Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 351,552(10.01.2006) . It is the capital of Varna Province and an important port in the eastern part of the country, located on the Black Sea coast close to Lake Varna. It is referred to as the sea capital or the summer capital of Bulgaria.

The city was named Stalin after the Soviet leader for a brief period from 1949 to 1956.

Varna is called the sea capital of Bulgaria

because it is the biggest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Varna was also the base of the Bulgarian Navy. Currently, there is a Naval Museum with a museum ship torpedo boat Drazki. The archaeological museum contains some of the finds from the so-called "Gold of Varna", a cache of Chalcolithic grave-goods which are the oldest gold treasure in the world.