of Western Europe from visitors here, these include River captains, cruise ship passengers etc.
Ruse was the first city in Bulgaria to have a railway (Varna being the second), Chamber of trade and commerce, free printed newspaper, in fact for firsts I could go on for awhile, but I'll come back to that.
Soon after dealing within Ruse it became apparent that there was a shortfall in accommodation within the city, all hotels had a double pricing structure, and there was no budget accommodation, hence my reason for setting up the English guest house.
For the past 3 years this has been one of the most satisfying and rewarding experiences of my life.
Everyday we get to meet new people coming through, either leaving Romania or heading there.
As we offer tours it's been my pleasure to learn as much as I can about Bulgaria, Ruse, its peoples, culture and customs, and I would be only too happy to pass that information onto others.
Ruse is known as little Vienna because of its Rococo architecture, the city being almost rebuilt by Austrian architects.
The city square is magnificent, very clean, very safe, surrounded by Theatres, opera house, and many many cafe bars, where food and drink are cheap and a pleasure to visit after a long journey. Indeed sitting in these bars watching the children play, the fountains and the sheer tranquillity makes England seem a more and more distant memory.
Don't get me wrong, I love my country, I love being English, it's just such a shame the country is heading into a downward spiral, but this isn't the place for such rantings, so back to Ruse.
As many people who pass through here are exploring historical sites etc, I thought I would link to a few here;
Dimitar basorbovski rock monestary.Bulgarian lifestyle museum.Cherven medieval fortress.Ivanhovo rock monestary.Liberty monument.Orlova chuka cave system.National transport museum.Pantheon of revivalists.Pictures and information of Ruse.Ruse theatre.Rusenski lom (Unesco). Videos of Ruse.Why Ruse.
Rousse, Bulgaria Starter Kit, My home for the last 3 years.
Jun 26 2009, 01:35 PM
So my advice is to try and learn cyrillic. Bulgarian language is very interesting(and I might admit very hard) language. English speaking people said very often that we have R and V upside down, but in fact there are completly defferent letters. What brings you to Bulgaria in the first place anyway?
