Varna
Varna Bay, Bulgaria
Orthodox Cathedral, Varna
Varna has a population of 348,871, making it Bulgaria's third largest city after Sofia and Plovdiv (2001 est). It is a port city in the eastern part of the country, located on the Black Sea coast. The city was named Stalin, after Josef Stalin, from 1949 to 1956.
Varna was founded by Greek colonizers in the 6th century BC as the polis Odessos.
Varna is called the sea capital of Bulgaria, because it is the biggest Bulgarian city on the coast. Varna was also the base of the Bulgarian Navy. Currently, there is a Naval Museum with a museum ship torpedo boat Draski. The archaeological museum contains some of the finds from the so-called "Gold of Varna", a cache of Chalcolithic grave-goods.
In 1444, the Battle of Varna was fought here, with the Turks defeating a Crusader army led by Ladislaus III of Poland, who was killed, earning a nick-name Varnensis. There is a mausoleum of Ladislaus III in Varna.
The current mayor of Varna is Kiril Yordanov.
In 1962, the Chess Olympiad, also known as the World Team Championship, was held in Varna. In 1969, Varna was the host of the World Rhythmic gymnastics Championship.
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Varna's twin cities are:
Twin cities of Varna
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