Travel:The Castle of Ravadinovo, Sozopol, Bulgaria (EN)

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 ♥