Levsgetso

The fortress was built in the place of a Byzantine fortress from the sixth century. It served as an important centre during the Second Bulgarian empire, second only to the capital of Turnovo. It minted coins and in 1235 it became the seat of the Bishopric of Cherven.

The fortress was burned by the invading ottomans in 1388, with most people fleeing to what is today Ruse.

There is also a 3D reconstruction of the town during the 14th century

Cherven’s wiki

As @[email protected] requested, here's a review of Time Shelter. I apologize in advance for what you are going to read.

As this was my first work by Gospodinov i didn't know what to expect but i really enjoyed it!

I want to start with Gaustine, and precisely, his name. From Garibaldi and Augustine, a revolutionary and a philosopher (with interesting beliefs about time). That basically sums up what Gaustine is - a revolutionary for that world, someone who unifies others with their past, just as Garibaldi helped unify Italy. But does unity with your past free you from the constraints of the future? It's a question posed frequently by the book. For many the the certainty of the future that has happened brings them comfort, but the mistakes still lie in that future. He truly feels like somebody outside of time, even down to the way he speaks, a wanderer in time. For the most of the story he still was that young mysterious young man we met all the way back in that seminar, at least, until that "i don't know".

I must say that I definitely enjoyed the first part of the book more, I enjoyed the human aspect of it. Who are we without our past? What binds us to it? All those questions, all those characters' stories, even when most of them were so tragic. While I liked the philosophical aspect more, I still found enjoyment in the "social commentary" if I could call it that. As a Bulgarian it absolutely hit close to home, actually a lot of the book did. At the beginning of the book, when he talks about life under communism, about that room. It was so familiar, while I wasn't alive in those years it was just like talking to my father. The little toy cars, the strange foreign triangular candy... the famed truck driver who brought all of that home, like the one my grandfather was. Got bit carried away (lol) but the whole Referendum and everything before and after really felt realistic.

I also really loved G.(G.)'s character, a writer who can't remember his story, his time left falling out of his pockets. From the person who helps these people to someone who becomes one of them, being sent more and more back. From a few words, to a notebook of them, to phrases, names and after all that is left is that rose. Really loved how trough the story the line between G. and G.G. gets blurrier and blurrier. Gaustine didn't disappear without a trace as the main character states, he was always there, he never left. Also I actually liked how meta the book was at times and even funny while at it.

I've seen some criticisms that the book doesn't have a climax, but to be honest it doesn't need one. It laid out everything it set to tell and told it. From the promises of a better past to repeating those old mistakes again. But it shows what we, as humans miss, those days when we were happy and young, a shelter... After all everybody yearns for their own time shelter.

Thanks for reading trough this if you did, it really was fun writing it and made me think more deeply of what I read and dive deeper into it's meaning.

TL;DR Nice book

The construction of the castle began in the 10th century at the place of the Ancient Roman castell Bononia. The building of Baba Vida is tied to a legend, according to which a Danubian Bulgarian king who ruled at Vidin had three daughters: Vida, Kula and Gamza. Prior to his death, he divided his realm among the three. Vida, the eldest, was given Vidin and the lands north to the Carpathians, Kula was awarded Zaječar and the Timok Valley, and Gamza was to rule the lands west up to the Morava. Although Gamza and Kula married to drunkard and warlike nobles, Vida remained unmarried and built the castle in her city. The name of the castle means "Granny Vida".

Due to wars and castles being torn down as to prevent rebellions or just for the materials during ottoman times Baba Vida remains the only fully intact castle in Bulgaria.

Baba Vida’s wiki

And Vidin’s

It served as the primary stronghold in the capital of the Second Bulgarian empire. It’s situated on the Yantra river, on a hill of the same name, across it is the other main hill in the medieval city - Trapezitsa.

It was conquered on 17 July 1393 by the ottomans after a three month siege, during which the tsar was at Nikopol, leaving the Bulgarian patriarch to defend the city.

On 22 September 1908, at the foot of Tsarevets, in the Holy Forty martyrs church, tsar Ferdinand declares Bulgaria’s independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Here’s a great guide for Tsarevets