University of Veliko Tarnovo

Our university was founded in 1963, as Brothers Cyril and Methodius Higher Institute of Education and on 14 October 1971 it was established as Bulgaria’s second university under its current name St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo. The year was deliberately chosen: 600 years earlier, in the fall of 1371, Euthymius, the renowned theologian and writer and later Bulgarian Patriarch, returned from Mount Athos to establish the medieval Turnovo Literary School in the Holy Trinity Monastery near Turnovgrad, an institution whose reputation as a prestigious medieval seat of learning spread the rich repository of Bulgarian literary traditions far beyond the borders of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The Turnovo Literary School had a powerful influence on the development of the literature and literary language in Russia, Serbia, and Romania and also greatly influenced the philosophy and practice of the religious institutions in those countries. For these reasons, despite its relatively short history as a university, Veliko Turnovo University is the rightful heir to centuries-old traditions dating back to the mission of Constantine-Cyril and Methodius among the Slavs. The university Academic Council strives to respond successfully to the European requirements for accessible higher education and to ensure conditions for lifelong learning. Our aim is to facilitate and promote mobility of students from different countries and universities through the credit accumulation and transfer system and through the implementation of different opportunities for study, training and research. Very much like the most prestigious universities in Europe and the United States, the University of Veliko Turnovo is located in a peaceful and romantic town that pulsates with the university rhythm.