'In Love with the Wind,' a castle built by one man
Staff Writer |
The castle of Ravadino is probably the only castle in Europe constructed by one Bulgarian man, the owner Georgi Kostadinov Tumpalov, who built a whole castle in just 20 years.
Article continues below
Ravadinovo fairytale castle - a medieval style building right off of the main road to Sozopol at Ravadinovo - attracts the attention of all travelers. Its architectural design is unusual, a bit extravagant and exotic for this country.
From a bird’s eye view, the castle looks like a cross. Outside, the construction is decorated with ornaments made of brass. The castle is inspired from the fairy tales Georgi read as a child. The result is astonishing not only because of the building itself but also because of the marvelous gardens full of different flowers and of the magical lake with white and black swans swimming inside.
The castle is named "In Love with the Wind" as it is erected at a place that collects all the breezes and thus provides a place to catch a breath of cool air even in the most intense heat.
This unique wonderland is built from thousands of tons of stone from the Strandja mountain, which is unique due to its changes in colour depending on the light and during the night time it becomes transparent. All windows will have a multi-colored stained glasses.
The castle is situated in a park with several thousand exotic trees, plants and flowers and amidst deep lakes with freshwater fish and waterfowl.
Here time flows differently. The place is surrounded by quiet fairytale-like music. The ivy, planted at the ceremony of the first dig in 1997, has already covered the high walls.
The park is not like the manicured French gardens, but is rather a fascinating place full of life and bird songs, with many flowers, shrubs and trees, fountains, statues, mermaids, and strange animals made from stone.
The castle is also housing the "House of Tales", or rather what was left of it, from the Central Park of Sofia.
In 2016 the Castle "In Love with the Wind", won the prize for tourist attraction number 1 in the world. It took gold and silver medal in the “Tourist Attraction” category and was declared an architectural wonder of the prestigious international competition “A ‘Design Award” 2016.
Last year the castle was voted Bulgaria's Tourist Attraction of 2018. The winner was chosen in an online voting of Bulgarian and foreign tourists.
The castle is opened every day from Monday - Sunday: 8:30 am - 10:00 pm.
The entrance to the Ravadinovo Castle is 20 leva /approximately 10 euro/ and the visit time is unlimited. ■