Veliko Tarnovo · 1185 – 1393

The citadel of the tsars,
in three dimensions.

Fly over Tsarevets, walk its walls at eye level, watch the medieval capital rise again and hear the stories of its palace, its patriarchate and the churches by the Yantra — built from the hill’s real shape.

Tsarevets 3D on an iPad: the fortress hill from the sky, its walls, the cathedral on the summit and the town beyond
The app’s welcome screen on an iPhone: the stone lion at the causeway, the fortress at sunset and the Enter button
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Inside the app

A morning on the Tsar’s Hill.

From the lion at the causeway to the night show over the walls — the whole citadel, in the palm of your hand.

The welcome: the stone lion and the Enter button
The introduction to Tsarevets and Veliko Tarnovo
The hill from the sky, every place marked
A place on the Royal Walk, its story ready
The capital as it may have stood in 1390
Sound and Light over the walls at night

What is Tsarevets 3D

A medieval capital, measured and rebuilt.

The hill, the river and the town around them are built from real measurements — the heights of the ground, the course of the Yantra, the walls, paths and houses of today’s Veliko Tarnovo, and the excavated foundations traced from the archaeologists’ own plan of the citadel.

Church of Saint George, below the walls by the Yantra Patriarchal Church of the Ascension of the Lord on the summit, its bell tower beside it Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the town, its domes above the roofs
  • The ground, to the metreSatellite heights of the hill and its cliffs, with the land rolling on to the horizon, 32 km each way.
  • A living landscapeMore than a quarter of a million trees, the Yantra flowing round the hill, the bridges and the town on its slopes.
  • The walls and gatesThe ring of walls, the Main Gate over the Cut Rock, Baldwin’s Tower and Asen’s Gate, where they stand today.
  • The churches belowThe Forty Martyrs, Saints Peter and Paul, Saint Demetrius and the others by the river, modelled from photographs.

Three ways in

Fly over it. Walk it. Follow its story.

  • The hill from the sky, the compasses of its places over the walls and the summit

    Fly over the hill

    Turn the hill with a finger, come closer with two. Tap any compass on it and you are flown to the place, its story ready.

  • Walking at eye height on the bridge over the Cut Rock towards the Main Gate

    Walk it at eye height

    Stand anywhere and look around. Tap the ground to walk there — along the walls, through the gates, down to the river’s edge. Fly away, and land again where you stood.

  • The Royal Palace, place 4 of 13 on the Royal Walk

    Follow a journey

    Two journeys lead from place to place — inside the walls on foot, and below them by air — each place with its story and its deeper stories.

Two journeys · Twenty-five places

Inside the walls, and below them.

From the square below the causeway to the summit’s Patriarchal church, and from the riverside churches to the monasteries in the gorge — choose a journey, and the app takes you from one place to the next.

The menu: the Introduction, the Royal Walk, Below the Walls, Sound and Light, See it in 1390, All places and Walk freely All places: every story on one list

Chapter One

The Royal Walk

On foot, inside the walls. From Tsar Asen I Square across the Cut Rock and through the gates, to the Royal Palace, the Patriarchal Complex and its church, Asen’s Gate, Execution Rock, Baldwin’s Tower and Frenkhisar.

  • 13 places
  • On foot
  • Inside the walls
Patriarchal Church of the Ascension of the Lord in the golden hour, on the Royal Walk
Tsar Asen I Square The Cut Rock and the Main Gate The Gates Within The Palace Church and Saint Petka The Bell Tower of the Patriarchal Church Asen’s Gate (Small Gate) Execution Rock (Lobna Skala) Baldwin’s Tower Frenkhisar

Chapter Two

Below the Walls

By air, along the Yantra. The churches by the river — the Forty Martyrs, Saints Peter and Paul, Saint Demetrius, Saint George — Shishman’s Bath, Trapezitsa across the water, the Asenevtsi Monument, and the two monasteries in the gorge.

  • 12 places
  • By air
  • The river and the town
Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, the first place below the walls
Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God Church of Saints Peter and Paul Church of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki Trapezitsa Asenevtsi Monument Momina Krepost and the Devingrad Name Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Trinity

Beautiful storytelling

Every stone has a story.

Each place opens with a few lines, then the whole story — and, for the curious, its deeper stories. Every one was researched in Bulgarian and English sources and checked a second time. Where historians disagree, the app says so; legends are told as legends.

  • The introductionTsarevets and Veliko Tarnovo, from the first walls to the fall of 1393.
  • Twenty-five placesEach with its story, standing where it stands.
  • Deeper storiesThe tsars, the patriarchs, the sieges and the builders, for those who want more.
The introduction to Tsarevets and Veliko Tarnovo, open over the picture of the tower The story of the Royal Palace, open

See it in 1390

Watch the capital rise again.

One tap, and the hill becomes the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire as it may have stood around 1390 — the royal palace and its towers, the Patriarchate, the whole ring of walls, and houses rising over the excavated foundations, with Trapezitsa walled across the river.

The Royal Palace as it may have stood in 1390, its towers and halls risen over the foundations
The palace on Tsarevets today: its foundations and the restored walls in the grass The same view in 1390: the palace risen with its towers and halls, the houses of the town around it
Drag across the picture: today on the left, 1390 on the right. A reconstruction on the excavated foundations — how it may have looked, not a record of how it did.

Sound and Light

The night the hill sings in colour.

Since 1985 the walls, towers and church of Tsarevets have been lit with colour, lasers and bells, with no words at all. The app’s tribute plays it over the hill in five chapters, wherever you are — from the first lamps to the last bell.

Sound and Light: the summit lit gold, lasers fanning into the night sky
Sound and Light over Tsarevets: the walls lit gold all round the hill and green lasers rising from the summit
Our tribute to the show, not a recording of it.

The real sky over Veliko Tarnovo

Any hour. Any season. Any sky.

The sun and the moon stand where they really do over the hill — at any hour you choose, or right now. Pick spring, summer, autumn or winter, the golden hour or a full-moon night, and five kinds of cloud from fair-weather cumulus to an overcast sky.

The light and the sky: the hour, the moments of the day, the season and the clouds
The Patriarchal church on the summit in the low light of a spring morning The summit at midday under fair-weather clouds The church and its bell tower in the golden hour, the clouds turning rose The summit under a full moon, the church pale in the moonlight
One view of the summit on a spring day, at four hours — the light computed for Veliko Tarnovo.
  • The hill and the river bend in spring greenSpringFresh green on the slopes
  • The same view in high summerSummerLong days and dry grass
  • The same view in autumn, the woods turned copper and goldAutumnThe woods in copper and gold
  • The same view in winter, the hill and the town under snowWinterThe hill under snow

Music and the sounds of the hill

Listen. The river is still there.

Music for the journey, and the hill’s own sounds around you — the Yantra below, the wind on the walls, birds by day and crickets after dark — each on its own fader, as loud or as quiet as you like.

Music and sound: the music and the sounds of the hill, each on its own fader Shishman’s Bath and the Vladishki Bridge, by the river

Every place

Twenty-five places, eight centuries.

The Royal Walk

Inside the walls, on foot

  1. Tsar Asen I Square
  2. The Cut Rock and the Main Gate
  3. The Gates Within
  4. The Royal Palace
  5. The Palace Church and Saint Petka
  6. The Patriarchal Complex
  7. Patriarchal Church of the Ascension of the Lord
  8. The Bell Tower of the Patriarchal Church
  9. The Medieval Town on Tsarevets
  10. Asen’s Gate (Small Gate)
  11. Execution Rock (Lobna Skala)
  12. Baldwin’s Tower
  13. Frenkhisar

Below the Walls

The river and its churches, by air

  1. Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs
  2. Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God
  3. Shishman’s Bath and the Vladishki Bridge
  4. Church of Saints Peter and Paul
  5. Church of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki
  6. Church of Saint George
  7. Trapezitsa
  8. Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God
  9. Asenevtsi Monument
  10. Momina Krepost and the Devingrad Name
  11. Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord
  12. Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Trinity

Phone, tablet, computer

One hill, on every screen.

Tsarevets 3D runs in your browser right now — on a phone, a tablet or a computer, with nothing to install, no account and nothing to sign up for. It collects nothing about you and never asks where you are.

Tsarevets 3D on a laptop: the stone lion and the causeway beside the name and the Enter button Tsarevets 3D on an iPad: the walls and the summit from the sky Tsarevets 3D on an iPhone: the Asenevtsi Monument
25Places
2Journeys
4Seasons
10Languages

Ten languages

Every story, in your own words.

Choose a shield on the lion’s tablet, and the whole hill — every place, every story, every button — speaks your language.

  • English
  • Български
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Nederlands
  • Polski
  • Română
  • Русский
The language tablet: ten shields, one for each language

Built around discovery

Seven centuries ago, this hill ruled an empire. Now it fits in your hand.

Free

Ready to climb the Tsar’s Hill?

Tsarevets 3D is free. Explore it now in your browser — the apps for iPhone, iPad and Android are coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.

Download on theApp Store Explore now Get it onGoogle Play

App Store and Google Play: coming soon