Varna is a sea-side resort and a district town found along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Occupying an area of 205 square kilometers, the city is sprawled upon luxuriant terraces descending from the Frangen Plateau along the Varna Bay on the Black Sea coast, the elongated Lake Varna, and two bridge ways connected by the Asparuhovo Bridge. The city has a population of 357,270, making it the 3rd largest city in Bulgaria, after Sofia and Plovdiv, and the 80th largest in the European Union (NUTS II).Often referred to as the seaside capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a major tourist destination, academic center, seaport, site of the headquarters of the Bulgarian Navy and the merchant marine, the seat of Bulgaria’s North-Eastern planning region and the Black Sea Euro-Region, as well as serving as the capital of the province of Varna.
Varna lies northeast of Sofia and surrounded by the cities of Dobrich to the north, Shumen to the west, and Burgas to the south. It is accessible by air through the Varna International Airport, by sea via the Port of Varna Cruise terminal, by railroad via the Central Train Station, and by various European routes.
As a much desirable beach resort, Varna offers prized blue flag golden beaches that stretch for kilometers. During the holiday season of July and August, the summer sun shines for long hours without the cold Baltic winds or the summer Riviera heat. Its tideless and gentle slopes makes it an ideal seaside location for children, while its pleasant sea temperature is most suitable for the various water sport activities found in the area.
The city’s beaches, also called sea baths, are dotted with hot sulfuric mineral springs, which are used for spas, swimming pools, and public showers, punctured by small, sheltered marinas. In addition, the waterfront promenade has beach clubs that are lined side by side offering vibrant and lively hip-hop, rock, techno, and chalga scenes. The 50 meter high Asparuhov most (Asparuhovo Bridge) is a popular bungee jumping spot.
Varna also rivals the cities of Sofia and Plovdiv with its offerings of artistic, cultural and historical attractions. Having existed as a settlement for thousands of years, Varna boasts of a wealth of interesting ancient sites, as well as Medieval and Renaissance structures interspersed with museums and contemporary art galleries.
The city center predominantly features a local interpretation of Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Baroque, Neo-Classicism, Art Nouveau, and Art deco in its building designs. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Varna was rebuilt by the emerging Bulgarian middle class. This had wiped out much of the Ottoman architecture and monuments that had once dominated the city’s landscape. Today, only a very few of these relics remain in the city.
Nonetheless, Varna still has other notable landmarks and monuments that would satisfy the interest of any art and history lover who visits the city. One of the city’s famous landmarks is the Varna Archaeological Museum, which is situated in a Neo-Renaissance building designed by renowned architect Petko Momchilov, and houses exhibits from Varna’s various periods of history, from the prehistoric to the Bulgarian National Revival. Its most noted exhibit is the Gold of Varna, which is the oldest gold treasure in the world that dates back to 4600-4200 BCE.
Part of the museum’s open-air exhibits is two other prominent landmarks in the city—the Roman baths at the city center and the medieval grotto of Aladzha Monastery at the Golden Sands Nature Park. The former were the public baths of the prosperous Roman city of Odessos, while the latter is a monastery dug high above the ground into a steep rock., wherein one could find impressive frescos all dating back to the early Middle Ages.
Another prominent landmark in the city is the Sea Garden, which is Varna’s largest and oldest landscaped park, as well as in the Balkans. Found in the park are the Varna Aquarium, an open-air theater that had been the site of the International Ballet Competition the Museum of Natural History, the Nicolaus Copernicus Observatory and Planetarium,, a terrarium, a zoo, and a children’s amusement park.
Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox churches also abound in Varna. The most outstanding examples of these structures include the Theotokos Panagia, which was built atop an old church that was said to have been the burial of Ladislaus III; Saint Athanasius, which is a former Greek metropolitan cathedral; Saint Petka Parashkeva chapel; the metropolitan Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral; the seamen’s church of Saint Nicholas; the Archangel Michael Chapel, which was the site of the first Bulgarian secular school from the Bulgarian National Revival era, and the Saints Constantine and Helena church.
Just as Varna’s unique position on the north shore of the Black Sea
And its rich resources has made it as one of the most well-known and frequented resorts in Europe and the Black Sea region, it had also given rise to the city’s attractiveness for property development. This is further supported by the city’s highly developed infrastructure, determined by its telecommunication network, port, and airport, as well as Varna’s industrial and trade development.
It is not surprising then, that Varna has emerged as a much sought-after city to live in, and the most expensive one as well, in terms of newly built apartments. This trend, which had left the previous leader Sofia in second place, has emerged in 2007. Newly built apartments in Sofia averaged at 1,043 Euros per square meter, while newly built apartments in Varna averaged at 1,188 Euros per square meter. Residential property prices in Sofia, however, saw a greater increase by 45.7% than in Varna with 33.9% over the same year.
This trend in Varna’s property market is due to the lack of newly built apartments in the face of a growing preference of people to live in the central area of the city. This was further pushed by Varna’s lack in large-scale residential complexes as compared with Sofia and Plovdiv.
Consequently, just as recent as 2008, rental prices in the city have been the highest in Bulgaria. Luxury apartments registered the greatest increase by 22.1%. Rents of unfurnished housing, on the other hand, increased by 19%, while rents in furnished houses increased by 17%. Two-bedroom apartments were the most preferred choice, with rental prices of apartments located at the downtown area starting at 300 Euros per month, while apartments located at remote burrows, such as Mladost and Vuzrazhdane, start at 250 Euros per month. Meanwhile, the rental price of a newly built house of 250 square meters in the seaside vacation town of Trakata was around 2,500 Euros monthly.
With the supply and demand gap in properties in the city center, interest in suburban areas will continue to grow, particularly near major office, lifestyle, and transportation hubs. The districts that have been receiving much focus recently are Mladost and Troshevo, which had been developing into major commercial centers with the several shopping centers being built in these areas.
All of these trends had resulted to the Bulgarian property market’s most outstanding performance in the global price index of properties in 2008. This is evident with the price increase that registered at 31.5% in the first quarter of 2008.