History

The Beginning

With the beginning of the archeological researches and the restoration of the Tsarevets Fortress starts the discussion concerning the reconstruction of the bell tower as a part of the Patriarch's Complex and placing a bell which has to ring in specific hours.

At the beginning there were three scenarios for the show on Tsarevets Fortress. The one that had been realized was by the producer Vulo Radev who together with Yaromir Hnik led the Bulgarian-Czech team, which included also the famous Czech musician Jiří Stivín, as a member of the creative team. The making of the programme was completed by the Czechoslovak centre of Fine Arts in Prague.

630 km cable network, 2 400 color lasers, 140 lightnings and 6 real beating bells, whose weight varies from 600 kg to 6 tons, are included in a special computer - controlled system in order to present this unique attraction. The funds invested in the creating of the audio-visual show are over 10 million leva.

The delivery of the equipment and the installation should have been done in two steps and the construction put into operation on the 1st of June 1983. The installations are finally ready for exploitation in the autumn of 1985 and the premiere of the show is on the occasion of the 800 anniversary of the Uprising of the brothers Asen and Peter.

The Scenario

At the beginning there were three scenarios for the show on Tsarevets Fortress.One from the author Serafim Severnyak, the other one from Anton Donchev and the third one that got realized was from Vulo Radev.

The idea for the show dates back to the early 60's of the last century when the National Development Committee of Veliko Tarnovo plans on developing the old capital as a historical, cultural and tourist center.With the beginning of the archeological researches and the restoration of the Tsarevets Fortress starts the discussion concerning the reconstruction of the bell tower as a part of the Patriarch's Complex and placing a bell which has to ring in specific hours.

On the 27th of January 1970 the Executive Bureau of the International Development Committee of Veliko Tarnovo, led by PenchoKubadinski, at that time a deputy prime minister of the Council of Ministers and a minister of transportation, assign the District People's Council and the City Council with the task to gathera creative group of people for the development and the realization of the Sound and Light show on Tsarevets Fortress.

"The Legend for Tarnovo" – the name of the scenario for the audio-visual show developed by SerafimSevernyak. In several parts he follows the history of Bulgaria from its creating in 681 to the capturing of Tarnovo from the Ottoman Empire in 1393. According to the author`s idea the show was supposed to be watched in a special viewing hall with Tsarevets as a background. On wall panels such as stained glass, wall-paintings, frescoes are portraited fundamental historical moments with included text. In this area was expected the sound of music as well as a performance which includes ringing of bells and light effects coming from Tsarevets Fortress and the Asenova Quarter.

The scenario of the author Anton Donchev from 1978 is also for a viewing hall where you can watch Tsarevets even during the night. 22 historical figures take part in the whole performances – among them are Asen, Kaloyan, Ivan Asen, Baldwin Flanders,Ivaylo, PatriarchEuthymius andGregory Tsamblak.

The ideaof the producer VuloRadev from 1979 is for two performances. The first one – "Tsarevgrad Turnov – Sound and Light" was supposed to be developed until the end of the 1980 on the occasion of the 1300 anniversary of the Bulgarian country. The aim of the the second one – Veliko Tarnovo – Rondorama was to show in a fascinating way the cultural heritage of the Middle Ages combined with the today`s look of the city. In practice, the scenario for the first show "Sound and Light" was the only one that got developed. It includes kinetic plastic figures combined with sound and light effects.

The construction and the maintenance of the show

According to the Czechs the show would not have last more than 12 years. They took part in the development of the programme and the construction of the installations of the Sound and Light show. The prognosis turned out to be not quite accurate and 30 years later the show, created and developed by VuloRadev and YaromirHnik, is still in its original look and fascinates the audience.

The making and the realization of the programme was completed by the Czechoslovak centre of Fine Arts in Prague. The work began in the 1980s and and the premiere of the show was in November 1985 which lasted approximately 8 minutes. The show itself was subjected to development. The Czech group added new light and sound effects and in 1988 the duration of the show reached 21 minutes.

Despite the agreements with the Czechs, they do not take responsibility for the maintenance of the system and this result in a Bulgarian team taking the lead. The team itself consists of high-tech and low-tech specialists, mechanics, physicist for the laser and security guard.

In the years of making the show, the main challenge is getting funds for the installations. Initially, the light part was controlled by an American computer INTEL 8080 and the sound effects – by 8 - Channel Recorder TEAC 80.

The central - managing and sound system is modernized and transferred to a new computer in 2014. For 30 years there was not even one failed performance of the show due to technical defects.

Funds

Over 10 million leva are invested in the performance of the show.

10 388 328, 62 leva are the invested funds in the making of the Audio-visual show "Tsarevgrad Turnov – Sound and Light".

The contract for designing and developing the show is concluded on the 29th of December 1980 with the Czechoslovak deliver "Art Centrum" – Prague. The total sum is divided into 420 000 leva, 3 205 500 rubles and 391 600 US dollars. From Bulgarian side we make the payments annually, until 1988, via foreign-trade organization "Hemus".

According to the documents the business expenses add up to 9 580376, 67 leva. The business trips, the accommodations of the crew add up to 445391, 95 and the group of creators (the producers VuloRadev and YaromirHnik) received 42 00 leva.

Installations

630 km of cable network supply the installations of Sound and Light show. The switching over the different regimes of work is being done from the command station and the carriers of the sounds and the data for the light effects can be found in the same command station.

The peripheral lighting consists of 2400 color searchlights and every each of them has a red, blue, green and yellow ray. They are put in a specific row and are aimed at different sites of the hill. The flashlights are 140 and located towards the audience, the searchlights are two – red and green.

The system itself includes 6 real beating bells, whose weight varies from 600 kg to 6 tons.

The whole installation is supplied with ring of six transformers with voltage of 20 KW and the peripheral installations are controlled by 72 panels, connected with transformer stations and the central computer. The whole installed capacity of the audio-visual show is 3,5 Megawatt.

The Bells

Almost five years had passed in the making and installation of the six bells which ring during the show on Tsarevets Fortress. They are made by the Manoushek family in Czechoslovakia in the 80s of the last century.

The Manoushekfamilyare hereditary craftsmen. Rudolf Manoushek is the last Czech master who makes bells before Second World War. In the period from 1906 to 1940 he had made hundreds of bells. He passes his experience on his son Petar and together they are the ones who make the bells needed for the Sound and Light Show. The sculptural ornaments are created by a family member of the Manoushek family and namely KvetoslavaManoushkova.

The three small bells, whose weight is around 680 kg, are made in the family workshop of Manoukovi in Zbraslav. The other three, which weigh around 6300 kg, are made by the Czechs in their workshop in the German town Apolda (at that time East Germany). After that the bells are returned back to Zbraslav where the sound is tested.

An unexpected difficulty turned out to be the harmonizing of the bells on the place where they were supposed to be installed.Because of the fact that Tsarevets has the form of a peninsula, it was feared that the sound coming from the bells would resound instead of pouring. That`s why Petar Manoushek brings 4 bells from Czechoslovakia which are intended for churches. On top of the hill is constructed a temporary scaffolding and the sound testing is recorded by a television crew. In the course of ten days the scaffolding is being moved around the hill until the perfect spot is found and finally all the bells are harmonized with each other. The project is finalized only after all tests are made.

All of the bells are equally designed – on each of them is written "1300 years Bulgarian country – Veliko Tarnovo" and the emblem of the city stands out as a fundamental element. Because of the differences in the sizes of the bells the inscriptions and the images are made separately by the sculptor KvetoslavaManoushkova. In order to create the perfect image she studies the ancient Bulgarian alphabet and examines the emblem with the three lions with a magnifying glass because the original one that she has is no bigger than a postage stamp. Kvetoslava puts the family emblem on the bells - a small bell, a key and a flower.

Finally, the bells were polished and covered with golden patina. Peter comes to Veliko Tarnovo and under his guidance the bells are installed. In this way the sound coming from the bells is fascinating for the audience.

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