Hello everyone ♥
I had the idea
for travel posts ever since I first started blogging but I hadn’t realized it
until now because I wasn’t sure if you’re going to enjoy reading about
non-beauty-related-stuff. According to the statistic my readers like my posts with
label “lifestyle” so I decided to start writing about travelling as well. I
love travelling and I travel a lot. As you may know I’m from Bulgaria,
South-East Europe and I’ve travelled through the whole country and I keep
visiting different sights and memorial, sometimes I travel around Europe too.
Bulgaria it’s the most beautiful place in the whole world and it offers
thousands of opportunities for any taste – beautiful mountains, amazing
seaside, historical monuments…
I
planned
my
first
post
to
be
about
the
beautiful
sights
around
Central
Balkan
– this
is
the
place
my
heart
belongs
to,
my
home
area,
Balkan
♥ But
I
actually
spend
most
of
my
summer
on
the
seaside and since it’s
technically still summer so I decided to write about the most popular touristic place on the Bulgarian seaside for the past
few years – Castle of Ravadinovo, Sozopol.
I visited the
Castle for the first time last month and I can’t wait until I visit it again
♥
Аctually the name of the
Castle is “In love with the wind” but it’s not popular with its real name.
Let’s get
started with some helpful information first:
Where?
The
Castle
of
Ravadinovo
is
in
Burgas
province,
in
the
near
of
Sozopol
right
before
the
village
of
Ravadinovo
(3km away from the Old City
of Sozopol).
Entrance ticket?
For
adults
is
10lv
(=5 Euro or 7$), for kids is free. You can buy tickets online as
well. There is a parking in the near of the Castle which is also free.
Work time?
Every day from
08:00 until 22:00h
during the summer season.
My
advice
is
to
visit
around. I visited around
12:00-15:00h and it wasn’t this much crowded as it is in the afternoon or in
the mornings. The Castle of Ravadinovo does not
provide any sleeping and eating arrangements at present but Burgas, Sozopol and
the nearby towns and villages along the coast all offer a good
choice of hotel accommodation, restaurants and various tourist attractions.
Entertainments in
the
Castle?
Beside
the
Castle,
there
is
also
a
zoo,
lake,
church,
cafeteria, souvenir shop.
You can also do an Escape room challenge, Ghost hunting, horse riding, fishing,
art photo session. The castle provides
unique memories and revelations, along with being an excellent photo
opportunity, especially if you come in the summer. In the summer the walls and
towers are covered in lush green ivy mantle and the flowers in the garden are
in full bloom. There are no guided tours so visitors are free to wander about
on their own. Since the place is huge, you will need at least an hour to walk
around and see the best of the incredible garden. Take your time, stroll along
the beautifully landscaped alleys. You can listen to the sounds of parrots
talking, peacocks screaming and the water splash in ponds and basins. You can
stop by the lake and watch the graceful swans float peacefully across the clear
water surface. There is so much to see in the garden - there is a chapel,
plentiful fancy fountains, garden statues, antiques, tiny bridges and other
amazing treasures. Don't be surprised if you meet the "Prince" - you
can have your picture taken with him but most probably at some extra cost(5lv for picture=2.5 Euro or 3$). In the near of the Castle now are building an aqua
park which is meant to be the biggest aqua park on the Balkans. The aqua park
would be ready in 2017.
What is the history behind the Castle?
Castle of Ravadinovo is built by Georgi Tumpalov – he dreamed about having a fairytale castle. The best way to describe it is probably in a statement made by
one of its visitors - 'this is the most unusual building in the most unusual
location'. Indeed, the castle bizarrely stands in the middle of a farm field,
just a stone-throw from the highway. Its architectural design is unusual, a bit
extravagant and exotic for this country. Considering the fact that its
construction began about 20 years ago, the Castle of Ravadinovo is definitely
one of its kind; and a huge project too. The Castle of Ravadinovo is a bold combination of various
building and decorating styles and materials but it is definitely fun to see
what some ancient castles must have looked like when they were new. Many
visitors perceive The Castle of Ravadinovo as an utterly mystical and romantic
place, for others, it is the closest to a Disneyland or fairy tale adventure
which they can experience in this part of the Balkans. There is also a poem written for the Castle:
“I am a stranger coming from a
distant land and all along the road, I carried you in my heart.
I kept you safely in my soul like
a mother protecting her baby.
I have carried you for a long
time, my dream, and I have been raising you stone by stone.
Now, I can see you in front of my
eyes – an ENCHANTING CASTLE IN LOVE WITH THE WIND
What did you do, sinner, and how
did you live?
"I made a castle with a lake
and two nice children."
My thoughts:
I dreamed about visiting the
Castle and I have to admit that I’m very impressed. I’ll be back for sure,
maybe next year since in 2017 the Castle would be open for visitor in the
inside (and also visitors would have the chance to get married in the Castle).
Even though now you can’t visit the inside of the Castle you can be sure that
you’ll enjoy the experience of visiting this attraction. The Castle is huge and
really impressive. From first glance, the Castle is made in
the style of the classic Western European castles combining various styles from
the Renaissance and Romantic periods – but this comes not to be true! The
style of the Castle is one and only – the unique Fairy style. This is the
secret of its magic impact – the dream that came true to make a castle existing
only in fairy-tales. It was built completely of 20,000 tons of stone, which was
specially extracted from the bowels of the earth in the Strandzha Mountain near
the Turkish border. The stone is marble (metamorphosed limestone) and it can be
found everywhere in the structure – the fence, the artificial lake, the walls
and towers, the chapel and the cellar. According to the Geological Institute of
the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, these stones are aged about 227 to 247
millions of years. They contain traces of micro diamonds, which make the castle
change its color – in the morning it has pink nuances, during the day it
becomes white and at full moon – it glows. Since ancient times marble
limestone has been considered as exceptionally strong and stable material and
the buildings made of such stone have been considered to last forever.
Left
from
the
entrance
you’ll see the beautiful garden which is so exuberantly and amazing – a lot of blooming flowers, bushes and woods. Even I was impressed and I’m not into gardening :D.
In the garden there is also a small brook and couple
of bridges. In the near of the garden is the church, that has beautiful statues
placed around the entrance.
5m away from the church is the crypt (a castle
isn’t a castle if there isn’t a crypt, right?!)
that you can come in.
Let’s appreciate
the charm of the Castle and the beauty around:
Right
after
the
church
you’ll see a small square that has fountain
and just a couple of meters away is the lake, which is quite big and has a lot of black & white swans in.
At this point you’ll have breathtaking view:
Around
the
lake
are
walking free some
colorful
peacocks
and
peahens.
Right on the opposite
site of the Castle is wide terrace that has a couple of cute tables and chairs,
in which you can sit and enjoy the view, sensing the smell of the famous
Bulgarian roses.
In
the
near
of
the
terrace
is
beautiful
fountain
in
Ancient
Greek
style,
beside
it
is
stable with race horses and
open zoo.
At the end of the lake it’s half
opened cafeteria.
I spent nearly 3
hours at the area and I couldn’t see everything but I’ll definitely come back
as soon as possible. I think visitors at any age would enjoy the Castle and the
surroundings. The combination of this many styles might look too kitschy for
someone, but I like the variety of styles that makes the Castle so unique and
charming. I’m super impressed and recommend for
visitorsJ.
*Photos that don't have the logo of my blog www.preslavasbeautydiary.blogspot.com, as well as part of the information are downloaded from www.zamaka.bg (The Castle of Ravadinovo's official website) and I don't own them
Have you visited
the Castle of Ravadinovo (Inlove with the wind) and what are your thoughts?
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Have a nice evening everyone ♥
