Veliko Tarnovo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Tarnovo)
Jump to: navigation, search
"Tirnova" redirects here. For the village in Moldova, see Tîrnova, Donduşeni.
Veliko Tarnovo
Велико Търново
View of the Old Town in Veliko Tarnovo

Coat of arms
Veliko Tarnovo is located in Bulgaria
Veliko Tarnovo
Location of Veliko Tarnovo
Coordinates: 43°05′N 25°39′E / 43.083°N 25.65°E / 43.083; 25.65Coordinates: 43°05′N 25°39′E / 43.083°N 25.65°E / 43.083; 25.65
Country Bulgaria
Province
(Oblast)		 Veliko Tarnovo
Government
 • Mayor Rumen Rashev
Population (Census February 2011)[1]
 • City increase 68,783
 • Urban 134,746
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code 5000
Area code 062

Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgarian: Велико Търново, Veliko Tŭrnovo) is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists with its unique architecture. Until 1965 the name of the town was Tarnovo, and this is still the common name. The old city is situated on three hills, Tsarevets, Trapezitsa and Sveta Gora raising amidst the meanders of the Yantra. Tsarevets housed the palaces of the Bulgarian Emperors and the Patriarchate with the Patriarchal Cathedral, as well as a number of administrative and residential edifices surrounded by thick walls. Trapezitsa was known for its many churches and as the main residence of the nobility. In the Middle Ages it was among the main European centres of culture and gave its name to the architecture of the Tarnovo Artistic School, painting of the Tarnovo Artistic School and literature.

Veliko Tarnovo is an important administrative, economic, educational and cultural centre of Northern Bulgaria. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 68,783.[1]

Contents

[edit] Climate

Veliko Tarnovo has a Humid continental climate according to the (Köppen Climate Classification).

[edit] History

[edit] Prehistory and Antiquity

Veliko Tarnovo above the Yantra River
Map of medieval Tarnovo

Veliko Tarnovo is one of the oldest settlements in Bulgaria, having a history of more than 5 millennia, as the first traces of human presence dating from the 3rd millennium B.O.T are on Trapezitsa Hill.[2]

[edit] Middle Ages

Veliko Tarnovo grew quickly to become the strongest Bulgarian fortification of the Middle Ages between the 12th and 14th century and the most important political, economic, cultural and religious centre of the empire. The city was described by Bulgarian cleric Gregory Tsamblak in the 14th century as "a very large city, handsome and surrounded by walls with 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants".[3]

In the 14th century as the Byzantine Empire weakened, Tarnovo claimed to be the Third Rome based on its preeminent cultural influence in the Balkans and the Slavic Orthodox world.

As the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Tarnovo was a quasi-cosmopolitan city, with many foreign merchants and envoys. It is known that Tarnovo had Armenian, Jewish and Roman Catholic ("Frankish") merchant quarters besides a dominant Bulgarian population. The discovery of three Gothic statuette heads indicates there may have also been a Catholic church.[4]

[edit] Ottoman rule

Samovodska Charshiya Street in the Old Town.
View over Veliko Tarnovo and the surrounding area in the morning
Tsarevets and Stara Planina as seen from the village of Arbanassi
Kolyu Ficheto's Cathedral of the Birth of the Theotokos, completed 1844 and reconstructed 1913

The city flourished and grew for 200 years. Тhe political upsurge and spiritual development were discontinued on 17 July 1393. After vigorous resistance to a three-month siege, Veliko Tarnovo was seized and the whole Bulgarian Empire was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire. Many medieval Bulgarian towns and villages, monasteries and churches, were burnt to ashes.

Veliko Tarnovo, known in the Middle Ages as Tarnovgrad (Търновград) and known during the Ottoman rule as Tırnova, was the location of two uprisings against Ottoman rule, in 1598 (the First Tarnovo Uprising) and 1686 (the Second Tarnovo Uprising), both of which failed to liberate Bulgaria. Tarnovo was a district (sanjak) centre at first in Rumelia Eyalet, after that in Silistria Eyalet and finally in Danube Vilayet before becoming part of the Principality of Bulgaria.

Tarnovgrad (Tırnova to Ottomans), along with the rest of present-day Bulgaria, remained under Ottoman rule until the 19th century, when national identity and culture reasserted themselves as a strengthening resistance movement. The idea of the establishment of an independent Bulgarian church and nation motivated the 1875 and 1876 uprisings in town. On 23 April 1876, the April Uprising marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman occupation. It was soon followed by the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

[edit] Liberated Bulgaria

On 7 July 1877, Russian general Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko liberated Veliko Tarnovo, ending the 480-year-rule of the Ottoman Empire. In 1878, the Treaty of Berlin created a Principality of Bulgaria between the Danube and the Stara Planina range, with its seat at the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo.

On 17 April 1879, the first National Assembly convened in Veliko Turnovo to ratify the state's first constitution, known as the Tarnovo Constitution, the key result of which resulted in the transfer of Parliament from Tarnovgrad to Sofia, which today remains the Bulgarian capital.

In deference to the city's past, Tsar Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg Gotha chose the St Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo as the place to declare the complete independence of Bulgaria on 5 October 1908.

In 1965, the city, then officially known as Tarnovo, was renamed to Veliko Tarnovo (Great Tarnovo) to commemorate its rich history and importance.

[edit] Population

According to Census 2011, Veliko Tarnovo has a population of 68,783 inhabitants as of February 2011.[1] The number of the residents of the city reached its peak in the period 1986-1991 when exceeded 70,000.[5] The following table presents the change of the population after the liberation of the country in 1878.

Veliko Tarnovo
Year 1887 1910 1934 1946 1956 1965 1975 1985 1992 2001 2005 2009 2011
Population 11,314 12,469 13,963 16,223 24,648 37,337 56,664 69,173 67,644 66,897 66,145 67,099 68,783
Highest number 69,173 in 1985
Sources: National Statistical Institute,[1][5][6] „citypopulation.de“,[7] „pop-stat.mashke.org“,[8] Bulgarian Academy of Sciences[9]

[edit] Main sights

One of Bulgaria's primary tourist destinations, Veliko Tarnovo boasts many historical monuments and landmarks, such as

[edit] Higher education

[edit] Festivals


[edit] Panoramas

Veloko Tarnovo-Panorama.jpg

Tsarevets.jpg

Tsarevets2.jpg

Bulgaria Veliko Tarnovo Caravec.jpg

Tsarevets3.jpg

TurnovoChurch.jpg

Veliko Tarnovo.jpg

[edit] Gallery

[edit] Notable people

[edit] Born in Veliko Tarnovo

[edit] Died in Veliko Tarnovo

[edit] Living in Veliko Tarnovo

  • Trifon Ivanov (born 1965), former international football player.
  • Varban Minev (born 1948), Chairman of The National Association "Traditzia" in Veliko Tarnovo and Honorary Citizen of the town

[edit] Twin cities

Veliko Tarnovo is twinned with the following cities:[1]

[edit] Honour

Tarnovo Ice Piedmont on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Veliko Tarnovo.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d NSI, 2011 Population census in the Republic Of Bulgaria, p. 16 (Final data)
  2. ^ Bojidar Dimitrov. "The Church "The Forty Holy Martyrs"". National Museum of History - Sofia, Bulgaria. http://www.historymuseum.org/upload/fck_editor/40%20mazenizi1.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  3. ^ Jean W. Sedlar (31 Mar 1994). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500. University of Washington Press. pp. 113. ISBN 978-0295972909. 
  4. ^ "Търново се перчело с европейски квартали Арменци превземат католическата църква в старопрестолния град". Bulgarian Newspaper "Стандарт". 2008-06-21. http://paper.standartnews.com/bg/article.php?d=2008-06-21&article=237095. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  5. ^ a b (Bulgarian)National Statistical Institute - Towns population 1956-1992
  6. ^ (English) Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - towns in 2009
  7. ^ (English) „WorldCityPopulation“
  8. ^ „pop-stat.mashke.org“
  9. ^ (Bulgarian) Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Veliko Tarnovo
Pliska (681–893) · Preslav (893–972) · Skopje (972–992) · Ohrid (992–1018) · Veliko Tarnovo (1185–1393, 1878–1879) · Nikopol (1393–1395)  · Sofia (since 1879)
1,000,000+
Coat of arms of Bulgaria
300,000+
100,000+
50,000+
20,000+
10,000+
5,000+
Under 5,000
Capital: Veliko Tarnovo
Cities
Bulgarian Asen dynasty monument Veliko Tarnovo Klearchos.jpg
Villages
Arbanasi, Balvan, Belchevtsi, Belyakovets, Bijovtsi, Boychevi kolibi, Boychovtsi, Bochkovtsi, Boyanovtsi, Brankovtsi, Bukovets, Devetatsite, Dechkovtsi, Dimitrovtsi, Dimovtsi, Dichin, Doynovtsi, Dolen Enevets, Dolni Damyanovtsi, Dunavtsi, Emen, Gabrovtsi, Gashtevtsi, Golemanite, Goranovtsi, Goren Enevets, Hotnitsa, Ivanovtsi, Ilevtsi, Kapinovo, Kisyovtsi, Kladni dyal, Klashka reka, Kutsarovtsi, Lagerite, Ledenik, Malki chiflik, Malchovtsi, Margovtsi, Mindya, Mishemorkov han, Momin sbor, Natsovtsi, Nikyup, Novo selo, Osenarite, Piramidata, Plakovo, Pojernik, Popovtsi, Prisovo, Prodanovtsi, Pushevo, Pchelishte, Purovtsi, Radkovtsi, Raykovtsi, Rashevtsi, Resen, Rusalya, Ruskovtsi, Samovodene, Samsiite, Seymenite, Semkovtsi, Shemshevo, Sheremetya, Shodekovtsi, Suha reka, Surnentsi, Terziite, Todorovtsi, Tseperanite, Tserova koria, Tsonkovtsi, Ushevtsi, Velchevo, Vetrintsi, Vilare, Vodoley, Voneshta voda, Voynezha, Vuglevtsi, Vurlinka, Yalovo, Yovchevtsi
History
Landmarks
Culture
Notable people
1Towns are in bold.
Municipalities of Veliko Tarnovo Province
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Veliko_Tarnovo&oldid=479284556"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages