Shumen
) is a city in the northeastern part of
Bulgaria, capital of
Shumen Province. From
1950-
1965 it was called
Kolarovgrad. Other
English variants include
Shoumen,
Šumen,
Shumla, and
Shumnu. The city has a population of 103,016 by permanent address (
2006).
The city lies 80 km west of
Varna and is built within a cluster of hills, northern outliers of the eastern Balkans, which curve round it on the west and north in the shape of a horse-shoe. A rugged ravine intersects the ground longitudinally within the horse-shoe ridge. From Shumen roads radiate northwards to the
Danubian cities of
Rousse and
Silistra and to
Dobruja, southwards to the passes of the
Balkans, and eastwards to Varna and
Balchik. Shumen has, therefore, been one of the most important military positions in the Balkan Peninsula.
In
811 Shumen was burned by the emperor
Nicephorus, and in
1087 it was besieged by
Alexius I. During the golden age of Bulgarian culture under
Simeon the Great (866-927), Shumen was a centre of cultural and religious activity, and may have born the name
Simeonis. Until the 15th centruy, the city was located around the Shumen Fortress, a sophisticated complex of defensive installations, religious and civil buildings.
In
1388 the sultan
Murad I forced it to surrender to the
Ottoman Turks. After
Władysław Warneńczyk's unsuccessful crusade in 144, the city was destroyed by the Ottomans and moved to its present location. In the
18th century it was enlarged and fortified. Three times, in
1774,
1810 and
1828, it was unsuccessfully attacked by Russian armies. The Turks consequently gave it the name of
Gazi ("Victorious"). In
1854 it was the headquarters of
Omar Pasha and the point at which the Turkish army concentrated (See
Crimean War).
During the 19th century Shumen was an inmportant 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 still preserved as a museum.
On the 22nd June
1878 Shumen finally capitulated to the Russians and became part of the newly-independent
Principality of Bulgaria. In 1882 the
Shumen Brewery, one of the first breweries in Bulgaria, was founded.
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. Every year, new scenes are added in relation to the most important moments of Bulgarian history.
The Shumen Fortress, partially restored after being destroyed by the Ottomans in the past, is an important historical monument of the medieval
Bulgarian Empire. It is located not far from the city on the Shumen Plateau.
The
Madara Horseman, a
World Heritage Site, is an ancient (
710 AD) monument usually attributed to the Bulgar culture, and lies some 20 km from Shumen.
The religious buildings in the city include the
Eastern Orthodox Holy Three Saints Cathedral and Holy Ascension Basilica, as well 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.
*
Dobri Voynikov (1833-1878), writer and enlightener
*
Vasil Drumev (Clement of Tarnovo) (1841-1901), clergyman and politician, twice
Prime Minister of Bulgaria*
Stoyan Danev (1858-1949), politician, twice Prime Minister of Bulgaria
*
Vasil Kolarov (1877-1950), politician, Communist leader
*
Hacho Boyadzhiev (b. 1932), film director
*
Todor Kolev (b. 1939), actor
*
*
Official Shumen municipality site*
Shumen at Multimap*
Shoumen district - cities and villages, population, Maps, facts
