OPEROSA EUXINOGRAD – a prestigious outdoor opera event in Bulgaria
www.operosa.org
DAY 1 24. June 2010
Arrival and meeting at the airport. Transfer to the hotel.
Walking in the Marine Garden and dinner in a fish restaurant.
DAY 2 25. June 2010
After breakfast sightseeing tour of the main Bulgarian port town – Varna.
Varna is a city of millennial history. On the small cape, where the seaport is now, had once existed an ancient Thracian settlement of fishermen. The ancient settlement of Odessos came into being here in Antiquity, founded by Hellenic colonists. At a later date, this was an important Roman regional centre with independent government and large-scale construction. During the 13th-14th century it was a big and well-appointed port – it engaged in busy trade with Venice and Genoa.
Visit the Archaeological museum - holds one of the country’s richest collections: 55000 exhibits from the Old Stone Ages to the Late Middle Ages, including the Oldest Gold of the World.
Visit also the remains of Roman thermae (2nd-3rd century), the cathedral church of the Holy Virgin (1883-1886).
Free time.
Pre opening Operosa concert in Varna – chamber orchestra concert in the Museum building including wine tasting. Program will come later.
DAY 3/ 26.June 2010
Breakfast and day excursion to Nessebar.
Sightseeing of the old fisher town Nessebar. The ancient town of Nessebar, wich has been declared a reserve, is located on a smalrocky peninsula. It has preserved a lot of ancient monuments including the Thracian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine period. Its two parts (old and new) are full of life with music and entertainment. Sightseeing of Old Nessebar by foot, including the Archaeological museum and some of the medieval churches.
Free time.
Travel back to Varna.
Dinner in the hotel.
DAY 4 / 27. June 2010
Breakfast and half day excursion to Balchik.
BALCHIK is one of the most picturesque Bulgarian towns. Built amphitheatrically at the Black Sea coast, it is 47 km north of Varna. A real pleasure is to take a walk in its cobbled narrow streets with old-time houses, steeped in the greenery of vineyards and small gardens, pleasantly contrasting the shining white elevations, encircling the town from all sides.
As far back as during the 5th century B.C., the ancient Greek polis was built here on top the remains of an older settlement. Later on it was called Dionysopolis, a tribute to God Dionysus. Karvouna, the regional centre of medieval Bulgaria, developed on top the ruins of the early Byzantine Kionysopolis and this was also marked on a number of drawn sea maps and descriptions of the land, made later. Karvouna (Karouna) was a name, brought by the old Bulgarians, meaning “compassion, closeness, mutuality, hospitality”. By the name Balchik, the town has been known since the 16th century.
Visit THE PALACE” CULTURAL CENTER is the pride and glory of Balchik.
In 1924 Queen Maria of Romania was enchanted by this strip of Bulgarian land, which hiding a piece of paradise between the white cliffs of Balchik and the sea.
Italian architects Augusto and Amerigo designed “The Quiet Nest” for the queen. The style of new structures followed the status quo.
The extravagant minaret gives oriental charm to the kiosk.
Back to Varna and free time.
In the late afternoon departure to Chateau Evxinograd. Evxinograd is a former late 19th-century. Bulgarian Royal summer palace and park on the Black Sea coast, 8 km north of the city of Varna. It is currently a governmental and presidential residence.
Visit the palace and gardens.
The construction of the palace began soon after the land which it occupies was given to Knyaz Alexander of Bulgaria as a present by the Greek bishopric on 16 March 1882. There had previously been small monasteries called St Demetrius and St Constantine at that place, the buildings of which were subsequently converted into another small residence. Viennese architect Viktor Rumpelmayer designed the palace, which was named Sandrovo in 1885 after the Italian diminutive of Alexander\'s name — Sandro. Later the knyaz extended the estate to its contemporary area of 80 hectares.
The Unification of Bulgaria was proclaimed in Evxinograd in 1885 by Alexander, and after the knyaz\'s abdication the palace was bought by the state for 1,400,000 gold leva. It was eventually finished under Tsar Ferdinand, to whom the Bulgarian state awarded it after that, by Swiss architect Hermann Mayer and Bulgarian architect Nikola Lazarov. The palace was renamed Evxinograd in 1893 on the insistence of Knyaginya Marie Louise, Ferdinand\'s first wife. The name comes from the Ancient Greek term for the Black Sea - Euxeinos Pontos (hospitable sea) and the South Slavic suffix –grad, meaning "town" or, historically, "fortress".
Performance of opera “Romeo and Julliet”.
Coctail/dinner after the performance.
DAY 5 / 28. June 2010
Breakfast and tranfer to the airport. Departure.
SERVICES:
4 BB in 4* hotel in Varna
1 dinner in fish restaurant
1 diner in hotel
1 cocatil/dinner in Euxinograd
Tickets for 2 performances
English spaeking guide for the whole tour
All entrance fees according the program
A/C bus for the whole tour
culture tours in Bulgaria, opera tours in Bulgaria, music tours in Bulgaria
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