The emergence of of Tsarevets and Veliko Tarnovo as national symbols coincided with two historically formative moments: the mid-19th century drive towards national independence and the 1960s-1980s socialist reconstruction of the town. Liberation struggles left a legacy of constructing national heritage and identity in opposition to Ottoman history/Muslim religion and in alignment with Western European values, while socialist ideology complicated these with atheism and Cold War sentiments. Ethnographic fieldwork builds on this historical genealogy by exploring the ways in which the current performances of state, locals and tourists (both national and international) constitute the site's readings during the post-socialist, European Union moment.