The Library of Veliko Tarnovo is the third largest library in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

History

Old Bulgarian Library in Tarnovo

During the period of Ottoman rule in Bulgaria, many valuable books and

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

from the

Second Bulgarian State The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered ...

were stored in churches in

Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

. According to legend, following the conquest of Tarnovo, the books and

were hidden in the Patriarchal Church of St. Peter and Paul, along with concealed royal letters and contracts, many of them inscribed and decorated with miniatures. Later a Hellenic bishop found the artifacts and ordered that they be burned, which supposedly took days to accomplish.

"Petko R. Slaveykov" Regional National Library

The Old Bulgarian Library in Tarnovo was burnt down in 1872. The "Petko R. Slaveikov" National Library was built to replace it, the third Bulgarian National Library in existence after the Metropolitan Library and the

Ivan Vazov National Library The Ivan Vazov National Library ( bg, Народна библиотека "Иван Вазов") is a library situated in Bulgaria's second largest city, Plovdiv. It is named after the famous Bulgarian writer and poet Ivan Vazov. It is the nati ...

. The idea of opening a library in Tarnovo is credited to Stilian Chilingirov, the then director of the Library in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. The library opened on 15 August 1922. It was originally housed in the Angel Popov building. Mosk'o Moskov served as its first director.

Name changes

The complex has housed a museum and a library, with construction beginning in the 1940s. The library was renamed to the Regional Methodological Library - Veliko Tarnovo in 1953, and later renamed again to the Petko Rachov Slaveikov National Library in 1958. In 1979, the Library's Methodology department grew into the Libraries Directorate at the Regional Council for Culture in Veliko Tarnovo and managed the Territorial Library System. In 1971, the library was awarded the Cyril and Methodius Order I for its 50th anniversary. The Regional Library collaborates with the city of Linz.вестник Борба
/ref>

References

*State archive - Veliko Tarnovo F1417 *„Опожаряване на старобългарската библиотека във Велико Търново", автор Николай Иванов *Иванова, Калина. История и съвременност на великотърновската народна библиотека „П. Р. Славейков". – В. Търново : Нар. библ. П. Р. Славейков, 2014. *проф. д-р Пламен Павлов - историк,доц. д-р Красимира Александрова,Николай Иванов - писател Съдбата на старобългарските ръкописи, старопечатни книги и библиотеки {{coord missing, Bulgaria Buildings and structures in Veliko Tarnovo Education in Veliko Tarnovo Culture in Veliko Tarnovo Libraries in Bulgaria Libraries established in 1922 1922 establishments in Bulgaria