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Pleven is a city in Central
Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative center of the eponymous
municipality of Pleven and Pleven district, as well as one of the
important cultural, educational, economic and transport centers in
the country. Pleven and its surroundings have roots from ancient
times and practically continuous millennial development. At the end
of 2019, the population of the city is estimated at 95,086 people,
which makes it the seventh largest in the Republic of Bulgaria.
Pleven is a famous tourist center, also called the "city of
museums". It concentrates many cultural and historical landmarks
related to the Russian-Turkish Liberation War, the most popular of
which are Panorama "Pleven Epic of 1877" and Chapel-Mausoleum "St.
George the Victorious ”, which along with the building of the
Regional History Museum are the symbols of the city.
Location
The city of Pleven is located in the central part of Moesia, at the
western foot of the Pleven Heights, the Middle Danube Plain. The
city is almost equidistant from the Danube and Stara Planina rivers,
with good land connections with Sofia, Lovech, Gabrovo, Stara
Zagora, Burgas, Nikopol, Svishtov, Ruse and Varna, as well as with
the lands north of the Danube and other smaller settlements. places
in the region. The main city-forming factor in antiquity is the
fertile overflow valley of the Tuchenitsa River (Tuchenishka or
Plevenska Bara). The relief in this part of the Danube plain and,
respectively, the good road connections facilitate the construction
and development of the initially scattered small settlements as an
important road junction and center with good indicators of economic
progress of Ancient Thrace, the Roman Empire and Bulgaria.
Antiquity and antiquity
The earliest traces of human life and
activity in these lands date back to the end of the 5th millennium
BC. Numerous archaeological finds are evidence of the high material
and spiritual culture of the Thracians, who inhabited this area for
thousands of years. Among them is the largest gold treasure
discovered in the Bulgarian lands - Valchitran, consisting of 13
cult vessels with a total weight of 12.5 kg.
At the beginning
of the new era, these lands became part of the Roman Empire. On the
road from Escus to Philippopolis near today's Pleven, the Roman road
station Storgozia appeared, and later a fortress of the same name.
Archaeological excavations indicate large-scale construction of
administrative, military and religious buildings. One of the most
valuable archeological monuments preserved to this day is the early
Christian basilica church from the 4th century, the second largest
in Bulgaria after the large royal church in Pliska.
The
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages Pleven was a Bulgarian city
with well-developed crafts, trade and coinage.
Under Ottoman
rule
In 1738 the population of Pleven was predominantly Turkish.
During the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, Major General Count
Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov headed for Pleven in the autumn of
1810 with about 3,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry in order to procure
the necessary supplies. Leaders and translators in his army
emigrated Bulgarians from the Pleven region during the riots in
Kardzhali. Many local Bulgarians joined both the detachment's convoy
and with weapons. On October 16, 1810, Vorontsov captured and
destroyed the Pleven stone fortress Kervan Saray and headed for
Lovech and Sevlievo. The troubled villages were not left without
consequences for their participation on the side of the Russians.
After their withdrawal, the villages of Dolna Mitropolia, Grivitsa,
Nezhovets, Pelishat, Kashin, the Kailash Monastery and many others
suffered from Arab and Arnaut gangs.
The liberation found the
city with separate Turkish neighborhoods in Bulgarian surroundings.
During the Revival the population was engaged in agriculture,
sovatchiy, crafts and trade, a church and schools were built.
Bridges and public fountains (Balaklia, for example) are being built
by the government. In 1825, the first secular school opened its
doors here, for which there is no reliable data. In 1840 (or
according to other sources in 1841) Anastasia Dimitrova opened the
first girls' school in Bulgaria.
In Pleven in 1869 the
national revolutionary and apostle of Bulgarian freedom Vasil Levski
founded the first revolutionary committee in the country. The same
year the Saglasie Chitalishte was founded.
During the
Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) Pleven gained strategic importance and
focused the attention of the world community for 5 months (see
Pleven (battle)). Significant military forces were concentrated
around the city. As a result of the exhausting siege of the
population of Pleven, carried out according to the strategy of
General Totleben, the Russian and Romanian armies broke the
resistance of the Turkish army and captured Pleven on December 10,
1877. Osman Pasha handed over his sword to the Romanian general
Mikhail Cherke and later to Russian Lieutenant General Ivan
Ganetsky, tens of thousands of casualties were inflicted by the
warring parties (Turkey and the Russia-Romania Union), which was
celebrated as Pleven's Day until 2002 and now as Day Streets, and
until recently enterprises, are named after dates, personalities,
regiments associated with the Pleven epic. There are names such as:
"Grenaderska", "Alexandrovska", "San Stefano", "Shipka", "Sheynovo",
"Samara", after the wars of 1912 - 1913. "Enos", "Chataldja", "Gen.
Kolev ".
After the Liberation
After the Liberation of
Bulgaria in 1878, Pleven established itself as an important
administrative, economic and spiritual center.
The municipal
elections of August 17, 1919 were won by the Bulgarian Communist
Party and Ivan Kantardzhiev became mayor. Income taxes have been
introduced, housing for the homeless has been provided, free medical
care, clothing, food and textbooks for poor students, and teachers'
incomes have been increased. The government was dissolved by the
government in July 1921. From December 1922 to June 1923, the
Bulgarian Communist Party ruled the city again, this time with Ivan
Zonkov as mayor. The end of this municipal council comes with the
June 9 coup.
Pleven under State Socialism (1944 - 1989)
From 1934 to 1946 Pleven was the center of the Pleven region (one
of the seven in the Kingdom of Bulgaria), including the districts of
Pleven urban, Pleven rural, Lovech, Troyan, Teteven, Lukovit,
Nikopol, Svishtov, Tarnovo, Gabrovo and Sevlievo. With the creation
of the 12 large districts plus the city of Sofia, the last three
districts form the Tarnovo district. In 1949 the large Pleven
district was formed, and in 1958 the small Pleven district was
created, which approximately coincides with today's Pleven district.
Respectively, in 1944 - 1959 changes were made in the city, the
economy, education, healthcare, banking and administration.
In place of the nationalized large and small enterprises,
consolidated machine-building, textile, tobacco processing, canning,
milling, furniture and other state-owned industrial enterprises
(DIP) were established, some so-called combines (eg the Georgi
Kirkov State Cannery).
According to all trade rules, various
old cooperatives were liquidated and new ones were created:
shoemaker's "Ninth of September", carpenter's "Furniture", tailor's
"Collective Labor", knitting "Saglasie", cardboard "Tsanko Kisov",
confectionery "Osvobozhdenie". TKZS and DZS were created, which
later merged.
A specific enterprise with a diverse activity
from carpet weaving to electrical products is Promkombinat Mir, from
the so-called "Local industry and crafts". A number of privately
employed craftsmen remain.
Until 1958, Pleven District was a
large and impressive entity from the Balkan Mountains to the Danube.
It borders with Vratsa, Sofia, Plovdiv and Shumen districts. The
creation of the Lovech district and the provision of an outlet of
the Danube to the Tarnovo district greatly reduced the Pleven
district, dividing the former districts.
Later, after 1960,
many of the enterprises changed their sites and expanded to the
places of vegetable gardens, hippodrome and other terrains along the
Grivishka Bara and Tuchenishka rivers until its confluence with
Vita. The Industrial Zone with a length of over 15 km was created,
starting halfway to the village of Grivitsa and covering Neftochim
(Plama) between Yasen and Dolni Dabnik.
In the southern part
of Pleven in the former prison in 1965 a Nuclear Instrument Factory
was established, which later became a research and production plant
and the largest enterprise in the city.
Visiting and leaving
Pleven after 1947-48 are not restricted, except for the movement of
motor vehicles around the country, which for movement outside the
borders of the large district until 1958 had to have the so-called.
"Sign NM" - coupon to the main coupon of the vehicle. This was true
for all "big" counties. After the creation of the small districts,
these restrictions were lifted.
Until 1965, the Balkan people
from the Troyan region descended with closed carts "pair", pulled by
small horses, to the Danube. They sell or exchange for wheat and
corn potatoes, carpentry, firewood, pots, bacon, plums and other
products. Over time, this activity subsided, and the inhabitants of
Pleven began to buy and build properties mainly in the Troyan
region, but also in other parts of the Balkans and the Fore-Balkans.
The state-owned enterprise Balkantourist, the Orbita Youth
Tourism Bureau, the Trade Unions and some powerful enterprises use
the increased importance of Pleven as a tourist destination for
short visits. Cruises on the Danube take detours from Nikopol to the
Museum of the Icon (St. Nicholas Church, other museums and
monuments, later especially Panorama "Pleven Epic of 1877"). Large
groups of Soviet tourists turn away or jump from the sea, Germans,
Israelis, French come. The so-called "Direct connections" (business,
cultural, personal) between cities, individual companies and
individuals, which contributes to visits of foreigners in Pleven and
travel of Pleven abroad.