Varna was a bit of a let down after all the neat stuff in Odessa. It's has about a third of the population of Odessa. Our tour seemed to struggle to keep us interested on our last day of the cruse. We seemed to be doing some weird stuff such as riding over the Asparukhovo bridge -- and then turning around and coming right back over it. Maybe we we're killing time. Besides Varna, this place has gone by the names Odissos (in Greek days) and Stalin (to commemorate his 70th birthday in 1949. (It got changed back to Varna after Stalin died.)
We would have rather spent that bridge crossing time going inside the current cathedral rather than only having a drive-by photo op. This 1880-1886 structure is called the Dormition (falling asleep) of the Theotokos (God-bearer) -- and commemorates what Roman Catholics call the Assumption into heaven of Mary and observed moderately on August 15. Eastern Orthodox, on the other hand, celebrate this day extravagantly as nearly a mini-Easter.
Instead of going inside the big cathedral, we spent our time in this 1838 building which, our guide informed us, was built modestly since the Ottomans would not allow an orthodox church to be built higher than a Cossack on horseback.
Inside this modest structure were extraordinary icons (although many of the very best have been moved to the archeology museum and copies left in their place.)
This simple building replaced St. Atanassiy church and took its name. Its predecessor had burnt down two years before.
Icon's take up most of the wall space and ceiling, even spilling over onto the pulpit.
This site held a 10th-century church. In 1961, this church became an icon museum. After the iron curtain fell, it returned to its religious mission.
This is the pediment of the iconostasis, the screen which separates the nave (or congregational area) from the sanctuary (where the priests do their stuff).
The icons usually sport a large picture of the saint above, and below a set of cartoons featuring the scenes from his life which developed his sanctity --an Orthodox graphic novel.
Until the new building (the Dormition of the Theotokos --see the in the 2nd picture) opened in 1886, St. Atanassiy served as Varna's cathedral. In Latin, "cathedral" means seat because it was the bishop's throne. The one here is suitably lavish.
My favorite icon was this Madonna featuring twisted faces and pursed lips.
In the church's parking area, we see how Bulgarians handle their obituaries.
St. Atanassiy church overlooks the site of the former Roman baths (Thermae) -- once the largest public building in Bulgaria. For Romans, the Thermae were the center of their social life, occupying them for hours daily before they got digital cable and broad-band access. With slaves in tow, they would move from one room to another through different temperature water. Once clean, they would exercise. Then their slaves would scrape off the oil and dirt.
Based upon its construction and coins found here, this appears to be a late 2nd century AD building constructed along the lines set out by the Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius. Vitruvius's opus, De Architectura, was discovered in 1414 and inspired much Renaissance and neo-Classical architecture. Key to Vitruvius's design were human proportions, so much so that Da Vinci pays him homage in his sketch Vitruvian Man: a four-arm, four-legged man enclosed in a circle and square.
Today we pretty much see a few bits left from this this place although the overall footprint occupies most of the original 75,000 square feet. Drawings such as these help modern tourists envision the roofs, walls, columns, and statues now mostly stolen from this site. Thermae often had doubles of many rooms to keep men and women from mixing.
Besides exercising and getting scrubbed, Romans used the baths to shop and eat and drink. Some might contain libraries as well. If a warm spring were nearby, its waters would be used. Otherwise (as was the case at Varna) a set of sunken boilers and pipes known as a hypocausta would be used. The Romans knew their water systems and were able, because of them, to create huge cities relatively free of disease when compared to other civilizations. Ancient Rome exceeded a million people. After the empire fell, no town grew to anywhere near that size until recent times. The apartment buildings in the background were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s when Varna's population tripled.
Vitruvius theorized that good buildings be useful as well as beautiful, and endure: here's the original tower which has lost about a 3rd of its height over 1700 years. As the heart of the town's social life, baths were public monuments and a dramatic tower might enhance the town's self-esteem.
This is a row of shops on the lower level. The ground has probably risen over the years.
Varna in Roman days was called Odessos (yes, like the masculine of Odessa). Many baths built during the Empire would have separate entrances for men and women. The Odessos building has this common palaestra, -- a large area with two street entrances from the North used as a gymnasium. (This orientation, recommended by Vitrivius, has the heated rooms face south in order that the sun can help the heated water system keep the area warm).
Here's the sign explaining the three water rooms -- each more hot than the other. The coldest (probably unheated water) being the frigidarium. Bathers who wished to use the warm water first went to the lukewarm tepidarium (which at some baths was just a heated room with no water). Finally the bather would sweat his way into the calidarium.
Here's those same rooms. Typically the tepidarium would be the most lavishly decorated with floor mosaics and wall frescoes. Bodies would be anointed here by special slaves.
After the visit to the old cathedral and the Roman baths, we spent time in the Archeological museum. This neo-Renaissance building was originally a girls' school and has been in used since 1895.
The museum's key exhibit is that of the Gold of Varna, the oldest gold in the world (4600-4200 BC). The necropolis was found about 2.5 miles from Varna's center in 1972. About 2/3rds have been excavated. The 294 graves analyzed so far have yielded over 3000 artifacts. One grave alone stored more gold by weight than every other site found to date from this era! This era may have been the turning point when primarily female-dominated matriarchal societies were shifting to male dominance.
