Varna
Varna has a population of 462,013 ( 2001 ). It is a port city in Eastern Bulgaria located on the Black Sea coast. Founded by greek colonizers in the 6th century BC as the polis Odessos.Varna is also called the sea capital of Bulgaria, because it is the biggest Bulgarian city on the coast. Varna was also the base of the Bulgarian Navy. Currently, there is a Naval Museum with a museum ship torpedo boat Draski.
In 1444, the Battle of Varna was fought here, with the Turks defeating a Crusader army led by Ladislaus III of Poland, who was killed, earning a nick-name Varnensis. There is a mausoleum of Ladislaus III in Varna.
The current mayor of Varna is Kiril Yordanov.
In 1962, the Chess Olympiad, also known as the World Team Championship, was held in Varna. In 1969, Varna was the host of the World Rhythmic gymnastics Championship.
Varna's twin cities are:
- Aalborg, Denmark
- Dordrecht, Netherlands
- Kharkov, Ukraine
- Aqaba, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- Odessa, Ukraine
- Malmoe, Sweden
- Turku, Finland
- Bradford, England
- Miami, the USA
- Rostock, Germany
- Novorosyisk, Russia
- Pireus, Greece
