Gabrovo

Coordinates: 42°52′N 25°20′E / 42.867°N 25.333°E / 42.867; 25.333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Gabrovo (disambiguation).
Gabrovo
Габрово
city
From the top, Town Hall, Orlovets Hall, House of Humour and Satire
UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code
5300
Area code066
WebsiteOfficial website

Gabrovo (Bulgarian: Габрово [ˈɡabrovo]) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.

It is situated at the foot of the central

Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire (see Gabrovo humour), as well as noted for its Bulgarian National Revival architecture. Gabrovo is also known as the longest town in Bulgaria, stretching over 25 km[2] along the Yantra, yet reaching only 1 km (0.6 mi) in width at places. The geographic center of Bulgaria - Uzana
- is located near the town.

Name

Statue of Racho Kovacha
Aerial view of the city

According to the most widespread legend, Gabrovo was founded by a blacksmith called Racho,[3] close to whose fireplace a hornbeam rose, so the settlement acquired its name, from the Slavic word gabar ("hornbeam") + the Slavic suffix -ovo.

History

The area around Gabrovo, inhabited since the

Medieval
Gabrovo was a small pass village of about 100 houses.

After the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans in the 14th century, the demographic position of Gabrovo changed significantly, as it was the only settlement in a considerably large geographic area and an attractive place for Bulgarians fleeing from the conquered capital and neighbouring fortresses. It turned from a village into a small town (palanka) and began to develop as an economic, cultural and spiritual centre.

Crucession in Gabrovo. The priests are going to throw a wooden cross in Yantra
. Believers will then jump into the icy waters to "save" the cross.

During

Felix Kanitz said that Gabrovo is "a big workshop" and that it is a "city that lives from the water," referring to widely used water power. The glory of the goods of Gabrovo became known throughout the Ottoman Empire, and beyond that, in Bucharest
even nowadays there is a street named "Gabroveni".

Shortly before and after the

factories were constructed and connections to the large stock exchanges were created, prompting some to label the town "The Bulgarian Manchester".[4]

The Bulgarian National Revival church of Gabrovo, an architectural monument.

Population

Gabrovo saw its most rapid growth in the post-World War II years, when its population was doubled. Following general population trends in Bulgaria, the number of citizens started declining after the fall of Communism in the country. People started emigrating abroad or to the capital of Sofia. Currently, Gabrovo is more than 30,000 people short of its peak, achieved in the period 1985-1991 when the number of the residents exceeded 80,000.[5] The following table presents the change of the population after the liberation of the country in 1887. According to Census 2011, as of February 2011, the population of the town was 58,950 inhabitants.[6]

Gabrovo
Year 1887 1910 1934 1946 1956 1965 1975 1985 1992 2001 2005 2009 2011 2021
Population 7,958 8,423 13,668 21,180 37,919 57,920 75,091 81,629 76,529 67,065 63,004 60,281 58,950 48,133
Highest number 81,786 in 1986
Sources: National Statistical Institute,[6][5][7][1] citypopulation.de,[8] pop-stat.mashke.org,[9] Bulgarian Academy of Sciences[10]

Ethnic, linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:[11][12]

  • Bulgarians: 54,227 (97.9%)
  • Turks
    : 473 (0.9%)
  • Roma
    : 343 (0.6%)
  • Others: 193 (0.3%)
  • Indefinable: 151 (0.3%)
    • Undeclared: 3,563 (6.0%)

Total: 58,950

The ethnic composition of Gabrovo Municipality is 60,207 Bulgarians, 504 Turks and 367 Roma among others.

Culture

Internationally known as a centre of

Aprilov National High School
.

On a Saturday around the week of May 21, Gabrovo hosts an annual Carnival of Humor and Satire with the slogan in Bulgarian “Da izkukurigame ot smyah” (translating to "Let`s go nuts from laughter"). On the day of the carnival, the streets of Gabrovo town are overflowing with fun characters like masked musketeers, bullfighters, shamans, gypsies, and much more. The carnival is also popular for its use of traditional Balkan songs, folklore choreography, and a rich display of Gabrovo humour and culture.[13]

A planetarium is in operation.

Tourism

Places of interest in Gabrovo include the

Shipka Memorial
is a must-see. Gabrovo is member of the Creative Tourism Network ®.

Sports

  • Town's most successfully sports club is FC Yantra Gabrovo, which was founded in 1919.
  • The town also has long
    handball
    traditions.
  • About 25 km (16 mi) from the town in Central Balkan Mountains is located the renowned winter resort Uzana.

Honors

A

Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh is named in honor of the town.[14]

Gabrovo Knoll on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Gabrovo.

Notable people

Education

University

Gabrovo has one of the biggest technical universities in Bulgaria, the Technical University of Gabrovo. The technical university in Gabrovo opened in 1964. The idea for the university came from the 1840s. Today the university has about 5400 students; around 60 of them are from other countries.[22]

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Bulgaria

Gabrovo is twinned with:[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Население по области, общини, местоживеене и пол | Национален статистически институт" (in Bulgarian). Nsi.bg. 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  2. ISBN 9780982261996
    .
  3. ISBN 9781841621555
    .
  4. ^ Gabrovo in Encyclopædia Britannica
  5. ^ a b (in Bulgarian)National Statistical Institute - Towns population 1956-1992[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ a b (in Bulgarian)National Statistical Institute - Main Towns Census 2011 Archived 2011-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ (in English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - towns in 2009 Archived November 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ (in English) „WorldCityPopulation“
  9. ^ „pop-stat.mashke.org“
  10. ^ (in Bulgarian) Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ (in Bulgarian) Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute Archived September 8, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute Archived 2013-05-21 at the Wayback Machine (in Bulgarian)
  13. ^ "Regulation | Gabrovo carnival". Archived from the original on 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  14. ISBN 3-540-00238-3
    .
  15. ISBN 9780521616379
    .
  16. ^ Anamnesis article by Hristo Berov
  17. ISBN 9781848854772
    .
  18. ISBN 9780521522564
    .
  19. ISBN 9789004250765
    .
  20. ^ Koycheva, Tsvetomira (15 December 2021). "Д-р Тота Венкова: Учител, не обичащ децата, е лош учител, лекар, не обичащ болните, е лекар занаятчия" [Dr. Tota Venkova: "A teacher who doesn't love children is a bad teacher, a doctor who doesn't love the sick is a charlatan doctor"]. Elovitsa Gabrovo News (in Bulgarian). Gabrovo, Bulgaria. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  21. ISBN 9783822859964
    .
  22. ^ "Technical University of Gabrovo". tugab.bg. Technical University of Gabrovo. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  23. ^ "Побратимени градове". gabrovo.bg (in Bulgarian). Gabrovo. Retrieved 2019-10-29.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gabrovo.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Gabrovo.
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