The town of Shoumen (population: 89 054; 220 m above sea-level) is situated at
the eastern mouth of the Shoumen Plateau, on either bank of the Bokloudga
river (Poroina - which means torrential). It is 380 km north-east of Sofia,
115 km south-east of Shoumen, 90 km west of Varna, 140 km north-east of Veliko
Tarnovo, 41 km east of Turgovishte, 49 km south-east of Razgrad, 113 km south
of Silistra, and 56 km north-east of Vurbitsa. An old Bulgarian fortification.
A district centre.
Shoumen is an old town of fortresses. Its foundation and development were
connected with the fortresses at the eastern end of the Shoumen Plateau (in
the area of Hisarluka). The famous fortress of Shoumen was built in four basic
periods: early and late antiquity, and early and late Middle Ages. It was
first created by the Thracians (Vth century before Christ) and then
consequently inhabited and built on by the Romans, the Byzantine, the
Bulgarians and the Turks.
Together with Pliska and Preslav, Shoumen was an old Bulgarian fortification
of 7th-10th centuries and it developed into a feudal town with a castle and an
interior fortress, a number of churches, workshops (12th-14th centuries). This
is the place where Tsar Ivan Shishman’s inscription was found. The inscription
announced the Tsar’s visit to Shoumen.
The Arabian traveller Idrisi first mentioned it as Simeonis (Shimeonit) in
1153. Some consider that it comes from Tsar Simeon’s name. In 14th century
people called it Shoumna or Shoumen. Most probably it has the meaning of
“shouma” (foliage) or “zashoumen” (covered up with branches) because it was
situated in such an area. In 12th-14th centuries Shoumen was a significant
military, administrative and economic centre surpassing even the old capital
of Preslav, and growing outside the fortifications.
The town fell under Turkish rule after a long siege. It was turned into a
well-fortified military town with a big garrison within the fortress. It
housed a lot of Turks, Jews, Tartars, and Armenians. The town was mentioned
with different names like Shoumena, Shoumna, Shoumoular, Soumounoum, and of
course in the last centuries of the domination as Shoumen. In 18th and
particularly in 19th century it developed as an important crafts centre, which
was one of the preconditions for an active cultural life. On 22nd May 1813
here was held the first in Bulgaria civil celebration of the day of the Saint
brothers Cyril and Methodius, and the first theatre performance. In 1828 the
first monastery school for young girls was founded. In 1846 the first amateur
associations in the schools were established. After the defeat of the
Hungarian Revolution (1848) many Hungarian revolutionaries emigrated to
Shoumen with Layosh Koshout at the head; these actively participated in the
cultural life of the town. Due to them in 1851 the first symphonic orchestra
conducted by Shafran was set up. Shoumen is the town of the first class school
for young girls and the first communal cultural centre (1856). The first works
of drama were written in Shoumen: “Mihal” (1853) by Sava Dobroplodni. The town
hosted one of the first theatre performances (1856). The first Bulgarian short
story “Miserable Family” (1860) by Vassil Droumev from Shoumen, founder of
Bulgarian theatre, was written here, as well as “School Theatre - the Wealthy
Man” (1864) by Dobri Voinikov from Shoumen, too. Born in Shoumen, Panayot
Volov was one of the main apostles of the Fourth Revolutionary District at the
time of the April Rebellion (1876). He died on 25th May 1876 near Byala (Shoumen
district).
After the Liberation the town fell in decay because of the loss of markets for
the crafts, the migration of Turks and the comparatively cheap and of high
quality industrial goods from the West competing with the local production.
The town gradually recovered and in 1882 the first Bulgarian brewery was
established with Czech capital; “Shoumen Beer” is still among those much
sought after.
In the period between 1950-1965 the town bore the name of Kolarovgrad but
after that it regained its old name of Shoumen. Because of its proximity to
the first capitals of Danubian Bulgaria (Pliska and Preslav), and the Madara
Knight, as well as because of its rich historical past, in 1981 Shoumen was
chosen as centre of the celebrations dedicated to the 1300th anniversary of
the foundation of the Bulgarian state by Asparuh. The great Bulgarian composer
Pancho Vladigerov was born in the town. The historical conditions and the
natural environment make it a first-class tourist centre. |
