Ruse is an ancient Bulgarian city and a major port on the Danube River. People settled there in ancient times since the river provided a living. As seen on the prehistoric settlement hill, the people in that earliest period lived in a place with clearly distinguished residential and public buildings, streets and neighbourhoods. Clay idols worshiped as guardians of life that have been found during excavations are now kept in the museum.

The castle and the fleet station called Sexsaginta Prista were built under the Roman Emperor Vespasian (69 - 79 AD). The castle was on the main road from where Belgrade is today to the delta of the Danube River. As the milestones that were once at the exits of Sexsaginta Prista indicate, that was the starting point of roads to the town.

Written sources show three versions of the name of the castle: Sexsaginta Prista, Sexsanta Prista or just Prista. The root of the first part of the name is the Latin numeral sexsaginta, which translates as “sixty”. The second part comes from Greek (prista, pristis) and means a kind of an ancient speedy battle ship with oars. It is supposed that there were 60 berths in Prista, hence the name of the castle: the port town for sixty ships.

In the Middle Ages the Rousse region was among the most developed areas of the Bulgarian state. At the time of the Otoman Yoke Rousse was an important fortress and the maingate to the north of the Turkish empire. It was called Rouschouk.

In the nineteenth century, Rousse was the first town in Bulgaria to aquire a pronounced European look which came an illustration of its economic prosperity at the turn of the century. The first newspaper printed in Bulgaria came out in Rousse in 1865.

After the Liberation in 1878, Rousse continued being one of the largest towns in Bulgaria. It became the craddle of the Bulgarian shipbuilding when the first iron ship was built in 1881. The first private bank Girdap with authorized capital of 5 million golden francs and the insurance company "Bulgaria" were established in 1881. The first Chamber of commerce and industry in Bulgaria was established in Rousse in 1895. In 1897 just two years after the show of the Lumiere brothers in Paris, the residents of Rousse were the first to see the motion pictures.

The central streets intersect to form small bright and cozy squares whose atmosphere is typical and unique. Svoboda (Freedom) is the main square. The Court of justice, the Theatre, The Opera house, Danube hotel and the municipal garden are there. One of the gems of Rousse is the Theatre, which used to be a money-earning building of the school trusteeship and the figure of the winged god of trade on the roof reminds of that. The building architect was Paul Branck and it took his famous Viennese team four years to build it, from 1898 to 1902. Nowadays the Theatre is under reconstruction.

The main square is dominated by the majestic Monument of Freedom made of granite and bronze and designed by S. Zlatev and S. Kiriazov. The sculptor of the statue of freedom and the reliefs of the 8-metre pyramid over the pedestal was the world-famous architect Arnoldo Zocchi.

Some 23 kilometers southwest of Rousse there is an unic archeological reserve - the remarkable Ivanovo rock monasteries. Located at a height of 6 to 8 metres, the cells have been inhabited by monks until the 17th century. Chronicles and the preserved church murals show that the community of hermits also created a blossoming literary center during the 13th - 14th century. The rock monasteries have been evaluated as an important stage in the development of European culture and recorded on the UNESCO List of World Cultural Heritage.

The Ivanovo churches contain some of the best frescoes of Bulgarian religious art.

7 kilometers southwest of Ivanovo is the Fortress of Cherven, dated from the Middle Ages. It was one of the most important military, economical, cultural and religious centres of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. The ruins are restored and can be visited.

The town of Ruse is a standard for European architecture in Bulgaria being work of scores of architects, engineers, technicians and builders. In the city work many an artist which, in a brilliant way, create the townscape. Their work is a sample of the Neo-Classicism and the Secession, typical for Western Europe in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The Viennese school and the Modern influence strongly the Ruse architecture with its ornaments: spirals, rosettes, flora and fauna motifs. Some of the significant landmarks of Ruse are the building of the Historical Museum (initially built for a Palace in 1882-1892), the Male High School building, the house of the factory-owner Andrea Turillo, the Library. However, it’s beyond any doubt that the most emblematic building of Ruse is the Profitable Building which is the first theatre building in Bulgaria. Finished in 1902, its imposing facade with the tranquil rhythm of the arcades and its sculptural decoration, create the unique European ambiance of the city centre.

Regular events

• The March Music Days is an international music festival.
• St George's Day (6 May) is Rousse's holiday. A local fair is organized for a week around this date.
• The Danubian Carnival is a masquerade held around 24 June, Enyovden.
• The Sexaginta Prista Summer Stage is an urban festival. Events are hosted at the Roman castle every Friday from May through October.
• At the end of October are BG MediaMarket and the Bulgarian Europe Media Festival.

COAT OF ARMS