Un petit paradis dans notre ville

Небольшой рай в большом городе

At my favorite place in Varna, for walks, coffee, the beach and what not, is the beautiful Black Sea resort - St. Constantine and Elena. we told you about this wonderful little place.

St. St. Constantine and Helena Resort is the first officially recognized Black Sea resort. It is one of the most popular and beautiful Bulgarian tourist attractions. It is situated 10 km north of Varna sity /16 km away from Varna airport/ amidst an area of remarkably splendid natural beauty. The terrain is a natural terrace above the sea of about 10-15 m height. The whole area are   covered with  many-years broad-leaved forest reaching the sea coast. The seaside coast is more than 3.5 km long. In the resort  there are tennis courts, children playgrounds and a football ground, outdoors and indoors mineral water pools and 2 yachting ports with the capacity to accommodate 40 medium-size yachts. One of major priorities of the resort is the availability of seven mineral springs with depth from 1800 to 2050 m and a general capacity of 175 l/sec together with 400C to 600C mineral water temperature.

The beaches are open from May to October and offer various entertainments such as: hiking and relaxation, sunbathing, waterskiing, surfing, jet gliders and a lot of more amusements to spend your time away.

The bars, restaurants and different clubs scattered all along the beach and among the resort offer a wide variety of national cuisine dishes and culinary dainties to satisfy every taste. The unique combination of green parks, golden beaches and mineral springs of  St. St. Constantine and Helena resort , gives you the chance to experience a real holiday at affordable prices.

According to the legends the monastery was built in the XIV - XVI century. A group of monks fleeing away from the Turkish raids found shelter in the forests (modern resort complex St. St. Constantine and Helena). They discovered an icon of St. St. Constantine and Helena there and they decided to build a monastery near a spring the waters of which they knew were healing. The structure of the monastery built of heavy stone blocks is preserved even today in excellent condition. Since its erection up to present time the monastery has been reconstructed three times - last in 1973. Even today the glory of the magical waters of the spring continues to be spread around the world. The healing water is now being used for baptism, blessings and divine services. Guests of the St. St. Constantine and Helena Resort may visit and light a candle in the Holy cloister of the church in the monastery, which is interesting not only from architectural but also from ethnographic point of view. The monastery belongs to the Varna Bishopric.

The palace was built as a summer residence of Duke Alexander I Batenberg. It was named Sandrovo in 1885 after the Italian diminutive of Alexander's name - Sandro. Later, the Bulgarian state bought the palace for 1,400,000 gold leva and awarded it to King Ferdinand. Under his reign this paradise place raised up to its real glory.  The palace was renamed Euxinograd (from Greek Euxeinos Pontos, "hospitable sea") in 1893 on the insistence of Duchess Marie Louise, Ferdinand's first wife.

The total area of the Euxinograd Residence is 800 decare, as the park occupies 550 of them. Its arrangement began in 1890 and took several decades. The park is home to over 310 plant varieties from Asia, South America, North Africa and Southern France, said to be picked out by Ferdinand himself. The park is a combination of English and French styles and was finished by Édouard André.The visitors' curiosity is provoked by the royal stable, called Shtala (from German Stall), as well as the pediment of the right-hand wing from the French Château de Saint-Cloud, which Ferdinand bought in 1890.The sundial, a gift from Queen Victoria, is another object of interest.

The palace's wine cellar was created in 1891 for the needs of the Bulgarian royal family and takes up two underground floors. It still produces high-quality white wine - 12 varieties and brandy - 7 varieties, the most wanted of them is euxignac. The wine produced in the palace nowadays is thought of as one of the best in Bulgaria. The Euxinograd cellar also preserves valuable 125-year-old French wines since the Liberation of Bulgaria.

Well this is my most favorite place in Varna. Welcome you to discover. A small paradise in a big city of a small country! ATANAS MITEV 12D