The town of Turgovishte (population: 40 775; 170 m above sea-level) is
situated at the southern foot of the low mountain of Preslav along either bank
of the Vrana River. It is 339 km north-east of Sofia, 41 km west of Shoumen,
25 km north-west of Veliki Preslav, 24 km north-east of Omourtag, 100 km
north-east of Veliko Tarnovo, 36 km south of Razgrad, and 35 km south-east of
Popovo. It was an ancient market settlement. A district centre.
The earliest vestiges of human life in the area date back to the copper-stone
era (halcolite) of the 5th-4th millennium before Christ (near the village of
Ovcharovo). In the vicinity of the town there have been recovered remains of
settlements and necropolises from the ancient times (the gold treasure from
Kralevo). The name of the present town was first mentioned in 16th century as
Eski Dzhoumaya (eski - old, dzhoumaya - Friday; on that same day markets were
organised in the Turkish settlements, so in this particular case it is rather
a market place or if translated - “Old market”). It was first registered as
such in a Turkish register of 1573, and in the following 17th century the
traveller Hadzhi Kalfa gave it a short description. At first it was entirely
an Oriental town. In the course of years a lot of Bulgarians settled to live
there. The crafts underwent a brisk development together with the trade
therewith. The well-known Eski Dzhoumaya Fair started at the end of 18th
century became the largest in the Danube district and one of the biggest and
most representing in the Ottoman Empire. It used to commence on 14th May and
last for 8 days. Traders came from the whole of the Ottoman Empire, from
Russia and from the west European countries - Germany, Austria, and England -
they offered industrial goods. Lots of cattle were sold at the fair, but most
of all horses, so it was called “Haivan” or “Kamshik Panair” (Whip Fair). It
always started with big horse races (koushii). At the beginning it was held in
the central parts of the town but in 1865 - 1868 it was moved to a special
place outside the town with elementary conveniences like inn, stables,
cattle-sheds, eating-houses, bakery, wells, court place where problems and
thefts were settled, etc. - prototype of nowadays market places. It was held
till the end of 19th century. The material prosperity lead to cultural
progress of the settlement. The small school was now transformed into a
secular school in 1846 and in 1863 the construction of its new building of
European style was completed (it was the most prominent building in Eski
Dzhoumaya), this was where Pencho Slaveikov worked as a teacher for some time.
In the winter of 1872 Angel Kanchev set up a revolutionary committee. The
leaders of the Bulgarian National Revival, Sava Gerenov and Sava Katrafilov,
spread the seeds of progress and national consciousness. The latter together
with Nikola Simov-Kourouto (the colour-bearer of Botev’ detachment of armed
volunteers) were members of Botev’s detachment. Both of them died a heroic
death in the battles against the Ottomans.
During the Russian-Turkish War of Liberation (1877-1878) the inhabitants of
the town showed great courage in defending the Bulgarian quarters from the
Circassians and Bashi-bozouks. The town was liberated in January 1878.
In 1934 the town was renamed Turgovishte. It is more and more developing as a
tourist centre. The traditional fair in Turgovishte known as the Spring Fair
and Industrial Goods Expo was resumed. |
