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Photo: Hans A. Rosbach, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A group of monolithic churches, chapels and monasteries hewn out of solid rock in the high rocky banks of the Rusenski Lom, 32 m above the river. The complex is notable for its well-preserved medieval frescoes, the best preserved medieval rock/cave/cliff monastery in Bulgaria.
The Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo are a group of monolithic churches, chapels and monasteries hewn out of solid rock and completely different from other monastery complexes in Bulgaria, located near the village of Ivanovo, 20 kilometers (12 mi) south of Rousse, on the high rocky banks of the Rusenski Lom, 32 meters (105 ft) above the river. The complex is noted for its beautiful and well-preserved medieval frescoes. The churches are inside Rusenski Lom Nature Park.
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St. Dimitar Basarbovski Monastery
A functioning Eastern Orthodox monastery named after a local saint, Dimitar of Basarbovo. Probably the only "rock-hewn"/cliff-side/cave monastery that remains in operation in Bulgaria, although nowadays the monks' dormitory is at the base on the cliffs, and the cells carved high up in the cliff face are used as chapels and tombs.
The ruins of a large medieval fortified town, on a meander of the Cherni Lom river (lit. 'Black Lom'), surrounded by cliffs on almost all sides. There's a parking lot with a ticket office and a coffee shop at the base, and a staircase leads to the ruins. Among the ruins, there's an unusually well preserved (by Bulgarian standards...) square tower, and a church with remnants of floor mosaics (protected by a modern roof). Nice panoramic views of the scenic landscape, good for drone photography. Try finding the well that has siege engine ammunition on its bottom (large stone balls).
Battenberg Palace
Ruse's Regional Historical Museum is one of the 11 regional museums of Bulgaria. It acts within the Ruse, Razgrad, and Silistra regions. The museum occupies the building of the former Battenberg Palace, previously a local court, built 1879–1882 by Friedrich Grünanger. The Ruse Regional Historical Museum was established in 1904. Its basis are the archaeological collections of Karel and Hermenguild Shkorpil, as well as of the naturalist Vasil Kovachev, which were gathered in the "Knyaz Boris" men's high school of Ruse. The museum holds approximately 140,000 items, including: prehistoric pottery and idol plastic arts. The museum features seven full-time exhibitions, three of them being open-air: the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, the Medieval city of Cherven and the Roman castle of Sexaginta Prista.
A natural history museum that opened in 2014, which explains the modern interior. Exhibits include animal taxidermy (some can be touched), dioramas of natural habitats, several large aquariums with sweet-water fish, a terrarium with reptiles, extinct mammal fossils (and a mock-up of a woolly mammoth), and what can be only described as the "miscellaneous" section of the history museum (from musical instruments to weights and measures).
Пантеон на възрожденците
A Bulgarian national monument and an ossuary. 39 famous Bulgarians are buried in it, including Lyuben Karavelov, Zahari Stoyanov, Stefan Karadzha, Panayot Hitov, Tonka Obretenova, Nikola Obretenov, Panayot Volov, Angel Kanchev, etc.; 453 more people—participants in Botev's detachment, the Chervena Voda detachment, in the April uprising, and other revolutionaries have been honoured by writing their names in the interior. An eternal fire burns in the middle under the gold-plated dome. The Pantheon is one of the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria. In order to build the Pantheon in 1977, the "All Saints" church in the old Ruse cemetery was demolished. The new building was open for visitors on 28 February 1978. After a public discussion in 2001, the Pantheon was "Christianised" by placing a cross on top of its dome. The "St Paisius of Hilendar" chapel, as well as a museum exposition, were founded then.
Къщата на Калиопа
A popular name for the Bulgarian "Urban lifestyle of Ruse" museum (Bulgarian: Къща-музей „Градския бит на Русе“), was built in 1864. According to a legend, the house was bestowed upon the beautiful Kaliopa (born Maria Kalish), the wife of the Prussian consul Kalish, by the governor of the Danubian Vilayet, Midhat Pasha, who was in love with her. The façade's design resembles the style of houses in Plovdiv. The frescoes at the upper floor were crafted in 1896. The exposition represents the role of Ruse as a gateway towards Europe, and the influx of European urban culture into Bulgaria at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Sample interior layouts are shown, of a drawing-room, a living-room, a music hall and a bedroom, with furniture from Vienna, as well as collections of urban clothing, of jewellery and other accessories, of silver cutlery and porcelain, which mark the changes present in the daily life of Ruse citizens. The first grand piano imported into Bulgaria from Vienna, can be seen here.