This very important fort at Veliko Tarnovo was once called the "City of Czars" filled with royal palaces and patriarchal churches. Bulgaria's location between the Bosphorus and the Danube has made it very valuable. It has been dominated by Romans, Turks (for 500 years) - Ottoman Empire, Nazis, and the Russian communists to name a few. They gained their independence in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down and Russia lost her grip.