Rousse is the biggest Bulgarian port on the bank of the river Danube. After the opening of the Rhein - Main - Danube canal which covers 3,500 km and connects thirteen European countries with the Near and Far East via the Black Sea, the river becomes the longest inland waterway on the planet.
This key position has determined the nineteen century long co-existence of town, river, and people, carrying the unique atmosphere of history as a precious heritage, and of future as an open road full of promises. The Romans were the first to build the fort which they called Sexaginta Prista (the port of sixty ships).
The nineteenth century saw here the opening of the first Bulgarian printing house, the first model farm, the first Bulgarian railroad connecting Rousse with Varna, the first Bulgarian weather service, the first technical school and technical society, the first professional teachers' club, the first insurance agency, the first chamber of commerce and industry, the first inland navigation service on the Danube, the first telephone, the first moving picture show, the first Bulgarian newspaper, the first map of geography.
Nowadays Rousse is a modern industrial and cultural centre. The Rousse Free Zone was established in 1988 on a territory of 180 hectares, in order to promote export orientated manufacturing and service businesses, export diversification and growth. As of 1 January 1999 it functions as a Free Zone in accordance with the principles of the European Community Customs Code.
