BALCHIK
BALCHIK is one of the most picturesque Bulgarian towns. Built
amphitheatrically at the Black Sea coast, it is 47 km north of Varna. A real
pleasure is to take a walk in its cobbled narrow streets with old-time
houses, steeped in the greenery of vineyards and small gardens, pleasantly
contrasting the shining white elevations, encircling the town from all
sides.
As far back as during the 5th century B.C., the ancient Greek polis was
built here on top the remains of an older settlement. Later on it was called
Dionysopolis, a tribute to God Dionysus. Karvouna, the regional centre of
medieval Bulgaria, developed on top the ruins of the early Byzantine
Kionysopolis and this was also marked on a number of drawn sea maps and
descriptions of the land, made later. Karvouna (Karouna) was a name, brought
by the old Bulgarians, meaning “compassion, closeness, mutuality,
hospitality”. By the name Balchik, the town has been known since the 16th
century.
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The Palace in Balchik was built for Romanian Queen Maria, who invested her
entire poetic imagination in the creation of the beautiful palace, called by
her by the romantic name Tehna Yuva – Quiet Nest. After the Second Balkan
War in 1913, Balchik was among the regions, annexed to the Romanian
territory by virtue of the Bucharest Peace Treaty. It remained part of
Romania until 1940. The building of the architectural and park compound of
the Palace, began in 1924 after a design by Italian architects Americo and
Augustino. The combination of the ample natural sights and the elegant
architectural design has produced the exclusively impressive solution of the
entire compound. The palace with the tower, the villas, the auxiliary
premises, the old water mills, the amazing gardens, the waterfall with the
little lake, the springs – all this was conceived and implemented with a
lavish élan and professional skill of architects, engineers and gardeners.
The park of the palace, designed after the model of the fairy-tale labyrinth
on the Island of Crete is rife with strange terraces, lanes, summer houses
and columns. The stone throne of the queen, facing the sea, arouses to this
day a wish in visitors to sit on it for a while and enjoy the infinite
seascape. The individual buildings and park nooks combine a great number of
most varied architectural styles. The Botanical Gardens of the Sofia
University are also located here. This is a fairy-tale bouquet of colours,
fragrances and great diversity of flowers, bushes and trees, brought from
the most picturesque parts of the world. The collection of cacti alone
features more than 250 species.
The Balchik Touzla is about 4 km south of Balchik. This is a lagoon lake
with curative mud, the deposits of which have been calculated to be 38,000
tons. The Touzlata seaside and mud treatment resort, established here, has a
mud treatment centre with departments for open-air and indoor mud-treatment
procedures, a sanatorium, a resort polyclinic, holiday houses and villas. A
mineral spring is part of the inviting natural scenery. Its water is used
for treatment by drinking it
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