The town of Ruse - where Vlad Dracula fought the Turks
Short history of Ruse and its name
It is an accepted tradition to consider the beginning of Ruse back to the Roman castle of Sexaginta Prista (1st century BC), which translates as "Port of the 60 ships". Much earlier, however, during the Stone-Copper Age (5000 BC), the foundations of an early agricultural settlement were laid here. It existed with certain interruptions throughout the Stone-Copper, Bronze, Iron and Roman ages, as it was the beginning of the settled way of life on the territory of modern Ruse. After the establishment of Asparukh’s Bulgaria, the fort fell into the hands of the Bulgar conquerors, who gave it the name "Rusi". Specialists claim that the town's name originates from the folkloristic notion that settlements were created around the presence of an iconic female patron figure. In the case of Ruse–grandmother Rusa, a tavern keeper, or maiden Rusa, patroness of youth war bands. After the conversion, Ruse fell under the patronage of St. George the Victorious, who is still the protector of the Danube town. Evidence for this statement is the city of Giurgiu, located on the northern bank of the Danube, which, according to experts, was part of "little Vienna" in the past. It is believed that in the past it was a common phenomenon for the cities and towns to extend on both sides of the river, and according to Professor Nikolay Nenov, the one who rules the south bank usually also ruled the north.
