Wraza
Wraza (Враца) | |||
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Basic data | |||
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State : | Bulgaria | ||
Oblast : | Wraza | ||
Residents : | 53,570 (December 31, 2016) | ||
Coordinates : | 43 ° 13 ' N , 23 ° 34' E | ||
Height : | 344 m | ||
Postal code : | 3000 | ||
Telephone code : | (+359) 092 | ||
License plate : | BP | ||
Administration (as of 2016) | |||
Mayor : | Kalin Kamenov | ||
Ruling party : | GERB |
Wraza [ ˈvratsɐ ] ( Bulgarian Враца , common spelling Vratsa) is a town in Bulgaria with 53,570 inhabitants (2016) at the foot of the steep peaks of the Balkan Mountains , industrial city (textile and cement industry), cultural center of the area with a theater, opera and art gallery . Wraza is the capital of the oblast of the same name .
history
The place already existed in the 4th / 3rd Century BC BC, which is confirmed by the gold jewelry of a Thracian princess found here in 1969 . Vratica fortress is mentioned in chronicles of the 6th and 13th centuries .
Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire , Wraza was an economic and administrative center. The eight-meter-high bronze figure of the poet and liberation fighter Christo Botew (1848–1876), who fell on May 20, 1876 in the Wraza Mountains, commemorates the struggle for freedom against the Turks .
The city has given its name to Vratsa Peak , a mountain on Greenwich Island in Antarctica , since 2005 .
Attractions
Worth seeing are the remains of the former city wall with residential and defense towers from the 17th century, the clock tower, the historical museum , the captain's house, the Kaleto hill and the Pametnik na Westitelja monument (the news transmitter). A museum is housed in the clock tower, which, like the well-preserved Kurtpaschow tower, was used for fortification purposes . The churches "Sveto Wasnesenie" ( Holy Assumption ) and "Sveti Nikola" ( St. Nikola ) are interesting .
The Wratschanski Balkan Nature Park includes the part of the Balkan Mountains of the same name and the rocks of Lakatnik . It is about 30 km long and 10-15 km wide. The southern border is the Iskar Pass . The highest mountain in the nature park is the Beglitschka Mogila (1481 m.). Over 700 tall plants grow on the territory of the nature park , of which more than 50 are rare and endangered species. The park's fauna includes more than 130 protected animal species.
There are over 500 caves and ravines within the boundaries of the park . One of the most beautiful in Bulgaria is the Ledenika Cave , about 16 kilometers west of Wraza, with special rock formations, a concert hall and a lake. Certain stalactite structures are illuminated by spotlights. Mention should be made of Temnata Dupka (Dark Hole), Smejova Dupka (Hole of the Dragon), Haiduschka Propast (Chasm of Freedom Fighters), Gardjuva Dupka, Kalnata Propast (Muddy Chasm), Newestina Propast (Bridal Gorge) and Sokolova Dupka (Falcon Hole).
The monastery "Sweto Uspenie Bogoroditschno" ( Holy Assumption ) of Tscherepisch is located 30 km from Wraza in the Iskar breakthrough. It was built in the time of Tsar Ivan Shishman and later destroyed by the Turks.
sons and daughters of the town
- Krastjo Stojanow Pischurka (1823–1875), writer, actor and director
- Zeno Todorow (1877–1953), painter
- Ivan Penchev (1904–1974), physician
- Dimitar Avramow (* 1943), politician and journalist
- Martin Petrow (* 1979), football player
- Gita Dodowa (* 1982), triple jumper
- Radostina Todorova (* 1995), model
Town twinning
- Bor (Serbia) , Serbia
- Craiova , Romania
- Frankfurt (Oder) , Germany
- Kobryn , Belarus
- Sumy , Ukraine
- Villeneuve-le-Roi , France
Web links
- visit.vratza.com - Detailed website about the city, with a large picture gallery. Multilingual.
- Vratza Municipality - The municipality's website (in Bulgarian).