Vratsa ( ) is the largest city in northwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is about north of Sofia, southeast of Montana. Situated at the foot of the Vrachanski Balkan, the town is near numerous caves, waterfalls, and rock formations. The most famous of them are the Ledenika Cave, Skaklya Waterfall, and the Vratsata Pass. The Vratsa History Museum holds the

Rogozen treasure The Rogozen Treasure (), called the find of the century, is a Thracian treasure. Discovery It was discovered by chance in the autumn of 1985 by tractor driver Ivan Dimitrov, digging a hole for an irrigation system in his garden in the Bulgar ...

, which is the largest Thracian treasure. Botev Days are held annually in the city, culminating in the rally-dawn on 1 June, held at Hristo Botev Square, as well as the national worship on 2 June at Mount Okolchitsa. Vratsa's motto is "A city like the Balkan – ancient and young".

Name

The name comes from the Vratsata Pass nearby, and derives from the Slavic word ("gate") + the Slavic diminutive placename suffix , "little gate", used to translate the Latin name ("double door"). The name of the town during Ottoman era was recorded as Ivraca.

History

The Ottoman census records of the early 1550s indicate that İvraca was in a continuous development. According to this, there were 82 Muslim households, corresponding to approximately 400 people, and a mosque, later known as "Eski Camii", with also a population of 31 unmarried males. The Christians living in 12 neighborhoods, on the other hand, reached a population of approximately 1840 with 354 households and 172 unmarried males. At this time the ratio of the Muslim population to the general population increased to 18%. In addition, it is mentioned in the

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

that the Muslim and non-Muslim population in the city and some residents of the 2 neighbouring villages were working in the mines and therefore these workers and their families were exempted from the avarız property tax. In 1580, Muslims made up 30% of the total population. At that time, the city had 3 Muslim neighborhoods (mahalle-i Câmi-i Atik, Mahalle-i Câmi-i Cedid, Mustafa Çavuş Mescidi mhalle). There were a total of 258 households in these neighbourhoods. The Christian population also increased, reaching a total of 583 households in 12 neighborhoods named after their priests. Apart from these, there were seven Coptic mining households whose statuses were recognized in 1550. The number of monasteries, which was 4 up to this date, increased to 8. 1831 Ottoman population statistics show that 74% of the Christians were non-taxpayers in the

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

of İvraca and 83% of the Christians were recorded as middle-class.

Geography

The city of Vratsa is located in the foothills of "Vrachanski Balkan" (Vratsa Mountain), on the banks of Leva River, from the national capital

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. The area has diverse natural features. Several protected natural attractions and historical monuments are located on the territory of the Vratsa State Forestry.

Climate

The climate is humid continental with hot summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature is about . Climate in this area has noticeable differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

subtype for this climate is " Dfa" –

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

Population

The number of the residents of the city reached its peak in the period 1990–1991 when it exceeded 85,000.National Statistical Institute – Towns population 1956–1992
/ref> As of February 2011, the town has a population of 60,692 inhabitants.National Statistical Institute – Main Towns Census 2011

Ethnic, linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: *

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

: 53,275 (97.3%) *

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

: 1,045 (1.9%) *

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

: 54 (0.1%) *Others: 185 (0.3%) *Indefinable: 216 (0.4%) **Undeclared: 5,937 (9.8%) Total: 60,692 The ethnic composition of Vratsa Municipality is 64334 Bulgarians and 2215 Gypsies among others.

History

Vratsa is an ancient city found by ancient

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

. Vratsa was called ("door of a fortress") by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

due to a narrow passage where the main gate of the city fortress was located. Nowadays, this passage is the symbol of Vratsa, and is shown on the town's Coat of arms. After the

fall of Rome The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...

, Vratsa became part of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

(Byzantium). At the end of the 6th century AD, Vratsa was populated by the South Slavic tribes. Even if they came from

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

and

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

on the north, the town remained under Byzantine rule. In the 7th century, the

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...

and the Slavs found the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

and the Slavic Vratsa became part of it. The city grew into important strategic location because of its proximity to the South State border. Vratsa became famous for its goldsmiths and silversmiths production and trade, high-quality earthenware and military significance. In the 8th century, the Bulgarian army captured

, which led to the decreasing of Vratsa's importance because of the better strategic position of Sofia, its more developed economy and larger size. But Vratsa was again key for the resistance against the Byzantine,

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

and Magyar invasions in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. On 1 May 1966 in the village of Sgorigrad, a Mir-Plakanista mine tailings dam collapsed, causing a flood of mud and debris that killed 488 people. It remains one of the biggest disasters in Vratsa since the 30 September 1923 fire and the Anglo-American bombing of 23 January 1944.

Tourism

The mountains and forests are suitable for development of different types of tourism – hunting and fishing, skiing, speleology, delta-gliding, photo-tourism, etc. Good opportunities exist for exercising different sport activities such as mountaineering, bicycle sport and for those who enjoy being thrilled can go for hang-gliding and paragliding, or set out for carting, buggy and motocross racing tracks. Conditions are provided for rest and entertainment – children's and adults' swimming pools, water cycles, discos, bars, restaurants, excellent hotel facilities and good service. To accommodate winter sports enthusiasts, there are rope lines near the Parshevitsa Chalet, and the skiing tracks are said to be well maintained. There are also a Museum of History and an Ethnographic and Revival Complex.

Main sights

Ledenika cave

Ledenika Ledenika (, English: icy or glacial) is a cave in the Northwestern parts of the Balkan Mountains, 16 km away from the Bulgarian city of Vratsa. Its entrance is approximately 830 m above sea level. The cave features an abundance of gallerie ...

is the most frequently visited Bulgarian cave.
Ledenika is located in the Stresherski part of the Vratsa mountain. Its entrance being at 830m above sea level. It features an abundance of galleries and impressive karst formations including stalactites and stalagmites, dating back a thousand years. The cave is about 300m long and contains ten separate halls. The cave is part of the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria

Vratsata Gorge

Vratsata Gorge – the highest cliffs on the Balkan Peninsula (400 meters high).
Vratsata Gorge is situated in Vratsa Mountain. The area is easily accessible from Vratsa. The limestone of Vratsata Central Wall and the other rocks offer many possibilities for climbing and alpinism, connected by more than 70

alpine route Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National ...

s of all categories of difficulty.

Skaklya waterfall

Skaklya waterfall – highest temporary waterfall in Bulgaria and the Balkans – 141 meters.

Regional historical museum

Regional historical museum in Vratsa preserves the

Rogozen Treasure The Rogozen Treasure (), called the find of the century, is a Thracian treasure. Discovery It was discovered by chance in the autumn of 1985 by tractor driver Ivan Dimitrov, digging a hole for an irrigation system in his garden in the Bulgar ...

– the biggest Thracian treasure that was ever discovered on the territory of Bulgaria
The main building of the museum houses several exhibitions. * Prehistory Hall * Antiquity Hall * The Middle Ages Hall * The Thracian Treasures Hall * The Rogozen Treasure Hall * Hristo Botev exhibition Hall * New History Hall * Stone arc Hall * Lapidarium.

Panoramic views

Transport

The strategic location of Vratsa is determined by the major rail and road corridors. Its geographical position became even more important with the construction of the

Danube Bridge 2 The New Europe Bridge, also known as Danube Bridge 2 (; ) is a road and rail bridge between the cities of Vidin, Bulgaria, and Calafat, Romania. It is the second bridge on the shared section of the Danube between the two countries. It is an ext ...

at the town of

Vidin Vidin (, ) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin (since ...

(providing the most direct land access from the

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

port and

towards Western Europe). Vratsa connects to the villages and city within the region and throughout the country by bus and railway transport. There are regular bus lines to Sofia, Pleven, Vidin, Montana, Kozloduy, Oryahovo, Mezdra (at short intervals), as well as to the smaller villages, scattered around the city. The bus station is located on the way between the railway station and the centre of the city. Vratsa is an important railway station along the railway route

—

( Lom).

Honour

Vratsa Peak Vratsa Peak (, ) is a sharp rocky peak rising to 470 m in Breznik Heights, Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica surmounting Musala Glacier to the northeast and Targovishte Glacier to the southwest and south. The feature ...

Greenwich Island Greenwich Island (variant historical names ''Sartorius Island'', ''Berezina Island'') is an island long and from (average ) wide, lying between Robert Island and Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The island's surface ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after Vratsa.

In popular culture

Vratsa is the home of a professional

Quidditch Quidditch () is a fictional sport invented by author J. K. Rowling for her fantasy book series ''Harry Potter''. It first appeared in the novel ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997). In the series, Quidditch is portrayed as a dang ...

team operating within the fictional

Harry Potter universe The fictional universe of the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels contains two distinct societies: the "wizarding world" and the "Muggle world". The term "Muggle world" refers to a society inhabited by non-magical humans ("Muggles"), while the te ...

. The Vratsa Vultures have won the European Cup seven times.

Economy

Industry

In the area of Vratsa are developed many branches of industry: textile (production of cotton fabrics and silk), tailoring, food processing (bakery, confectionery, meat processing, dairy processing, soft drinks production, etc.) mining of rock lining materials from the Vratsa region – limestone), furniture, light, machine-building (production of lathes and mills), metal casting and metalworking, etc.

Sport

FC Botev Vratsa Botev () is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Since 1948, Botev have played their home games at Stadion Hristo Bote ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Vratsa is twinned with: *

Bor Bor may refer to: Places Populated places * Bor (Tachov District), a town in Plzeň Region, Czech Republic * Bor, Petnjica, Montenegro * Bor, Russia, the name of many inhabited localities in Russia * Bor District, a district in Serbia ** Bor, Se ...

, Serbia *

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

, Romania *

Kičevo Kičevo ( ; , sq-definite, Kërçova) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, located in a valley in the south-eastern slopes of Mount Bistra, between the cities of Ohrid and Gostivar. The capital Skopje is 112 km away. The city ...

, North Macedonia *

Kobryn Kobryn or Kobrin is a town in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Kobryn District. It is located in the southwestern corner of Belarus, where the Mukhavets river and Dnieper–Bug Canal meet. The town lies about east ...

, Belarus *

Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲerpʊxəf) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka River, Oka and the Nara (Oka), Nara Rivers, 99 kilometers (62 miles) south fro ...

, Russia *

Sumy Sumy (, , ) is a city in northeastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Sumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of the Psel (river), Psel River and has a population of making it the 23rd-largest in the country. The city ...

, Ukraine *

Villeneuve-le-Roi Villeneuve-le-Roi () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The early 19th-century French orientalist Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (1780–1831) was born in Villeneuve-le-Roi on the boat that a ...

, France

Gallery

File:Ledenika_TodorBozhinov_(5).JPG, Ledenika cave File:Vratsa-by-night.jpg, Vratsa by night File:Vratsata gorge.JPG, Vratsata gorge Image:Vratsa 16.jpg, Street scene Image:Vratsa 17.jpg, Ethnographic complex File:Teatur vratsa.jpg, Theatre Image:Vratsa 13.jpg, Medieval Tower of Kurt Pasha Image:Vratsa 12.jpg, Medieval tower Image:Vratsa 14.jpg, Tourist centre Image:Vratsa 11.jpg, School File:Str Kozloduiski Brjag Vratsa.JPG, Street in Vratsa File:Vratsa_in_the_winter-2.jpg, Vratsa in the winter

References

External links

Vratsa Municipality website

Hotels in Vratsa (map)

Vratsa Historical Museum

“Vrachanski Balkan” Nature Park

local tourism website www.visitvratsa.com.
{{Authority control Populated places in Vratsa Province