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Trapesitsa fortress in Bulgaria’s Veliko Tarnovo to welcome visitors as cultural tourism site in 1 year.

Friday, Oct 09, 2015

The Trapesitsa Hill Fortress, which is one of the two citadels together with the Tsarevets Hill Fortress, of Tarnovgrad (today’s Veliko Tarnovo), capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396 AD), will be ready to welcome tourists as a cultural tourism site in a year.

The Trapesitsa Fortress is presently being partly restored, as the archaeologists continue to excavate and research various sections of one of the two major strongholds inside the late medieval Bulgarian capital.

For example, archaeologist Deyan Rabovyanov and his colleague Plamen Doychev have just unveiled a 3D model of the southernmost residential quarter of Trapesitsa at the end of the 14th century.

However, in one year or less, the site is going to welcome its first visitors, Veliko Tarnovo Municipality has announced, as cited by local news site Top Novini Veliko Tarnovo.

The partial archaeological restoration of the Trapesitsa Hill Fortress has become a criticized and controversial project because it will be funded with EUR 1.2 million by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of the government of Azerbaijan.

The Bulgarian government has been criticized by independent journalists for accepting a donation by the Foundation because of the human rights and media freedom record of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, while some NGOs have criticized the plans for the restoration of several archaeological structures over their “hastiness” and “lack of transparency”.
At the same time, however, the Azerbaijani government funding has been warmly welcomed by the administration of Veliko Tarnovo Mayor Daniel Panov.

The President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Lady of Azerbaijan. The foundation has sponsored several projects in Western Europe including renovations at the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles, an EUR 40,000 donation for stained-glass windows in France‘s Strasbourg Cathedral, and an EUR 50,000 donation for the reconstruction of the Berlin City Palace in Germany.

The Azerbaijani-funded project provides for the restoration of a 400-meter section of the western fortress wall of Trapesitsa; building a 700-meter alley linking a panoramic elevator with the reconstructed southwestern gate of Trapesitsa leading to the Tsarevets Hill Fortress; setting up a museum and visitor center displaying archaeological artifacts found during the excavations; restoring and displaying three churches with preserved fragments of medieval murals and frescoes; rehabilitation of the road leading to the Trapesitsa Hill.

“Trapesitsa is a fortress which is connected not just with the history of Veliko Tarnovo, but also with the history of all of Bulgaria. We strive not only to preserve and protect our cultural and historical heritage but also to open [for tourists] new sites and attractions that will extend the tourists’ visits,” Veliko Tarnovo Mayor Daniel Panov is quoted as saying.

Thus, in addition to the partial archaeological restoration of the Trapesitsa Hill Fortress, Veliko Tarnovo Municipality is going to expand the so called Tsarevgrad Tarnov Multimedia Visitors’ Center dedicated to the Second Bulgarian Empire.

It will add two more floors (an additional area of app. 1,000 square meters) to the Center’s exhibition space.

Other upcoming measures for boosting Veliko Tarnovo’s cultural tourism potential include the reconstruction of 36 streets, squares, and museum buildings in the city’s Old Town, and the setting up of a new archaeological park in the Asen’s Quarter. These projects will be executed with EU funding under Operational Program “Regions in Growth”.

The partial restoration of the Trapesitsa Fortress was originally supposed to be completed before October 26, 2015, when Veliko Tarnovo and all of Bulgaria will celebrate the 830th anniversary since the Uprising of Tsar Asen I and Tsar Petar IV, which restored the Bulgarian state in 1185 AD, after it had been conquered by the Byzantine Empire in 1018 AD.

Source: http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/