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Photo: MrPanyGoff, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A symbol of the city and a major landmark due to its central location. People use the small park that surrounds it as a meeting place - "at the Cathedral" (na Katedralata). The tourism information center is right across the street. The cathedral was completed in 1886; the Dormition of Mary refers to the Eastern Orthodox belief that Mary died in spiritual peace and was then resurrected and taken bodily into Heaven.
The Dormition of the Mother of God Cathedral is the largest church building in Varna and the third largest cathedral in Bulgaria. Officially opened on 30 August 1886, it is the residence of the bishopric of Varna and Preslav and one of the symbols of Varna.
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Площад "Независимост", Ploshtad Nezavisimost
Varna's central square and the starting point of a pedestrian area zigzagging to the entrance of the Sea Garden. The square itself is adjacent to two small parks (one has an equestrian statue of Tsar Kaloyan), the pretty theater and opera building (built 1912-1932), a large fountain in front of the Socialist-era Regional Courthouse, and the New Yorker store (built in 1977 in modernist style as a fashion store in the state-run Valentina chain).
The museum's collection covers many periods, from the Early Paleolithic (100 000 BC), through ancient Greece and Rome, to the Middle Ages and later. The most important finds are those from the Varna Necropolis (burial site), including some of the earliest known gold artifacts in the world (4600-4200 BC). The museum also manages two open-air archaeological sites, the large Roman baths in the city centre and the medieval grotto of Aladzha Monastery at Golden Sands Nature Park.
In a quaint Bulgarian Revival house of the "symmetrical type", built in the 1860s. The collection showcases the rich diversity in culture and lifestyle of the population of Varna in the second half of the 19th and the early 20th century - clothing, domestic crafts, everyday items.
Morskata gradina
Also known under the self-explanatory name Primorski park (Seaside Park), the largest park in Varna stretches for several kilometers along the coast, one level above the beach alley. It contains multiple venues. Among those not listed elsewhere are a "children's corner" with various amusements (bouncy castle, bumper boats, etc), a petting zoo, many monuments (including an alley with busts of Soviet cosmonauts), open-air exercise equipment, and many cafes and restaurants.
Military-Maritime Museum
As the name suggests, it focuses on military history at sea, from ancient Greek wrecks to Soviet-era armaments. A nice old building (built 1890), with many items exhibited in the open. Outside the yard is the museum ship Drazki ("Daring"), a 38 m steam-powered torpedo boat that distinguished itself in the First Balkan War (1912); in the summer, it's open to visitors.
The aquarium's exhibition focuses on the Black Sea's flora and fauna which includes over 140 fish species, but also features freshwater fish, Mediterranean fish, exotic species from faraway areas of the World Ocean, mussels and algae.