Rousse (Русе), Bulgaria

Rousse Municipality Building
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rousse_municipality.jpg
Author: David


Rousse (Bulgarian: Русе) is a city in northern Bulgaria, on the southern bank of the River Danube, which forms the border, with the city of Giurgau in Romania on the northern side. Also written as Ruse and Russe, it has a population of 150,000 people (2011 estimate) and is the provincial capital of Rousse Province.

Rousse experiences a humid continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. July is the hottest and wettest month of the year, with an average high temperature of 32°C (90°F) and an average rainfall of 68.8 mm (2.7 in). January is the coldest month with average low temperature of -6°C (21°F).

Rousse has been settled as early as the Neolithic age. During Roman times, Emperor Vespasian had a series of fortifications built here. The fortification was later rebuilt under Emperor Diocletian, but was eventually destroyed by the Goths in AD 250.

Church of Sveta Petka, Rousse
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rousse-church-St-Petka.jpg
Author: Ivelin Mincov


Rousse first got its present name when it became a fortified settlement under the Second Bulgarian Empire, in the 14th century. The city was conquered by the Ottomans in 1388, and apart from a brief period of unsuccessful liberation attempt, remained under Ottoman rule right until 1878, when Bulgaria became liberated. It was in the years leading towards liberation that Rousse was governed by the Ottoman administrator Midhat Pasha, who was instrumental in transforming the city from an Ottoman garrison town into a modern European city.

Rousse was the second largest city in Bulgaria after Plovdiv until the First World War, when Sofia and Varna began to grow in size and surpassed Rousse and Plovdiv. By the 1980s, Rousse was suffering from both population decrease as well as heightened pollution. Immediately following the fall of Communism and the change to democracy was a difficult period of economic decline and unemployment, which were reversed only in the new millennium, which also brought more environment-friendly industries.

Palace of Justice, Rousse
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruse_TodorBozhinov_09.08.09_%2824%29.JPG
Author: Todor Bozhinov


Today Rousse is one of the industrial hubs of Bulgaria. Among the industries in the area include automotive, ceramic, textiles and food processing. There is also a shipyard on the Danube.

Visiting Rousse

Located 300 km from Sofia and 200 km from Varna, Rousse can be reached by train from both these cities, as well as from Bucharest, Athens, Budapest, Istanbul, Kiev and Moscow. There are also bus services linking Rousse with most major cities in Bulgaria, as well as with Greece.

Regional History Museum, Rousse
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battenberg_Palace_in_Rousse.jpg
Author: Ivelin Mincov

Places of Interest in Rousse

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