Bulgaria property news and articles

Central Rural Areas

Just a few years ago, the first wave of foreign buyers was pretty much restricted to tourist hots pots such as the coast and the ski resorts. Nowadays there is not a corner of rural Bulgaria where a British person has not bought a house. It would be impossible to give details of all the country’s rural regions, and this book focuses on the most popular and up-and-coming areas. It includes the inland region of Veliko Turnovo and the Stara Planina mountains; the town and its surroundings have become the most popular area for inland property – and prices have reacted accordingly.

Ski Facilities in Borovets

Borovets is an alpine-type resort and provides very good conditions for winter sports such as skiing (both day and night), snowboarding, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, biathlon and skidoo. Thereareski runs for beginners, intermediate and advanced skiers designed with international markings and multilingual signs. Pistes are maintained to a high standard.The resort is a regular host of sports competitions: it has twice hosted World Cup competitions in alpine skiing and its biathlon track is one of the best in Europe. Borovets has developed into a modern ski resort of a high class, and has luxury hotels, restaurants, clubs, shops and a good choice of pistes and lifts.

In the 19th century the ruling Prince Ferdinand built a hunting lodge at Borovets and was followed by various wealthy families and their friends. As a result one of Europe’s earliest ski resorts developed. The modern resort was built in the 1960s to cater for package ski holidays; during the Communist era its proximity to Sofia made it the favoured resort for Party officials and Sofia’s diplomatic set. In the last few years Borovets has attracted considerable private development and investment, but as yet not on the scale of its neighbour, Bansko. Hoping to replicate the success of Bansko, a’Super Borovets’project was planned (see overleaf) as a more luxurious and larger-scale replica of Bankso.

Bulgaria’s second largest city, Plovdiv, is located 75km from Pamporovo. This is one of the most attractive and vibrant centres in the country, a picturesque town full of parks and gardens, museums and archaeological monuments.

Plovdiv is situated on the river Maritza and has an interesting past. Only fragments of the city’s ancient buildings – the city forum, the stadium, the amphitheatre of Philip II of Macedonia (Alexander the Great’s father, who founded the city as Philipopolis), basilicas, hot springs and residences – remain today, but columns, capita Is, friezes, mosaics and bas-reliefs mark the city landscape. The 2nd-century amphitheatre has been completely restored and hosts outdoor performances.