Shumen is Bulgaria’s tenth biggest city and the administrative and economic centre of Shumen Province.
The city is located 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Varna and is surrounded by a cluster of hills, northern outliers of the eastern Balkans, that form a horseshoe shape surrounding it on the west and south. The horseshoe ridge is bisected longitudinally by a steep valley.
From Shumen, highways spread north to the Danubian cities of Rousse and Silistra, as well as to Dobruja, south to Balkan passes, and east to Varna and Balchik.
In January 2012, Shumen had a population of 80 511 people inside the city boundaries and 93 160 people throughout the Shumen Municipality and its legally linked surrounding towns. The following table summarizes the population change since 1887. The population of the city (not the municipality) peaked in 1990-1991, when it topped 110,000.
The city’s population is mostly Eastern Orthodox, with a sizable Muslim community and considerably smaller minorities of other faiths.
Shumen is located in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s Eparchy (diocese) of Varna and Veliki Preslav and serves as the capital of the Shumen church region (okolia). Two prominent Orthodox temples, the Church of the Holy Ascension (est. 1829) and the Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs (est. 1857), as well as a few chapels, are located in the city.
The Sherif Halil Pasha Mosque, more often known as the Tombul (or Tumbul) Mosque, was erected between 1740 and 1744 in Shumen. It is Bulgaria’s biggest mosque and the second largest in the Balkans.
According to the most recent 2011 census statistics, those who indicated their ethnic identification were divided into the following categories:
Bulgarians: 61,584
Turks: 10,029
Romani: 2,165
Others: 600
Indefinable: 552
Undeclared: 5,925
If you visit Shumen, you must observe the large monument „1300 years Bulgaria“. It was created to commemorate Bulgaria’s 1300th year of existence. The monument depicts significant episodes in Bulgarian history. A lion’s head is depicted on the memorial’s top. Ilchov Bair is the name of the plateau where the monument is located. Sumen is located at its foot. The monument is easily visible from the city, which adds to its appeal. At night, the monument is illuminated in the Bulgarian flag’s colors. 1300 steps and a road link the city with the monument.
Sights & Landmarks In Shumen
Shumen is home to the Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, widely recognized as the world’s only monument depicting a whole country’s history from its inception to the current day.
The Shumen Fortress, which has been largely repaired after Ottoman destruction, is a significant historical relic of the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It is located on the Shumen Plateau, not far from the city.
The Regional Historical Museum is the heir of Rafail Popov’s Archaeological Society, which was founded in Shumen in 1904.
The Madara Horseman, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Europe’s unique example of medieval rock art, is a pre-Bulgar (710 AD) monument. It is located around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Shumen.
The Eastern Orthodox Holy Three Saints Cathedral and Holy Ascension Basilica are located in the city, as is the Sherif Halil Pasha mosque (also known as the Tombul Mosque), which is the largest mosque in Bulgaria and one of the largest in the Balkans, serving the Shumen and the region’s Muslim minority.
Kurşun çeşme is a fountain constructed in 1774 during the Ottoman Empire’s reign.
History of Shumen
Antiquity and the Middle Ages
The first mentions of Shumen fortification trace all the way back to the early Iron Age. The earliest fort, which surrounds accessible areas of the region, dates from the 12th century BC. Archaeological studies done in 1957, 1961, and 1987 established the chronology, lifestyle, and livelihood of the fortress’s residents. It had a wall thickness of around two meters and was constructed entirely of rough stones. A second wall was constructed in front of the first around the fifth century BC.
The Romans constructed a military castle over the remnants of the Thracian walls in the second century. The wall is already mortared; a tower was erected above the gate; a square tower was built to the west, and a semicircular tower to the south. Between the 4th and 5th centuries, a new wall with nine towers was built around the whole hill. Between the eighth and tenth centuries, the fort was restored; the Roman wall and towers were retained, and a new wall with two towers was erected to the northeast.
In 681, khan Asparukh annexed the province and integrated it into the First Bulgarian Empire. Shumen was burnt at the stake in 811 by Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus. He was assassinated at the Battle of Pliska. The Bulgarian Khan Krum wrapped Nicephorus’ skull in silver and used it as a wine cup. The Bulgarian fortifications of the 7th–10th centuries evolved into a feudal city with a castle and surrounding inner and outer defensive zones, which included 28 towers and bastions, three gates and five small porticoes, as well as numerous churches and workshops (12th–14th centuries). During Simeon the Great’s golden age of Bulgarian culture (893–927), Shumen was a center of cultural and religious activity, and may have been called Simeonis.
Shumen was a prominent military, administrative, and commercial hub during the Second Bulgarian Empire, replacing the former Bulgarian capital Preslav and expanding beyond the citadel. The main religion in the medieval city of Shumen was Orthodox Christianity, as evidenced by the outline of the walls, seven churches, commemorative coins depicting crosses and angels, and numerous finds of Orthodox crosses individually, as well as their image on rings and other artefacts discovered in graves and homes. Only after the Ottoman takeover of the city in the 15th century, when Islam was introduced, did the city undergo change.
Ottoman Empire
Murad I, the sultan, compelled it to submit to the Ottoman Empire in 1388. Following the failure of Wadysaw Warneczyk’s crusade in 1444, the city was destroyed and relocated by the Ottomans. It was extended and fortified in the 18th century. It was invaded unsuccessfully by Russian soldiers three times (1774, 1810, and 1828). As a result, the Turks gave it the name Gazi („Victorious“). In 1854, it served as Omar Pasha’s headquarters and the focal point for the Turkish army. During the Ottoman time, numerous Turks were established in the region to propagate the Islamic religion among the Slavic Bulgarian Christians, and many Muslim Turkish men married Bulgarian women and converted them to Islam.
Bulgarian National Revival
Shumen was a significant center of the Bulgarian National Revival in the nineteenth century, hosting the first Cyril and Methodius commemoration in Bulgarian territories on 11 May 1813, as well as the first theatrical performance. In 1828, a religious school for females was founded; in 1856, a class school for girls and a chitalishte (community center) were added. In 1850, the city formed Bulgaria’s first symphony orchestra. Lajos Kossuth, a prominent Hungarian politician and revolutionary leader, spent a portion of his exile in the then-Ottoman town of Shumen the same year. His home has been kept as a museum.
Kingdom of Bulgaria
Shumen ultimately capitulated to the Russians on 22 June 1878 and became a member of newly independent Bulgaria. The Shumen Brewery was created in 1882, making it Bulgaria’s first brewery.
People’s Republic of Bulgaria
Between 1950 through 1965, the city was known as Kolarovgrad, after communist leader Vasil Kolarov.
Shumen
Shumen
Shumen is Bulgaria’s tenth biggest city and the administrative and economic centre of Shumen Province.
The city is located 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Varna and is surrounded by a cluster of hills, northern outliers of the eastern Balkans, that form a horseshoe shape surrounding it on the west and south. The horseshoe ridge is bisected longitudinally by a steep valley.
From Shumen, highways spread north to the Danubian cities of Rousse and Silistra, as well as to Dobruja, south to Balkan passes, and east to Varna and Balchik.
In January 2012, Shumen had a population of 80 511 people inside the city boundaries and 93 160 people throughout the Shumen Municipality and its legally linked surrounding towns. The following table summarizes the population change since 1887. The population of the city (not the municipality) peaked in 1990-1991, when it topped 110,000.
The city’s population is mostly Eastern Orthodox, with a sizable Muslim community and considerably smaller minorities of other faiths.
Shumen is located in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s Eparchy (diocese) of Varna and Veliki Preslav and serves as the capital of the Shumen church region (okolia). Two prominent Orthodox temples, the Church of the Holy Ascension (est. 1829) and the Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs (est. 1857), as well as a few chapels, are located in the city.
The Sherif Halil Pasha Mosque, more often known as the Tombul (or Tumbul) Mosque, was erected between 1740 and 1744 in Shumen. It is Bulgaria’s biggest mosque and the second largest in the Balkans.
According to the most recent 2011 census statistics, those who indicated their ethnic identification were divided into the following categories:
If you visit Shumen, you must observe the large monument „1300 years Bulgaria“. It was created to commemorate Bulgaria’s 1300th year of existence. The monument depicts significant episodes in Bulgarian history. A lion’s head is depicted on the memorial’s top. Ilchov Bair is the name of the plateau where the monument is located. Sumen is located at its foot. The monument is easily visible from the city, which adds to its appeal. At night, the monument is illuminated in the Bulgarian flag’s colors. 1300 steps and a road link the city with the monument.
Sights & Landmarks In Shumen
Shumen is home to the Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, widely recognized as the world’s only monument depicting a whole country’s history from its inception to the current day.
The Shumen Fortress, which has been largely repaired after Ottoman destruction, is a significant historical relic of the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It is located on the Shumen Plateau, not far from the city.
The Regional Historical Museum is the heir of Rafail Popov’s Archaeological Society, which was founded in Shumen in 1904.
The Madara Horseman, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Europe’s unique example of medieval rock art, is a pre-Bulgar (710 AD) monument. It is located around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Shumen.
The Eastern Orthodox Holy Three Saints Cathedral and Holy Ascension Basilica are located in the city, as is the Sherif Halil Pasha mosque (also known as the Tombul Mosque), which is the largest mosque in Bulgaria and one of the largest in the Balkans, serving the Shumen and the region’s Muslim minority.
Kurşun çeşme is a fountain constructed in 1774 during the Ottoman Empire’s reign.
History of Shumen
Antiquity and the Middle Ages
The first mentions of Shumen fortification trace all the way back to the early Iron Age. The earliest fort, which surrounds accessible areas of the region, dates from the 12th century BC. Archaeological studies done in 1957, 1961, and 1987 established the chronology, lifestyle, and livelihood of the fortress’s residents. It had a wall thickness of around two meters and was constructed entirely of rough stones. A second wall was constructed in front of the first around the fifth century BC.
The Romans constructed a military castle over the remnants of the Thracian walls in the second century. The wall is already mortared; a tower was erected above the gate; a square tower was built to the west, and a semicircular tower to the south. Between the 4th and 5th centuries, a new wall with nine towers was built around the whole hill. Between the eighth and tenth centuries, the fort was restored; the Roman wall and towers were retained, and a new wall with two towers was erected to the northeast.
In 681, khan Asparukh annexed the province and integrated it into the First Bulgarian Empire. Shumen was burnt at the stake in 811 by Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus. He was assassinated at the Battle of Pliska. The Bulgarian Khan Krum wrapped Nicephorus’ skull in silver and used it as a wine cup. The Bulgarian fortifications of the 7th–10th centuries evolved into a feudal city with a castle and surrounding inner and outer defensive zones, which included 28 towers and bastions, three gates and five small porticoes, as well as numerous churches and workshops (12th–14th centuries). During Simeon the Great’s golden age of Bulgarian culture (893–927), Shumen was a center of cultural and religious activity, and may have been called Simeonis.
Shumen was a prominent military, administrative, and commercial hub during the Second Bulgarian Empire, replacing the former Bulgarian capital Preslav and expanding beyond the citadel. The main religion in the medieval city of Shumen was Orthodox Christianity, as evidenced by the outline of the walls, seven churches, commemorative coins depicting crosses and angels, and numerous finds of Orthodox crosses individually, as well as their image on rings and other artefacts discovered in graves and homes. Only after the Ottoman takeover of the city in the 15th century, when Islam was introduced, did the city undergo change.
Ottoman Empire
Murad I, the sultan, compelled it to submit to the Ottoman Empire in 1388. Following the failure of Wadysaw Warneczyk’s crusade in 1444, the city was destroyed and relocated by the Ottomans. It was extended and fortified in the 18th century. It was invaded unsuccessfully by Russian soldiers three times (1774, 1810, and 1828). As a result, the Turks gave it the name Gazi („Victorious“). In 1854, it served as Omar Pasha’s headquarters and the focal point for the Turkish army. During the Ottoman time, numerous Turks were established in the region to propagate the Islamic religion among the Slavic Bulgarian Christians, and many Muslim Turkish men married Bulgarian women and converted them to Islam.
Bulgarian National Revival
Shumen was a significant center of the Bulgarian National Revival in the nineteenth century, hosting the first Cyril and Methodius commemoration in Bulgarian territories on 11 May 1813, as well as the first theatrical performance. In 1828, a religious school for females was founded; in 1856, a class school for girls and a chitalishte (community center) were added. In 1850, the city formed Bulgaria’s first symphony orchestra. Lajos Kossuth, a prominent Hungarian politician and revolutionary leader, spent a portion of his exile in the then-Ottoman town of Shumen the same year. His home has been kept as a museum.
Kingdom of Bulgaria
Shumen ultimately capitulated to the Russians on 22 June 1878 and became a member of newly independent Bulgaria. The Shumen Brewery was created in 1882, making it Bulgaria’s first brewery.
People’s Republic of Bulgaria
Between 1950 through 1965, the city was known as Kolarovgrad, after communist leader Vasil Kolarov.
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