Rousse TV Tower
Encyclopedia
Rousse
Ruse is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is situated in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, from the capital Sofia and from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. Originally, the structure was constructed as a 206-metre-high TV tower with a cafe/restaurant on top and was the tallest one on the Balkan peninsula until 2001. In the 1990s an additional antenna was added bringing the height to 210 metres. And, in March 2007, the antenna was reconstructed bringing its height to 204 metres.
The Rousse TV Tower was built on the Leventa hill, a.k.a. Sarabair, in 1986 and was launched on 7 May 1987 (under communist rule). Authors of the project were Stilyan Titkov, Evlogi Tsvetkov, Ivan Yantahtov and V. Vasilev. The newly-built tower started broadcasting both Bulgarian Television and Soviet Television, as well as the three stations of Bulgarian National Radio
Bulgarian National Radio
Bulgarian National Radio is Bulgaria's national radio broadcasting organization. It operates two national and seven regional channels, as well as an international service – Radio Bulgaria – which broadcasts in 11 languages.-National:...
— Horizon
Horizon Radio
Horizon Radio or Хоризонт in Bulgarian is a state-owned Bulgarian Radio Station, specializing in news coverage from Bulgaria. It is the most popular radio station in Bulgaria and it is part of The Bulgarian National Radio Network. Horizon Radio is considered the most independent media in Bulgaria...
, Hristo Botev, and Orpheus . Higher frequencies were coming into use during the following years, and the process of shutting down old transmitters was completed on 15 Aug 2004.
The tower has an observation deck open for tourists at a height of 107 metres, which offers a panoramic view of Rousse, the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
river, the neighbouring city of Giurgiu
Giurgiu
Giurgiu is the capital city of Giurgiu County, Romania, in the Greater Wallachia. It is situated amid mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Rousse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, and as far as the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
.