CASTLES VARNA PROVINCE

Euxinograd Palace is a late 19th-century former royal summer residence located 8 kilometres north of Varna on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, now serving as a governmental and presidential retreat. Construction began in 1882 under Prince Alexander I Battenberg, who named it Sandrovo before it was renamed Euxinograde by Princess Maria Luisa, wife of King Ferdinand I. The palace witnessed significant historical moments, most notably where Prince Alexander signed the 1885 Decree on the Unification of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia. Designed in the style of an 18th-century French chateau with a distinctive mansard roof and clock tower, the complex spans approximately 900 acres and includes greenhouses for rare plants, French gardens, English parks, vineyards, and supporting buildings. Tours can be arranged through the official website, though access is limited due to its active government use.

Ovech Fortress rises from a ship-shaped rocky outcrop 53 kilometers west of Varna in Bulgaria, surrounded entirely by dramatic rock formations. Continuously inhabited from the 3rd century through the 7th century, then again from the 10th–11th centuries until the Ottoman period, the fortress witnessed successions of Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgarians, and Turks. Its golden age spanned the 12th–14th centuries when it functioned as a military, religious, economic, and administrative center. Visitors today can explore the remarkable 79-meter-deep well known as the "talking well," the bishop's church, the knight's prison, and a tower connected to local legend of the "devil's path." A 150-meter-long bridge structure connects the fortress with the adjacent Tabiite Plateau, and professional guides from the Museum of History of Provadia are available year-round.

Petrich Kale Fortress sits on a high rock plateau towering approximately 100 meters near the village of Razdelna in the Varna region, about 4 kilometers north of Avren. The fortress was first established during the Early Byzantine period (5th-6th centuries AD) but was destroyed by the end of the 6th century, later rebuilt in the 11th-12th centuries as an important stronghold in the medieval Bulgarian defensive system. The fortress was finally destroyed by Ottoman forces on November 7, 1444, three days before the Battle of Varna. The site features remnants of inner and outer fortress walls and stone stairs carved into the rock, with historical connections to Bulgarian, Czech, Polish, and Hungarian medieval history.

The Ancient Fortress at Cape St. Atanas near Byala on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast stands as a Late Antiquity and Early Byzantine stronghold dated to the 5th–6th centuries AD, precisely to the reigns of Byzantine Emperors Anastasius I (491–518 AD) and Justinian I (527–565 AD). Archaeological excavations uncovered three ancient Roman-era wineries, a public bath facility, ceramics workshops, an elaborate church complex, paved streets, and multiple buildings, revealing a bustling late antique settlement. The site, opened to visitors in 2014, features information boards in Bulgarian and English, a life-size ancient wine press model, and displays artifacts from its wine-producing heyday, offering insight into the economic and religious life of early Byzantine coastal communities.

Muglizh Fortress, also known as Maglizh, Mihalich, or Mihlyuz kale, lies approximately 2 kilometers north of Aksakovo in Bulgaria's Varna Region, 10 kilometers northwest of Varna city center. The fortress experienced its most active period during the 5th–early 7th centuries AD when it functioned as an important defensive and commercial center for the Late Antiquity era. Archaeological excavations conducted in 2001 and 2002 revealed structural details of the northern fortress wall and southern protected areas, contributing to scholarly understanding of the region's Late Antiquity and medieval fortifications along the Bulgarian coast.