Yambol (Ямбол) is a city in the Upper Thracian Plain in South-Eastern Bulgaria, on the river Tundzha, relatively close to another province centre - Sliven under the Balkan Mountains.

Understand

The Bezisten (Bedesten) in 2007

One of the smaller branches of the Tundzha

The Old Mosque

The theatre and chitalishte (community centre)

The common building of two Catholic temples - the Eastern rite Sts. Cyrill and Methodius Church and the assimilated Latin rite Sacred Heart of Jesus Church

Some of the ruins at Kabile

With a population of more than 60,000 (2021), it's the administrative centre of Yambol Province (oblast). The province stretches from Sliven Province in the Balkan Mountains to the north to the border with Turkey to the south; to the east is the province of Burgas on the Black Sea, to the west are the provinces of Stara Zagora and Haskovo. The only other settlement with a population over 10,000 in the province is the town of Elhovo, 35 km (22 mi) to the south of Yambol, on the same river Tundzha (TOON-jah).

In World War I, after Bulgaria joined on the side of the Central Powers, an airship base with a huge hangar was built by the city. From this starting point, the Imperial German zeppelin L59 (LZ 104) made a record-setting 6,800-kilometre (4,200 mi) flight to Africa, trying to resupply German troops there, but the mission failed. Afterwards, L59 performed a few long-range bombing runs, but it was lost with all hands in 1918. The hangar was scrapped after the war, but there are photos and a diorama in the museum.

Get in

The closest international airport is in Burgas (BOJ ^IATA).

By train

Yambol is a major station on the railway line Plovdiv-Burgas.

• 1 Railway Station (ЖП гара, zhe peh gara) (in an industrial area on the west bank of the Tundzha, about 1.8 km (1.1 mi) north-west of the city centre). Old building (1940s?) with a stone tile facade. (updated Oct 2024)

By bus

• 2 Bus Station (Автогара, avtogara) (south of the city centre, on the south side of the river). Nondescript, utilitarian single-storey building, recognisable mostly by the large bus parking lot. (updated Oct 2024)

By car

Motorway A1 (running from Sofia to Burgas) bypasses Yambol some 10 km (6.2 mi) north of the city.

See

• 1 Museum of Battle Glory (Музей на бойната слава), ul. "Stara Planina" 1 (north of the city centre; from the Bezisten, follow the street leading north), yambol.mbs@abv.bg. 08:30—17:00 (closed Su-M). One of the few purely military history museums in Bulgaria. Various World War II and Cold War vehicles and weapons are exhibited in the yard; indoors, among other things there are amusingly executed dioramas of weapons "in their natural environment", including a rare Fahrpanzer mobile armoured gun turret. Some of the Nazi German vehicles in the collection were recovered from a Cold War-era defensive line on the border with Turkey (a NATO country), where they had been buried in the ground as permanent gun emplacements after WWII. This includes unique vehicles made by splicing Soviet guns to German hulls. The museum was created in 2013, in a former military compound; its portal is also a restored 1920s memorial to the fallen of the 29th Yambol Infantry Regiment. Adults (18+): 6 лв, students/military/elderly (65+): 3 лв, various discounts apply. Overview lecture (in Bulgarian?): 10 лв, "thematic lecture": 6 лв. (updated Oct 2024)
• 2 Regional History Museum (Регионален исторически музей), ul. "Byalo More" 2 (yellow-orange building; the entrance is from the "back", i.e. the side not facing the central square), museum.yambol@gmail.com. M-F 8:00-12:00, 13:00-17:00 (Sa-Su only by arrangement in advance). Relatively small for a regional history museum, with collections stretching from pre-history to the 20th century. Number 99 of the (more than) 100 National Tourist Sites of Bulgaria, thanks to Yambol's rearward position in Cyrillic alphabetical order. Adults: 5 лв, various discounts apply; overview lecture/tour (in Bulgarian?): 5 лв, "specialized" lecture: 15 лв. (updated Oct 2024)
• Ethnographic Museum
• 3 The Bezisten (Bedesten) (Безистена) (in the middle of Osvobozdenie Sqr, at the west end of the pedestrian zone). In the Ottoman Empire, a bedesten, or "bezisten" in Bulgarian rendering, was a strongly built warehouse for precious goods that could also be used as a covered bazaar. This one was built in the first half of the 1500s, making it the oldest still-standing building in Yambol. Listed as a heritage building, today it's used as a cultural-information centre and a community hall for concerts, weddings, and other events. (updated Oct 2024)
• The Old Mosque (Eski Dzhamiya)
• Church of St. George - built in the 1830 replacing an older church; reconstructed 1881 after the fire; stand-alone belfry tower built 1893 (Ottoman laws regulated the height of churches, forbidding belfries).
• Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - built in the 1890s, replacing a chapel dedicated to the same saint that was made by Russian soldiers during the Liberation War; dome and towers added in 1923-1926.
• Medieval fortress ruins - Walls of the medieval fortress of Dabilin (or D'bilin) built in the 10th century and razed by the Ottoman invaders in the 14th. Exposed in the yard of the Technical Vocational School and the surrounding sidewalks; restoration work in 2022 increased the height of the wall on the northern side, the alley between the school and Tundzha.
• City Park - on a large island in the Tundzha. Standard tree-covered city park with alleys with benches, a rosarium, a children's playground, a skate park, cafes, etc.
• Borovets Hill - small hill overlooking the city; TV tower and a large pylon with a Bulgarian flag

Outside of town:

• 4 Thracian and Ancient City of Kabile (Кабиле) (10 km (6.2 mi) north of Yambol, on the northern side of Motorway A1; with motorway exits and parking lots close to it). Apr-Oct: 8:00-18:30, Nov-Mar: 9:00-15:30. An archaeological reserve containing the scattered ruins of a Thracian/Graeco-Macedonian/Roman settlement that existed between the 4th century BCE and the 6th century CE. Small on-site museum with statues, mosaics, and other archaeological finds. There was a Thracian sanctuary on the small hill nearby, which offers a good view of the site from the top. Archaeological surveys are ongoing. Adults: 6 лв, students/elderly(65+): 3 лв, various discounts apply; overview lecture/tour (in Bulgarian?): 10 лв, "specialized" lecture: 25 лв, audio guide (in Bulgarian?): 3 лв per device. (updated Oct 2024)

Do

• Row a boat or a "water bike" (pedalo/paddle boat) on the Tundzha