The Romanian Queen Castle in Balchik

The palace and the botanical garden in Balchik is one of the most beautiful places on the Bulgarian coast. This interesting and beautiful residence has organized rich gardens around it which are able to inspire everyone, especially combined with incredible views of the coast.

The Palace in Balchik is actually the summer residence of Queen Maria and the botanical garden is one of the most exotic which can be seen in Bulgaria. Together with the two religious temple complexes of the Palace and the botanical garden in Balchik they still acquire completion.

Largely the charm of the Palace and the botanical garden in Balchik is due to the diverse and ecentric style of other cultures that are intertwined there. The Palace and the botanical garden in Balchik is one of the few places in the world where in one place you can see a Christian and Muslim shrine, without any controversies and claims between the two religions.The reasons for this is rooted in an interesting kind of Queen, which took on a professed exotic religion.

According to the canons of this religion the Princess shaped almost everything in the Palace and the botanical garden in Balchik - there are dozens of wonderful harmony between the cultures and influences. It is this exotic blend combined with the beach on the Black Sea that makes the Balchik Palace one of the most beautiful and bizarre places in the country.

The town of Balchik is located in northeastern Bulgaria, on the northern coast, which is characterized by a stony and steep beach compared to the southern coast of the Black Sea. Very close to the Balchik Palace and Botanical Gardens are Albena, Kranevo, Golden Sands, Varna, Dobrich and Kavarna.

The project to build this beautiful summer palace and botanical garden is the work of Italian architects - Amerigo and Augustin, who started the work in 1924.

The Queen of Romania - Victoria Alexandrina Maria de Edinburgh fell in love with this rocky coast near Balchik during the Balkan War in 1913, when Romania invaded Bulgaria on June 28th. Shortly afterwards a number of Romanian cultural operators bought the land near the town of Balchik, with the result that this marine paradise turns into a significant cultural center of the Black Sea. In 1940 the lands were returned back to Bulgaria and the palace and botanical gardens had been declared as a tourist attraction in 1980.

The architecture of the Balchik Palace of the Queen has intertwined the Gothic, Oriental and Moorish elements. Within the palace is the crystal clear water springs of the White well and fountain. In the yard of the palace complex and the botanical garden in Balchik a chapel for Stella Maris was built.

The very botanical garden was established in the territory of the summer residence in 1955, it extends to the full beauty of the area over 6.5 hectares, and you can see over 2000 species of plants from around the world beautifully arranged.

Indeed, the Botanical garden in Balchik is impressive with its exotic plants and the overall look of the park against the residence. The complex of the Palace and the botanical garden in Balchik is also home to the second largest collection of cacti in Europe. The Botanic Garden is managed by St. Kliment.

The Palace and the botanical garden in Balchik are a part of the movement created in 1966, The 100 National Tourist Sites of Bulgaria.