Razgrad

Razgrad (Разград) is a city in North-Eastern Bulgaria, close to the hills of the Ludogorie ("Mad Woods"). It's notable mostly for the ruins of the Roman city Abritus, as well as its disproportionately successful soccer team. Not far is Isperih with the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Understand

Ruins of Abritus

Ibrahim Pasha Mosque

The clock tower

The mausoleum-ossuary

With a population of about 28,000 (2021), Razgrad is the administrative centre of Razgrad Oblast (Province) and one of the smallest provincial centres in Bulgaria. It's located on the south-western border of a loosely-defined geographical and historical region called the Ludogorie in Bulgarian and Deliorman in Turkish (LOO-do-go-ri-eh, de-LI-or-man). Both names means the same - the Mad Woods, a nickname that the area earned in the Middle Ages, when a band of dense woods arched along the southern borders of Dobruja, from the Danube almost to the Black Sea. In its modern geographical definition, the name is limited to an extensive but low limestone plateau that melds into the Dobrudzhan Plateau to the north-east and the sea-side Frangen Plateau to the east. A small river, the Beli Lom ("White Lom") flows through the city of Razgrad itself, before merging to the north with the Cherni Lom ("Black Lom") to form the Rusenski Lom ("Lom of Ruse", not to be confused with the river and the city with the same name in North-Western Bulgaria).

Get in

By train

Razgrad is a major station on a relatively short line to Ruse that branches off the main Sofia-Varna line at the small town of Kaspichan (near Shumen, on the Varna side). This makes for some awkward connections. There are multiple daily direct trains from/to Ruse (80-120 min). Silistra usually requires changing trains at the village of Samuil (Самуил, first station south of Razgrad), though there's also an inconveniently scheduled direct train (3½ hrs or less for any option); the same trains also pass through Isperih (70-80 min). The situation is the same with Varna - there's a late direct train (2¾ hrs), but the other options are changing trains at Kaspichan (about 3 hrs or less), or even "trans-boarding" by bus between Kaspichan and Samuil. Anything along the Sofia-Varna line (Shumen, Targovishte, Veliko Tarnovo via Gorna Oryahovitsa, Pleven) also requires changing at Kaspichan. Despite being geographically closer, Dobrich requires going all the way around through Varna (or more precisely, Povelyanovo).

• 1 Railway Station (ЖП гара, Zhe Peh gara) (on the hills north of Razgrad, 6 km (3.7 mi) from the city centre, next to Road 49). Worn, utilitarian Communist-era building. One of the most inconveniently placed railway stations of a major city in the country. Getting into town requires either a taxi, or public transport - the only connection is literally an intercity road with no sidewalks, and there's a whole village between the station and the city. (updated Sep 2024)

By bus

The ubiquitous Union-Ivkoni offers connections to Sofia either through Pleven or Veliko Tarnovo. Arda Tur caters primarily to the Bulgarian Turkish community; here they maintain a line to Isperih and Silistra, a direct line to Burgas in Southern Bulgaria (through Shumen and Aytos), and international line(s?) to Corlu and Istanbul in Turkey. A number of small local companies run regional lines to Isperih, Ruse, Shumen, Targovishte, and Varna.

• 2 Bus Station (Автогара, Avtogara) (700 metres (770 yd) east of the city centre (Vazrazhdane Sqr), between the river and the large Road 49 (Aprilsko Vastanie Blvd)). Renovated and modernised utilitarian building that probably also dates back to the Communist 1970s-80s. The website has a timetable, but it's in Bulgarian only. (updated Sep 2024)

By car

Razgrad is right on the major European Route E70 (National Road 2) which connects Ruse (and Romania) with Varna. It's also a nexus of a number of smaller roads. E70/Road 2 goes through the northern outskirts of the city; approaching from either direction, before entering the city proper you have a chance to exit south onto Aprilsko Vastanie Blvd, which passes much closer to the centre.

From Ruse in the north-west: leave the city through the south-eastern exit; Razgrad is 65 km (40 mi) directly along E70/Road 2.

If you don't mind driving on country roads and don't want to miss a few sights en route, you can take a more roundabout route of about 95 km (59 mi). Inside Ruse itself, head along Bulgaria Blvd (European Route E85/National Road 5) towards the south-western exit of the city, but before reaching the city limits look for an exit to the south (left) towards Basarbovo (Басарбово), just before a bridge/flyover/overpass (the exiting road itself passes under the opposite overpass/flyover). That's Road 501. After Basarbovo and its monastery, 501 continues south to Ivanovo and its UNESCO World Heritage site, passing by Nature Park Rusenski Lom en route. After Ivanovo, further south there's a fork in the road, where you should turn east towards Cherven (Червен) - otherwise you'll end up rejoining E85 by Byala, towards Veliko Tarnovo. After potentially looking at the Cherven Fortress, exit the village to the south-east and follow the same tiny road until it merges into the marginally larger Road 202. Head south for a short distance, then take the unmarked exit east (left) to Svalenik (Сваленик). In the village, turn north (left) to cross the stream at the bridge (there's a mosque and the village hall afterwards) in order to get onto the road on the other side that exits the village to the west, towards Kostadenets (Костаденец). In Kostadenets the road easily merges into Road 2002 that leads north, to merge into E70/Road 2 at the larger village of Tsar Kaloyan (Цар Калоян).

Another, less rustic option from Ruse: shortly after Road 2 exits Ruse, Road 23 branches off to the east, 85 km (53 mi) to Isperih, passing right by the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtary (another UNESCO World Heritage site) before reaching the town. From Isperih, Razgrad is another 35 km (22 mi) to the south-west, along Road 205.

From Tutrakan in the north, National Road 49 leads directly to Razgrad if you decide to skip Ruse for some strange reason. Road 23 crosses Road 49 halfway, at the town of Kubrat, if you want to make a detour east through Isperih.

From Silistra (and Romania again) in the north-east, take Road 7 south, then Road 23 - it's 75 km (47 mi) to Isperih, and a total of 120 km (75 mi) from Silistra to Razgrad.

From Shumen in the south-east, it's a straightforward 50 km (31 mi) to Razgrad along E70/Road 2. E70 follows Motorway A2 from Varna until Shumen, where the old Road 2 crosses the A2 at a junction north of the city, and E70 takes it to the north.

From Targovishte in the south (and Southern Bulgaria via the Kotel Pass and Omurtag): exit the city to the north on the E722/National Road 4, then take Road 49 which branches off to the north shortly thereafter - total 40 km (25 mi) to Razgrad. If you miss the exit, you can drive east to the Shumen junction to get on the E70.

See

• Ruins of Abritus / Regional History Museum - by the south-eastern entrance of the city, right by E70/Road 2.
• City centre - a group of chained pedestrian squares: the main is Bulgaria Sqr; a pedestrianized portion of Bulgaria Blvd exits it to the east, to Vazrazhdane Sqr (Revival Sqr); to the south, Bulgaria Sqr turns into Momina Cheshma Sqr (Maiden Fountain Sqr)
  • 1 Old Clock Tower (overlooking the small, park-like Nezavisimost Sqr, on the north-western corner of the central Bulgaria Sqr). Standalone stone and wooden tower built in 1864, replacing an older tower built in 1764. The original clock mechanism is in the museum; the current one dates to the 1970s. (updated Oct 2024)
  • 2 Ibrahim Pasha Mosque (in the middle of Bulgaria Sqr). Completed in 1616, it's one of the largest Ottoman mosques in Bulgaria and on the Balkans. The building has been listed in various forms as cultural heritage since the 1920s. Not a functioning mosque, no entry. (updated Oct 2024)
    • Statue of Master Manol with wings - reference to a tale about Bulgarian stonemasons who built the mosque; the pasha decided to kill the masons to prevent them from building anything better; the masons made themselves wooden wings to escape, but they tied their axes to the wings; the blades cut the ropes holding the wings together and the masons fell to their deaths.
  • The Maiden Fountain (Momina Cheshma) - 19th century drinking fountain topped with a bronze statue of a young woman
  • 3 Mausoleum-Ossuary (across the river from Vazrazhdane Sqr). A small building built in 1880 to house the remains of Russian soldiers who died in the Liberation War (the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878). Next to it is the building of chitalishte "Razvitie", with a bronze statue of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and their pupils. (updated Oct 2024)
• Varosha Quarter (starts north-east of Vazrazhdane Sqr). Razgrad's Old Town with preserved traditional houses. Don't expect anything comparable to Plovdiv, though - like in most Bulgarian cities, they are scattered among more modern buildings (some of which are still quite old). (updated Oct 2024)
  • 4 Ethnographic Museum (Етнографски музей), ul. "G.S. Rakovski" 13. 9:00-17:00 (closed Sa-Su). A couple of whitewashed traditional 19th century houses with a yard. Exhibits focus on way of life of the local sub-ethnic group, the kapantsi, in the 19th century. Adults: 6 лв, students/pensioners: 2 лв, various discounts apply; either the prices are the same, or the tickets are also valid for the fortress. (updated Oct 2024)
  • House-Museum of Stanka and Nikola Ikonomovi (the Ikonomov family) -
  • Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra - a functioning Eastern Orthodox church built in 1860 on the site of an older church; many of its wood carvings date back to the 1860s-1870s; the dome and belfry were added in 1903.
• Ahmet Bey Mosque - smaller, old mosque originally built in the late 1500s, with a carved stone minaret; the only functioning Islamic temple in Razgrad.
• City Park - tree-lined alleys with a few open spaces; there's a dog park and an old open-air bicycle racing tack (kolodrum).
  • Pantheon of the Immortal - the obligatory angular Communist-era monument complex that each Bulgarian city seems to have. This one marks the place of a mass grave of fighters who fell in the failed Communist September Uprising of 1923, and commemorates Bulgarian "anti-Fascist resistance fighters" in general, connecting the Uprising with the guerilla movement during World War II.
  • Zoo

Off the beaten track

• Abandoned Tu-134 - abandoned (and ransacked) Soviet-made jet airliner, formerly of the Bulgarian National Airways, in an overgrown area on the outskirts of town

Do

• 1 Huvepharma Arena (Хювефарма Арена), bul. "Vasil Levski" 43 (on the west side of the city park). A 10,000-seat soccer stadium, home ground of PFC Ludogorets, Razgrad's disproportionately successful soccer club (the name means "someone from the Ludogorie"). Originally a small provincial club, it was bought in 2011 by a locally-born wealthy entrepreneur who contracted foreign and non-local Bulgarian players. Consequently, the team was promoted to the top division for the first time in its history, and in 2012 won a "treble": the Bulgarian championship (first place in the top division), the Cup and the Supercup of Bulgaria, to the great amusement of Bulgarian and foreign soccer fans. Since then, PFC Ludogorets has won the Bulgarian championship title for a record 13 consecutive years (though it hasn't always won the Bulgarian Cup), and it's one of the few Bulgarian teams having any successes in international tournaments. This means that occasionally you can watch European teams playing on this stadium. (updated Oct 2024)
• Hiking - Forest Park Pchelina ("the Apiary"), with a pair of small dammed reservoirs between the hills

Sleep

A few large hotels and a number of smaller ones.

• Hotel Cartoon - in a very unusual-looking 15-floor Communist-era building, in the fashionable at the time "futurist-modernist" style
• Hotel Central
• Hotel Les - three-star family-run hotel in the tree-covered city park, hence the name: "wood, forest"
• Hotel Kovanlaka ("the Kovanlak") - outside of town, in the Pchelina forest park; likely a former hizha (hiker hut/lodge). The name comes from Turkish: "kovanlık" means the same as "pchelin" in Bulgarian, apiary).