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Targovishte (until 1934 - Eski Dzhumaya) is a district town in
northeastern Bulgaria, administrative and economic center of the
eponymous municipality of Targovishte and Targovishte district. The
population of the city as of December 31, 2019 is 35,344
inhabitants.
Location
The town is located in the Danube
plain, about 170 m above sea level, north of the Preslav Mountains.
It is located 339 km northeast of Sofia, 41 km west of Shumen, 25 km
northwest of Veliki Preslav and 100 km northeast of Veliko Tarnovo.
The proximity of the city to the starting points of the country
Varna (110 km) and Ruse (100 km), as well as major economic centers
such as Shumen, Tarnovo and Ruse makes it a natural strategic
crossroads. The medium-high relief helps the development of both
agriculture and industrial production. Due to the simplified relief,
the construction of transport facilities has been facilitated,
unlike heavy regions such as the Rhodopes, for example. The city has
very good conditions for the development of each area. The
geographical coordinates of the city are 43 ° 13'07 '' N. and 26 °
24’04 ’’ E In the past, the geographical location of the city has
played to varying degrees and a positive role in its economic
development. Located between two physical-geographical areas - Stara
Planina and the Danube Plain, it served as a center of mutual
exchange of goods between the population of these areas. This
crossroads helps the city to form a bustling market.
administrative partition
Town of Targovishte is the
administrative center of Targovishte municipality and district. The
municipality consists of 52 settlements, of which 51 villages and 1
town. The municipality has an area of 840.4 km². The municipality
borders the municipalities of Omurtag, Antonovo, Popovo, Loznitsa,
Hitrino, Shumen, Veliki Preslav and Varbitsa. The city consists of
separate neighborhoods, residential complexes and villa areas.
Relief
The territory of Targovishte municipality is
characterized by its diversity and overflow of plain, hilly and
low-mountainous relief, due to which the altitude varies from 150 to
690 m. For the town of Targovishte it is 170 m. Most of the
territory of the municipality is located in the foothills of the
Fore-Balkans near the northern slopes of the Preslav Mountains,
whose highest point is the peak "Kodjakus" - 690 m. The northern
part of the territory is located in the Targovishte plain along the
Vrana River. Well-defined terrestrial forms are the valley
extensions of the Vrana and Siva rivers and the low mountain
elevations - Targovishte field, Preslav mountain and Popovski
heights. The Targovishte hilly field is most closely connected with
the city's economy. It borders the Razgrad Heights to the north, the
Shumen Heights to the east, the Lilyak Plateau to the west, and the
Preslav Mountains to the south. In the northeastern direction of the
Vrana River, its valley widens, forming two accumulation terraces,
one of which is part of the town of Targovishte. The relief of the
Targovishte field is also varied by hills, the most famous being
Yukya, Ivanka Bair, Sersema, Drakata and Chokyata. The Targovishte
field is made of chalk materials composed of limestone and marl.
They start with the valance and end with the apta. They are
characterized by high water permeability and vertical cleavage.
Their average slope is from 3 to 5%. There is also a Jurassic spot
in the Preslav anticline. Its axial zone is composed of Valang
flysch and limestone and limestone marls, and its thighs are made of
Hotriv marls.
Climate
The climate is characterized by cold
northeast winds during the winter months and the summers are hot and
dry. Droughts are typically observed in late summer - July and
August, while in the beginning it is characterized by numerous
rainfalls. The climate of Targovishte is moderately continental. The
fenced low mountains and hills have little effect on the climate of
the town, located in the Targovishte plain. In the spring, moist air
masses invade from the southwest and west. No less important for the
formation of the climate is the transfer of air masses of tropical
origin during the summer. The climatic influence of the Black Sea
has almost no effect on the climate of Targovishte. The hilly and
low mountainous terrain in the near and far surroundings has little
effect on the atmospheric circulation. More important for the
microclimate of the city are its exposure, depth and direction of
the river valleys and the high ridge of Stara Planina.
The duration of sunshine is 2250 hours per year, and has a
positive effect on the development of agriculture and forestry. The
first meteorological station in Targovishte was established only in
1960. The average annual temperature of 10.7 ° C, in contrast to
cities of the same parallel as Pleven (11.5 ° C) and Varna (11.8 °
C), is relatively -low. The average monthly maximum temperature is
29.4 ° C. 240 days a year the temperature is above 5 ° C; 184 days
with over 10 ° C; 120 days with over 15 ° C. Winter colds are
sensitive. The average monthly January temperature is -6.7 ° C. The
annual absolute humidity is 7.7. The highest humidity is in July -
12.6 mm, and the lowest in January - 3.5 mm.
Rainfall is an
important condition for the development of agriculture. The annual
amount of precipitation in Targovishte is 585 mm per m², which is
below the national average. In neighboring municipalities such as
Omurtag it is 686 mm, and in Popovo - 577 mm. According to their
distribution, they belong to the continental type. Their main
maximum is 77 mm, and their minimum is in February - 28 mm. Maximum
daily precipitation was reported on May 26, 1937 - 111.2 mm. The
maximum annual precipitation for Targovishte was reported in 1952 -
990 mm, and the minimum - 385 mm in 1935. The driest months are
July, August and September. Heavy rainfall is expressed by snowfall
in winter and hail in summer. The snow cover lasts for an average of
43.6 days; its average thickness is 10 - 12 cm. The area is poor in
water resources, which has necessitated the construction of many
water sources.
Winds are a reflection of the circulation of
air masses in Northern Bulgaria. The western, northern and
northwestern winds blow most often in Targovishte. Of these, the
western ones have the highest relative percentage - 47%. Their
frequency is greatest during the winter and spring months. The
northern and northwestern ones blow in winter. They blow away a
significant part of the snow cover. In summer, dry and hot winds
sometimes blow from the south and southwest. The latter cause
premature ripening of crops.
In Targovishte and the region
there are all adverse climatic phenomena - fog, hail, frost, ice and
whirlwinds. Hailstones fall in late spring and early summer. The
average annual cases of hail are 1.7. They often cause great damage
to agriculture. Frosts form in spring and autumn. The first frost
has an average date of October 5, and the last - April 21. The
average duration without frost is 172 days a year. Cloudiness is
more significant in winter and weaker in summer. The number of clear
days is 63. The number of foggy days is 35.5.
Climatic
resources are those elements of the climate and properties of the
air environment that can be used directly in practice. They are
defined as energy, bioclimatic, recreational, agroclimatic. The
complex of climatic conditions in Targovishte is important for the
development of agriculture. The characteristics of the local climate
are decisive in the selection of crops. The indicators show that in
Targovishte a number of crops can be grown as second crops. The
amount of precipitation during the vegetation period is also
important for agriculture. It has been established that in
Targovishte the precipitation coincides with the duration of this
period. Of importance for agriculture are also the solid
precipitations, which accumulate in the form of snow cover and are
used during the months of vegetation of the plants. The climate is
extremely favorable for the development of agriculture.
Antiquity
Archaeological excavations in the area of
Targovishte reveal a rich centuries-old history, the main place in
which is occupied by the separate material culture "Polyanitsa" from
V-IV millennium BC. Nine settlement mounds have been discovered:
Teketo settlement mound, inhabited during the Chalcolithic,
located on a low plateau 3.5 km southeast of the city in the Kos
district, between the rivers Kalayji Dere and Umnik.
Neolithic
settlement, located 3.5 km southeast of the city south of the
settlement mound Teketo.
Chalcolithic settlement located in
Mihail Petrov neighborhood.
An early Neolithic settlement called
Polyanitsa - the plateau, located 4 km south of the town, in the
swamp below the Polyanitsa plateau. Excavations in 1973 - 1975 by
Henrietta Todorova.
Settlement mound "Polyanitsa - the plateau",
permanently inhabited during the early, middle, late Chalcolithic,
early Iron and Late Middle Ages. Eight residential horizons with a
thickness of the cultural layer 3.5 m with specific finds of idol
sculpture. The mound is located 4 km south of the city, in the swamp
below the plateau Polyanitsa. 200 m northwest of the settlement
mound is a necropolis of the Early and Middle Chalcolithic.
Excavations in 1973 - 1975 by Henrietta Todorova.
Targovishte -
Garata settlement mound, dated to the Chalcolithic, located 0.5 km
northeast of the town, on the bank of the Vrana River, to the left
of the road to Shumen, with a diameter of about 100 m and a height
of 10-12 m. Identified by Vasil Mikov.
Omurtag settlement mound,
from the Middle and Late Chalcolithic, located south of the town, to
the left of the road to Omurtag on the banks of the Vrana River. It
consists of 4 residential horizons.
Chalcolithic settlement
mound, 50 m in diameter and 2 m high, located 2 km southwest of the
Mihail Petrov neighborhood in the grove, to the right of the dirt
road.
Chalcolithic settlement mound, with a diameter of 50 m and
a height of 4 m, located 3 km northwest of Mihail Petrov.
Antiquity
Archaeological evidence in the area of today's city
proves the remains of Thracian settlements (V-III century BC) and a
settlement from the Roman era (II-IV century). Of all the registered
finds in Targovishte, the largest is the number of those from the
period of antiquity. The lands of Targovishte region, as well as the
territories of the whole present-day Northeastern Bulgaria are
inhabited by numerous Goth tribes. In the middle of the 5th century
BC they were part of the Odrysian kingdom, later they were allies of
Alexander the Great, and in the 3rd-1st century BC they lived
independently. Numerous finds containing Thracian weapons were found
on the territory of Targovishte region. At the beginning of the 1st
century, the Roman Empire conquered the Balkan Peninsula, and the
lands of today's Targovishte region became part of the province of
Lower Moesia. The ancient authors did not mention cities in the
Targovishte region, but in view of the significant size of the
settlements near the villages of Gorsko Ablanovo and Kovachevets and
the archaeological materials found there, it can be argued that they
had an urban appearance.
The Middle Ages
Archaeological
evidence proves the remains of a settlement and fortress from the
early Byzantine era (V-VI century). From the coins, ceramics,
household items found near the town, the connections and the great
influence of the centers Nikopolis ad Istrum (now Tarnovo region)
and Marcianopolis (today Varna region) are judged. In the 5th and
6th centuries, the constant raids of the barbarian tribes from the
north became characteristic. Emperor Justinian built a number of
fortresses and walls in these places. Today's Targovishte Pass in
the Middle Ages is provided by a similar fortification on the road
between Lower Moesia and Thrace. At the highest end of the late
antique fortress were found the remains of a church from the V
century, which seems to continue to be used in the Middle Ages.
Remains of a settlement from the First Bulgarian State - the
fortress Sborishte were found. According to the latest research, the
famous battle between Khan Krum and Emperor Nicephorus in 811 took
place in the Targovishte Pass, instead of the imposed version of the
Varbish Pass. This is judged by an inscription on a stone slab found
near Misionis. It clearly shows the inscription "kan", ie. khan, and
its dating is somewhere from the beginning of the 9th century. The
stone was discovered years ago at the fortress, but only now have
scientists begun to read it. The first data point to the fact that
in the 9th - 10th century in these lands of the First Bulgarian
Kingdom there were fortified fortresses, which in fact have remained
since Byzantine times and our ancestors used with few improvements,
leaving marks on the stones. This inscription, an open amphora with
the symbol of the Dulo family, along with the animals painted on
stone, found by Prof. Dimitar Ovcharov, directly refer to the
version that near Targovishte is "Krumovoto Kale", as the fortress
Misionis was known in folklore. It is quite possible that in July
811 it was here, in the Boaza Khan Krum pass, that he met and
defeated the 60,000 Byzantine army led by Basil Nicephorus I
Genicus. From here it leads the most direct way to Sredets, starting
from the robbed Pliska. In addition, numerous remains of arrows from
different periods were found in the fortress, which means that heavy
fighting took place at this place. A settlement and a fortress from
the Second Bulgarian State were also found.
Ottoman-Turkish
period
From 1573 in the tax register of the Ottoman Empire for
the first time there is the old name of the village Eski Dzhumaya.
In 1658 it became an administrative center.
Contact with
European culture and the thirst for knowledge prepare the ground for
active educational activities. As early as the 18th century, a cell
school was opened here, which in 1846 was transformed into a secular
one. The great Revivalist Petko R. Slaveykov taught there. At that
time a Christian church and a community center were built in the
town. The fair and craft glory of Targovishte is preserved in the
Renaissance. Many crafts developed - abadjiystvo, mutafchiystvo,
gaitandzhiystvo, shoemaking, etc., and soon after the city became
the center of the most famous fair in the European part of the
Ottoman Empire.
Hungarian ethnographer and artist Felix
Kanitz, during a visit to the city on the eve of the Liberation,
mentioned that it was predominantly Muslim, with eight Turkish
neighborhoods of about 1,400 houses and three Bulgarian
neighborhoods with about 400 houses. According to him, the
Bulgarians were more solidly built than the Turks.
In 1872
Angel Kanchev created a secret revolutionary committee. The national
awakeners Sava Gerenov and Sava Katrafilov sow the seeds of
knowledge and progress. Nikola Simov (Kuruto) was born here - the
standard-bearer of Botev's detachment.
Liberation
With the
advance of the Russian army on January 27, 1878, the Turks gathered
from the town and surrounding villages began to emigrate with the
regular Turkish army to Shumen. Some of the Turks, Circassians and
armed men from the villages, led by Kuzli Yusuf, Kyuchuk Ali and
June Ahmed, remained in the city and subjugated the city. The fair,
the bazaar and the Bulgarian Meeting neighborhood were set on fire.
About 400 shops, 7 inns, 50-60 Bulgarian and Turkish houses, as well
as the famous city clock tower burned down together with their
goods. The total number of victims was about 485 people. But some
did not choose to flee, and with weapons in hand gathered in
separate houses with their families and defended themselves. The
protection in the old quarter of Varos was best organized. Hadji
Iliya h. Markov, warned by Effendi Castle that the Turks were
preparing to flee, bought gunpowder and ammunition and prepared a
large quantity of ammunition with his son. As soon as the arson
began, the local Bulgarian leaders gathered at the house of Vasil
Magnoolu, deciding to convene the population of the whole
neighborhood and defend themselves. About 350-400 people gathered.
But not everywhere the defense was successful - many were
slaughtered, shot and hanged. The church was not spared either.
The book "The Suffering of the Bulgarians", published in Plovdiv
in 1889, describes:
"... after the Turks removed their families from the city, under
the leadership of Kizili Yusuf, Injili Oglu Ahmed, Kyuchuk-Ali Ijun
Ahmed with a detachment of troops and Circassians, set fire to the
bazaar and the Bulgarian neighborhood on the right bank of the Vrana
valley, embarked with rifles and bare knives in their hands,
tortured for money and tortured, dishonorable women, raped maidens,
robbed mothers in the arms of children and cut them in two,
dismembered women and killed their children, cut off the ears of the
elderly, the eyes of some with their knives they twisted and finally
killed them with a rifle or a knife."
Seeing the stalemate,
several brave citizens, divided into two groups, crossed the Balkans
seeking Russian help for the city. One group - Penyo Stoyanov,
Bandyu Dimitrov, Genyo Dimitrov, Vasil Stoykov and Dosi Todorov,
passed by the village of Razboyna and entered the Balkans through
Boaza, passing near Vardun and approaching Osman Pazar. The other
group, led by Sava Sevov and Stoyan Mitrev, found themselves with
the Russians, passing through the village of Bozhurka. Penyo
Stoyanov's group was captured by a Russian patrol and he reported to
Lieutenant General Ernroth about the tragic situation of Eski
Dzhumaya. A detachment was formed under the leadership of the
Russian regiment Karganov from three battalions of the Okhotsk
regiment, one hundred Cossacks and two cannons. The unit immediately
went to the city and on January 29, 1878 it was liberated. The next
day, by decision of the Russian command, five of those arrested were
convicted and hanged publicly for their actions.
Post-liberation period (1878 - 1944)
According to the 1885
census, there are 9,558 people living in the city, of whom 5,976 are
Turks, 3,250 Bulgarians, 331 Gypsies and one Jew. The Bulgarians
lived in "Varush mahala" (today part of "Varosha").
In 1934
the town was renamed Targovishte, as it is today.