The town of Rousse

Rousse is situated in the north eastern part of Bulgaria, in eastern Europe. It is the biggest bulgarian town on the Danube river and the fifth biggest town in Bulgaria. From earliest times its advantageous situation on the Danube has made Rousse one of the most important cultural and economic centers of Bulgaria.
This key position has determined the nineteen century long co-existence of town, river, and people, carrying the unique atmosphere of history as a precious heritage, and of future as an open road full of promises. The Romans were the first to build the fort which they called Sexaginta Prista (the port of sixty ships). Then came others, from Europe, leaving their indelible imprint in this intersection of material and spiritual culture, followed by the imbued with the zeal of drive and enterprise Bulgarians, who gradually turned the place into a centre of the Bulgarian national revival. The very name Rousse became a synonym of economic growth and cultural rebirth.

The nineteenth century saw here the opening of the first Bulgarian printing house, the first model farm, the first Bulgarian railroad connecting Rousse with Varna, the first Bulgarian weather service, the first technical school and technical society, the first
professional teachers' club, the first insurance agency, the first chamber of commerce and industry, the first inland navigation service on the Danube, the first telephone, the first moving picture show, the first Bulgarian newspaper, the first map of geography. New industries sprang up, banks and trade agencies were founded and European shipping agencies, as well as 17 foreign consulates were established. A large number of Bulgarian, Austrian, Italian, and Swiss men of art created the wealth of architectural forms and styles characteristic of the period in Europe: neoclassicism, neobaroque, neogothic style, art nouveau, and fin du siecle.

Sites about Rousse:
www.uni-ruse.bg/rousse.html
www.starcointer.net/rousse_city
www.rousse.bg
www.geocities.com/~silvi22/rs.html