Odessos
This article is about a city in Bulgaria. See Varna (caste) for the Indian caste system.
Varna (Bulgarian: Варна) has a population of 349,073, 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.
History
Varna was founded around 6,000 B.C. near the place of the ancient apoikia, then Roman and Byzantine city of 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 which are the oldest man-made gold in the world.
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.
Economy
Varna is an important economic centre for Bulgaria and the Black Sea region in general. Major industries include trade and transportation (see Port of Varna, Varna International Airport), shipbuilding, and manufacturing. Tourism is of great importance to the city, with the nearby resorts of Albena, Golden Sands, SS Constantine and Helena, Riviera and many others each year attracting millions of visitors from all over the world. Together with the nearby town of Devnya, Varna forms what is known as the twin cities are:
- Aalborg, Denmark
- Dordrecht, Netherlands
- Kharkov, Ukraine
- Aqaba, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- Odessa, Ukraine
- Malmoe, Sweden
- Turku, Finland
- Bradford, England
- Miami, the USA
- Rostock, Germany
- Novorosyisk, Russia
- Pireus, Greece
See also
