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History comes to life in Bulgaria: Historical park near Varna

Sun-bowmen, falcons and treasures: Historical Park near Varna

It is only half an hour car ride from Golden Beach on Black Sea coast to Historical Park. There one of the largest cultural and historical education park of the world is currently being built. It is a living open-air museum, in which the visitors can experience everyday life from different eras for themselves. For this purpose, old temples, tombs, huts and palaces are replicated true to the original.

The entrance door of the Thracian castle made of heavy marble is already impressive. The door frame weighs the incredible 3.5 tons. From the old Thracian castle there are only ruins left which lie deep under the water. But with the support of science, it could be reproduced in Historical Park almost identically.

Treasure hunt in burial mounds

While we know a lot about the Greeks and Romans, the life and work of the Thracians is still somewhat hidden. But this will change with Historical Park. The Thracians already lived in the Balkans 2000 years before Christ and were amazing people.

During my trip through Bulgaria I was able to visit her burial mounds and hear exciting stories about them. Men went to war, but at home they didn't have much to say. There women set the tone. At least that's what the paintings in the graves show. These impressed me the most in Bulgaria. I really felt like Indiana Jones when I visited the Golyama Kosmatka burial mounds. The reconstructed graves in Historical Park also leave a lasting impression.

Historical Park: Meet the Thracians

One meets the first Thracian already in the parking lot. This is the sun-bowman and the symbol of Historical Park. Thracians believed in several deities and partly worshiped the same gods as the Greeks or Romans. But there is one major difference: Romans and Greeks believed that people were to blame if a disaster happened and could even anger the gods.

The Thracians, on the other hand, firmly believed that humans were part of the gods. So if the weather was bad, they just went out and shot an arrow in the sky. They should have really been equipped with proper self-confidence. They were convinced that they could do everything. Fears or doubts were foreign to them.

In the Thracian castle

And they celebrated well. That is also handed down. So they celebrated ceremonies with wine in the throne room and drank from golden goblets. Such a scene is hard to imagine when you are standing on the ruins. In the reconstructed Thracian castle in Historical Park, on the other hand, you immediately feel transported into another time. The rooms are filled with legends and stories. And that even when Historical Park is yet not finished.

Big, bigger, Historical Park

During my visit in the summer of 2019, the grass on the lawn was just beginning to grow and the construction site was busy.

But I could already visit the first phase with the areas from the Chalcolithic, the Neolithic, Thrace, Proto-Bulgarian and Slavs together with the facilities around the lake.

The entire site is scheduled for completion in 2022. Then Historical Park should expand to over 500 hectares.

In the restaurant one will serve authentic food from different eras. At that time there was mainly grain, peas, spelt, beans, cabbage and radish. The first tasting of the originally Bulgarian food was excellent. There was cold sheep's milk soup with nuts and cucumber, bread filled with spelt, onion and meat, and homemade Banitsa made from puff pastry and cheese.

The figures in the park look like real people. This is achieved by using real hair and medical pupils.

There are stations for trying out and actively participating.

Falcon Donna is already training for the jeep safaris.

In the museum shop there are even Thracian stories translated into German and modernly prepared as comics.

So far, the whole project has been privately financed - neither the state nor the EU have paid anything. The idea started in 2010. Construction started 2 years ago. Since then, more than 4,000 people have been involved - from archaeologists, writers, musicians, sculptors, artists to historians and restorers. 100 employees work on site.

Historical Park as a prelude to the cultural trip through Bulgaria

Historical Park near Varna has been officially open since June 2019. Although everything is far from finished, the visit is worthwhile. Because in every era portrayed there is a lot of love for details and especially for history, which is anything but boring. This is probably thanks to the mega committed team, which also includes Roman and Ralitsa. They showed me how rich in cultural treasures Bulgaria is.


Author: Anita Arneitz

"Source": https://www.anitaaufreisen.at/blog/allgemein/historischer-park-in-der-naehe-von-varna/