A Pretty City Mezdra

hakan şatin
Jun 26, 2023
2 min read

”The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” – Barbara Kingsolver

Mezdra (Bulgarian: Мездра [ˈmɛzdrɐ]) is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located on the left bank of the Iskar River just north of its gorge through the Balkan Mountains.

We were invited to the "Ivan Vazov" High School СУ "Иван Вазов" - Мездра in Mezdra by the teacher Vasilka Kolovska. Thanks for this invitation. Thank also to the director Mariela Goranova, whom we managed to meet with and discussed different initiatives of the school and BYF.

Roads to Mezdra

First of all, if you want to drive to Mezdra, you need a good anti-nausea medicine because the roads were curvy and curved like a snake. But along the way, we passed by the foothills of the Balkan Mountains and encountered fascinating views.

Presentation about Turkiye

At the "Ivan Vazov" High School in Mezdra, with my friend Seda, we made a presentation to the 8th grade students about Turkey, about ourselves, about our life and work in Turkey. The students only had some information about Istanbul. This situation suprised me. A student shared with us a few Turkish words she learned from Turkish TV shows. Although I do not recommend watching Turkish TV series, they are very popular in Balkan countries.

Ruins of the ancient and medieval Mezdra Fortress

We visited the ruins of the ancient and medieval Mezdra Castle, but we couldn't walk around the grounds because the weather was too hot. But we had the chance to visit the indoor exhibition areas. We saw household appliances, clothes and other exhibits that people who lived here in the past used in their daily lives.

Visit to Vratsa

After Mezdra, we went to Vratsa and Regional History Museum on the same day. This museum impressed me a lot, but unfortunately it was forbidden to take pictures. They also gave us a museum visa book from the museum. With this, we can show this notebook in all the museums we go to and have the seal of that museum printed. I think this will be a good memory for us. I recommend you to visit this museum.