The town of Pleven (122 149 inhabitants, about 150 metres above sea
level) is located in the central part of the Danubian Plain, past the Vit
River. It is situated at the distance of 174 km to the north-east of Sofia, 35
km to the north of Lovech, 53 km and 49 km to the north-east of Cherven Bryag
and Lukovit, respectively, 146 km to the south-west of Rousse, 55 km to the
south-west of Nikopol, 49 km to the west of Levski and at the distance of 76
km to the south-east of Oryahovo. It is a town-pantheon. A regional
administrative centre.
Pleven has a centuries old and rich in events history. It originated in
Thracian times on the place of today’s park of Kailuka and it was named
Storgoziya, which name was preserved in Roman times as well. After its
destruction by the barbarians, the Slavs rebuilt it under the name of Kamenets.
A second settlement was set up to the north of it which was named Pleven (from
“plevel” which means weed). Later on the two settlements united and they were
first mentioned under the name of Pleven in 1266 when the Magyars occupied it.
After the 12th century the town developed as a craftsman’s and trade centre.
The town put up a ferocious resistance to the Turkish invaders and that is the
reason for its being destroyed and for its population being slaughtered,
expelled and converted to Islan after its downfall. In 1596 Pleven was
conquered and set on fire by the Wallachian Voivoda Mihail Vityaz (Hrabri) (the
Courageous).
During the 17th and the 18th centuries the Bulgarian population in the town
grew in number and took the trade and crafts in their own hands and started to
develop its cultural life as well. The town became famous on the Balkan
Peninsula and in Anatolia for its market of cattle and sheep (as of 1842). In
1825 a Bulgarian secular school was opened there, in 1840 - the first
Bulgarian girls’ school was opened by Anastassia Dimitrova and a year later a
new boys’ school was opened. In 1834 the Saint Nikolai Church was built and in
1845 its iconostasis was made. Dimitur Dospevski and Nikola Obrazopissetsa (the
Image Painter) painted the icons. In 1869 a chitalishte (cultural centre and
reading-club) was founded in the town, too. In 1871 Pleven had 3101 houses
with the population of 17 000 people. On 6th May 1869 Levski set up the first
secret revolutionary committee here. The citizens of Pleven took part in the
detachments of armed volunteers of Philip Totyu and Hristo Botev.
Pleven became famous most of all with the events, which took place during the
Russian-Turkish War of Liberation (1877-1878). After the forcing of the Danube
River by the Russian troops, their Western squadron headed to that town of
strategic importance. The Turkish commandment on its part dislocated the whole
garrison of the Vidin Fortress here headed by Osman Pasha, in command of a
40-thousand people army. A system of defensive facilities was built up around
Pleven. The Russian forces under the command of Gen. Shouldner, consisting of
7000 people, carried out the first assault of Pleven on 18th June 1877. It was
not a success. There were more than 2400 people killed and wounded (against
2000 on the part of the enemy). The second assault was held on 30th July and
despite the numerous victims (over 7000 people killed and wounded) was not a
success, either. On 11th and 12th September a 100-thousand Russian-Romanian
army carried out the third assault orientated at the town. This battle cannot
be equalled to any other during the whole war in relation to its large scale
and bloodshed. The units of Gen. Skobelev managed to perform a break-through
at the Green Hills but the Chief Russian Headquarters did not appreciate the
situation well enough and ordered a retreat... 16 000 people killed and
wounded on the part of the Russians and the Romanians during the two-day not
abating battles.
The outstanding military engineer Gen. Totleben arrived promptly from Russia
to organize the blockade of the town. In execution of the blockade related
plan, Gen. Gourko conquered the villages located by the road to Sofia - Dolni
Dubnik, Gorni Dubnik and Telish, and the knot around the town got tight.
Staring from the end of October Russians and Romanians gradually built up a
fortifying blockade line. At the beginning of December it reached 50 km. At
the same time the situation of the Turkish Army was deteriorated due to hunger,
diseases and cold. It was completely isolated, the essential merit for this
belonging to the epic battles for defence of the Shipka Pass. There Bulgarians
and Russians at the expense of incredible sacrifices and with unseen courage
and selflessness stopped the 45-thousand army of Suleiman Pasha heading
towards Pleven and did not allow them pass through the Balkan Mountain. On
10th December 1877 Osman Pasha made a desperate attempt to break through the
blockade in the region of the Vit River, but suffered a complete defeat and
Pleven fell after 5 months of defence at the expense of incredible efforts.
The town quickly grew up after the Liberation. The newly built railway lines
Sofia - Varna (Rousse) and Pleven (Yassen) - Somovit - Cherkovitsa greatly
contributed to it. Today Pleven is the 7th biggest town in Bulgaria. |
