Shumen

Coordinates: 43°17′N 26°56′E / 43.283°N 26.933°E / 43.283; 26.933
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"Shumla" redirects here. For the 12th century ruler also known as Shumla, see Ai-Toghdï. For the former settlement in Texas, see List of U.S. places named after non-U.S. places § Bulgaria.
Shumen
Шумен
City
From the top, View of Shumen from above, Palace of Justice, Tombul Mosque
License plate
H
Websitewww.shumen.bg/en

Shumen (Bulgarian: Шумен, also romanized as Shoumen or Šumen, pronounced [ˈʃumɛn]) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province.

Etymology

The city was first mentioned as Šimeonis in 1153 by the

eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica lists it as Shumla,[3] similar to the way it lists Pleven as Plevna. In Turkish
, it is known as Şumnu.

History

Antiquity and the Middle Ages

The first records of Shumen date back to the Chalcolithic. Excavations by Raphael Popov in 1907 founded the settlement mound Kodzadermen, inhabited in the Middle and Late Chalcolithic (approximately 4500-4000 BC). It has a diameter of 60 m and a height of 5 m and, located 6 km north of the town.[4]

Restored wall fragments and tower of the Shumen fortress, with ruins in the foreground.

Earliest reports for

Shumen fortress date back to the early Iron Age
. From the 12th century BC is the first fort, surrounding accessible parts of the area. Archaeological surveys, conducted in 1957, 1961 to 1987, determined the chronological periods, the lifestyle and the livelihood of the inhabitants of the fortress. It had a wall thickness of about two meters, built of rough stones. In the 5th century BC a second wall was built in front of the former.

In the 2nd century the Romans built a military fortress on the ruins of the Thracian fortifications. The construction of the wall is already bonded to mortar; a tower was constructed above the gate; square tower was built to the west and semicircular to the south. In the 4-5th centuries the entire hill was fortified with a new wall with nine towers. Between the 8th and the 10th century the fort was renovated, for the purpose the Roman wall and towers were used and to the northeast was built a new wall with two towers.

Middle Ages

In 681 khan

Simeon the Great
(893-927), Shumen was a centre of cultural and religious activity, and may have borne the name Simeonis.

During the

Preslav and developing outside the fortress. In the medieval city of Shumen the main religion was the Orthodox Christianity, evidence of which were the found in the outline of the walls, seven churches, commemorative coins with the image of crosses, angels, and numerous findings of Orthodox crosses separately, as well as their image on rings and on other artefacts, found in the graves and the homes. Change occurs only after the Ottoman conquest of the city in the 15th century, when Islam
was introduced.

Ottoman Empire

In 1388 the sultan

Władysław Warneńczyk
's unsuccessful crusade in 1444, the city was destroyed by the Ottomans and moved to its present location.

After the Middle Ages, the Turks used the ruins of the city for the construction of the several baths and mosques. In the 17th - 18th centuries Shumen was turned into a strongly fortified military town, with a large garrison in the fortress, many Turks, Jews, Tatars, Armenians settled there. According to

Muslim Turkic men married Bulgarian women and converted them to Islam
during the period .

Bulgarian National Revival

In the 19th century Shumen was a communication hub of importance in the Ottoman Empire.[6] In 1820 Porter wrote that Shumen had "a suburb in which its Christian inhabitants live".[7]

Postcard from Shumen, 1912

During the 19th century, Shumen was an important centre of the Bulgarian National Revival, with the first celebration of Cyril and Methodius in the Bulgarian lands taking place on 11 May 1813 and the first theatre performance. A girls' religious school was established in 1828; a class school for girls and a chitalishte (community centre) followed in 1856. The first Bulgarian symphony orchestra was founded in the city in 1850. In the same year, influential Hungarian politician and revolutionary leader Lajos Kossuth spent a part of his exile in the then-Ottoman town of Shumen. The house he lived in is preserved as a museum.

Third Bulgarian State

Tsardom of Bulgaria

On 22 June 1878 Shumen finally capitulated to the Russians and became part of the newly independent Bulgaria. In 1882 the Shumen Brewery, the first brewery in Bulgaria, was founded. After the Liberation of Bulgaria, the town initially declined due to the loss of markets for its crafts, the withdraw of many Ottomans and the relatively cheap and high quality western manufactured goods competing with local ones, but gradually recovered, becoming a regional and district centre. At the outbreak of the First Balkan War in 1912, 35 people from Shumen volunteered for the Macedonian-Drinsk Volunteer Force.

As technology improved, electricity gradually began to make inroads. It was initially installed at the city's Military Club (1919). In September 1927, the first electric power plant began operating in the town of Shumen.[8]

Immediately after the 1944 Bulgarian coup d'état, a serious shootout took place in the city when communists tried to take over one of the police stations.

People's Republic of Bulgaria

In the period 1950–1965 the city was called Kolarovgrad, after the name of the communist leader Vasil Kolarov.

One of the largest monumental memorials in Bulgaria - "Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria" - was built in Shumen Plateau Nature Park in 1981. In the 1980s, large-scale construction was underway in view of the upcoming visit of the diplomatic corps, but changes in the late 1980s halted the process. The largest hotel-restaurant complex in the city was built. Construction of a trolleybus line began, which was later abandoned.

Republic of Bulgaria

After 1989 a mall was built in Shumen (GUM). The town's iconic restaurants with a hotel part, the "Kyoshkovete" and the "Stekloto" were rebuilt and restored. A number of new restaurants and hotels have been built in a contemporary style. Following Bulgaria's accession to the European Union, the main boulevards, streets and roads were asphalted. The pedestrian zone from the centre through the town garden to the railway station has been renovated and modernised.

Geography

Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria

The city lies 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Varna and is built within a cluster of hills, northern outliers of the eastern Balkans, which curve around it on the west and south in the shape of a horseshoe.[3] A rugged ravine intersects the ground longitudinally in the horseshoe ridge.[3]

From Shumen roads radiate northwards to the

Rousse and Silistra and to Dobruja, southwards to the passes of the Balkans, and eastwards to Varna and Balchik.[3]

Climate

Climate data for Shumen
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 4.3
(39.7) 		6.5
(43.7) 		11.3
(52.3) 		17.8
(64.0) 		23.2
(73.8) 		26.5
(79.7) 		29.5
(85.1) 		30.1
(86.2) 		25.1
(77.2) 		18.8
(65.8) 		12.0
(53.6) 		5.8
(42.4) 		17.6
(63.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 0.7
(33.3) 		2.6
(36.7) 		6.9
(44.4) 		12.5
(54.5) 		17.2
(63.0) 		20.6
(69.1) 		23.3
(73.9) 		23.7
(74.7) 		19.1
(66.4) 		13.5
(56.3) 		7.9
(46.2) 		2.4
(36.3) 		12.5
(54.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −2.9
(26.8) 		−1.3
(29.7) 		2.6
(36.7) 		7.1
(44.8) 		11.2
(52.2) 		14.7
(58.5) 		17.1
(62.8) 		17.2
(63.0) 		13.0
(55.4) 		8.1
(46.6) 		3.9
(39.0) 		−1.1
(30.0) 		7.2
(45.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 36
(1.4) 		41
(1.6) 		38
(1.5) 		53
(2.1) 		64
(2.5) 		79
(3.1) 		48
(1.9) 		41
(1.6) 		33
(1.3) 		41
(1.6) 		53
(2.1) 		51
(2.0) 		580
(23)
Source: Weatherbase[9]

Population

In January 2012, Shumen was inhabited by 80 511 people in the city limits, while the Shumen Municipality with the legally affiliated adjacent villages had 93 160 inhabitants.[10] The following table presents the change of the population after 1887. The number of the residents of the city (not the municipality) reached its peak in the period 1990-1991 when it exceeded 110,000.[11]

Shumen
Year 1887 1910 1934 1946 1956 1965 1975 1985 1992 2001 2005 2009 2011 2021
Population 23,161 22,225 25,486 31,327 41,546 59,513 83,718 100,125 93,292 89,214 86,381 86,824 80,855 72,342
Highest number 112,091 in 1991
Sources: National Statistical Institute,[11][12][1] citypopulation.de,[13] pop-stat.mashke.org,[14] Bulgarian Academy of Sciences[15]

Ethnic, linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:[16][17]

  • Bulgarians: 61,584
  • Turks
    : 10,029
  • Romani
    : 2,165
  • Others: 600
  • Indefinable: 552
  • Undeclared: 5,925

Total: 80,855

Religion

The population of the city is majorly

Muslims
and much smaller minorities of other religions.

In the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Shumen is a part of the Eparchy (diocese) of Varna and Veliki Preslav and the capital of the Shumen church district (okolia). There are two major Orthodox temples in the city, the Church of the Holy Ascension (est. 1829) and the Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs (est. 1857), and a few chapels.

In Shumen is located the largest mosque in Bulgaria and the second largest in the Balkans, the Sherif Halil Pasha Mosque, more commonly known as the Tombul (or Tumbul) Mosque, built between 1740 and 1744.

Education and science

'Nancho Popovich' high school, established in 1828, is one of Bulgaria's oldest educational institutions

Shumen has 11 elementary and five common schools, as well as two high schools. The

University of Shumen Episkop Konstantin Preslavski, the Artillery and Air Defense Faculty to the Vasil Levski National Military University and the Affiliate of Medical University of Varna are the higher education establishments in the city. The former operates a small astronomical observatory
.

Sports

handball are also represented, and most of the games are held at the 'Mladost' sports centre and Arena Shumen
, the 2,300-seater indoor hall opened in 2018.

Other sporting activities include martial arts (mostly karate) and horse racing. Shumen has its own rallying tournament, the 'Stari Stolitsi'.

The Shumen Motopista is a motorcycle speedway track which re-opened in 2016 and is the only speedway track in Bulgaria. The track located on University Street (ул. Университетска), opposite Shumen University, previously held important speedway events, including a qualifying round of the Speedway World Championship in 1981 and 1983[18][19] and a qualifying round of the Speedway World Team Cup in 1987 and 1989.[20]

Main sights

The Dobri Voynikov Chitalishte
The Kabiuk horse museum

Shumen boasts the

Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, regarded as the only monument in the world to depict the history of a whole country from its creation to the present day.[citation needed
]

The Shumen Fortress, partially restored after being destroyed by the Ottomans, is an important historical monument of the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It is not far from the city on the Shumen Plateau.

The Regional Historical Museum, which is a successor of the Archaeological Society created in Shumen in 1904 by Rafail Popov.

The

Madara Horseman, a World Heritage Site
and the only such example of medieval rock art in Europe, is an ancient (710 AD) monument usually attributed to the Bulgar culture. It lies some 20 km (12 mi) from Shumen.

The Madara Rider, present on the reverse of the Bulgarian currency lev and in the seal of Shumen

The religious buildings in the city include the

Eastern Orthodox Holy Three Saints Cathedral and Holy Ascension Basilica, as well as the Sherif Halil Pasha mosque (also known as the Tombul Mosque
), the largest mosque in Bulgaria and one of the largest in the Balkans, serving Shumen and the region's Muslim minority.

Kurşun çeşme is a fountain built in 1774 built in the times of Ottoman Empire.

Kurşun çeşme (fountain)

Notable people

The sky around the bus station

International relations

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

Twin towns – sister cities

Shumen is

twinned
with:

Honour

Shumen Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Shumen. The tails of the Bulgarian currency lev are the same as the seal of Shumen, showing the Madara Rider, 15 km (9 mi) away from the city.

References

  1. ^ a b "Население по области, общини, местоживеене и пол | Национален статистически институт". nsi.bg (in Bulgarian).
  2. ^ E.M. Pospelov, Geograficheskie nazvaniya mira (Moscow: Russkie slovari, 1998), p. 475.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Shumla" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 1023.
  4. ^ Светлана Венелинова, Развитие на селищната система през праисторическата епоха по горното и средното течение на река Голяма Камчия museum-shumen.eu March 2018
  5. ^ "К. Иречек - История на българите - 27". macedonia.kroraina.com.
  6. OCLC 894636829.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )
  7. OCLC 894636829
    .
  8. ^ Ирина Витлянова, Светлини от шуменския дом // Известия на РИМ-Шумен, книга 17, 2017 / стр. 214
  9. ^ "Shumen, Bulgaria Travel Weather Averages (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase.
  10. ^ "Otrasal". Archived from the original on 13 November 2012.
  11. ^ a b (in Bulgarian)National Statistical Institute - Towns population 1956-1992 [permanent dead link]
  12. ^ Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - towns in 2009
  13. ^ "Bulgaria: Major Cities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de.
  14. ^ "Cities of Bulgaria". pop-stat.mashke.org.
  15. ^ (in Bulgarian) Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Population by age". Archived from the original on 8 September 2013.
  17. ^ "Population by etnicity". Archived from the original on 22 April 2012.
  18. ^ "World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  19. ^ "World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Speedway World Cup". International Speedway. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  21. ^ "Podolsk sister cities". Retrieved 29 April 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shumen.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shumen&oldid=1214169708"
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article: Shumen. Articles is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.Privacy Policy