Veliko Turnovo

Historic town in Lovech region, northern Bulgaria, in the gorge of the River Yantra on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains, 193 km/121 mi northeast of Sofia; population (1990) 99,900. Textiles are manufactured and agricultural produce traded from the surrounding area. The Shipka Pass runs south from the town to Kazanlâk. There are several medieval buildings.

A Byzantine fortress was built on Tsaravets Hill in the 5th century AD by the Roman emperor Justinian on the site of Thracian settlements. In 1185 Veliko Turnovo became the imperial capital Târnovgrad of the Second Bulgarian Empire, falling to the Turks 1393. In 1877 the town was seized from the Ottoman Empire by Russia. The Bulgarian constitution was drafted here in 1879, and Bulgarian independence declared by King Ferdinand I in 1908.