Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Diving into the garrulous open market in ethnically mixed Kazanlâk (
Click
here
)
Stepping back in time at the lovingly preserved historical village of Ko-
privshtitsa (
Click here
)
Crossing thickly forested Shipka Pass (
Click here
)
, site of a key 19th-cen-
tury battle, bedecked with a church
Shumen
054 / POP 80,511
History
Thracians, and then Romans, settled and fortified today's Shumen. After the Turkic Bul-
gar migrations in the 6th century, nearby Veliki Preslav and Pliska became the centres of
the medieval Bulgarian kingdom. In 1388 the Ottomans captured Shumen, renaming it
Chumla. It became an important market town and, in the final days of Ottoman domina-
tion, part of the Turks' strategic quadrangle (with Ruse, Silistra and Varna) of towns forti-
fied against Russian advances in 1877. Reminders of Ottoman multi-ethnicity remain with
Shumen's minority Jewish, Armenian and Muslim communities.
Sights
Shumen Fortress
(adult/student 3/1 lv; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri)
Towering over the city from a steep hillside,
the Shumen Fortress dates originally to the early Iron Age. It was augmented and rein-
forced by the Thracians (5th century BC). Between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, the Ro-
mans added towers and walls. It was refortified later by the Byzantines, who made it an
important garrison.
During the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396) the fortress was one of northeast
Bulgaria's most significant settlements, renowned for its pottery and metalwork.
However, invading Ottomans in the late 14th century burnt and looted it.
FORTRESS
