Sevlievo ( bg, Севлиево )
is a town in north-central
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 Macedo ...
, part of
Gabrovo Province. Sevlievo is known as one of the wealthiest towns in Bulgaria owing to the well developed local economy, high employment rate and major foreign investments, such as the
American Standard Companies
American Standard Companies was a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, plumbing fixtures, and automotive parts. The company was formed in 1929 through the merger of the American Radiator Company and Stand ...
factory. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous
Sevlievo Municipality.
In 2009, the population of the town was 24,065.
History
The earliest traces of occupation in the region date back to the late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
period (around the 8th century BC). Some
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
tombs still survive. Hotalich Fortress is the last medieval town. It had been inhabited for more than 1,000 years and functioned as an important defensive center. Hotalich existed for centuries together with the settlement on the site of the contemporary town, known as ''Servi'' and ''Selvi''.
In the middle of the 19th century, the development of crafts led to the concentration of large sums of money in the crafts' societies. Commercial trips across the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
enriched general knowledge.
In 1834 St Prophet Eliah Church was restored and in 1836 the medieval Batoshevo Monastery was rebuilt. In the mid-1850s,
Kolyu Ficheto
Nikola Fichev ( bg, Никола Фичев) (1800 Direnova, Ottoman Empire - 1881 Veliko Tarnovo, Principality of Bulgaria), commonly known as Kolyo Ficheto ( bg, Колю Фичето) or with his Turkish honorific Usta (Master) Kolyo Ficheto, ...
, a prominent master of the
Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...
period, built the stone bridge over the
Rositsa River. In 1844 the famous wealthy craftsman and merchant, Hadzhi Stoyan Nikolov, invested his own money in the building of a huge school.
In 1870, under the direct guidance of
Vasil Levski
Vasil Levski ( bg, Васил Левски, spelled in old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed t ...
, known as the "Apostle of Freedom", a revolutionary committee was created. It prepared the population of Sevlievo for the
April Uprising
The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally su ...
in 1876. The
Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe.
Etymology
Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...
from this region took an active part in the uprising.
Ottoman occupation of the town ended 2 July 1877. As a major cultural institute, the local community center has existed for 127 years. The
Mara Belcheva House of Culture became the new center of cultural events.
Climate
Sevlievo has a temperate climate with cold winters and hot summers.
Population
Twin towns — sister cities
Sevlievo is
twinned with:
*
Babruysk
Babruysk, Babrujsk or Bobruisk ( be, Бабруйск , Łacinka: , rus, Бобруйск, Bobrujsk, bɐˈbruɪ̯s̪k, yi, באָברויסק ) is a city in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus on the Berezina River. , its population was 209 ...
, Belarus
*
Gevgelija, North Macedonia
*
Legionowo
Legionowo is a city in Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze), east-central Poland.
Location
Legionowo is located to the north-east of the center of Warsaw and only to the south of Zegrze Reservoir ( or ), near the Warsaw-Gdańsk railroad and Warsaw-Suwa� ...
, Poland
*
Nanhai, China
*
Valašské Meziříčí
Valašské Meziříčí (; german: Wallachisch Meseritsch) is a town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban mo ...
, Czech Republic
See also
*
Gabrovo humour and jokes
*
Ethnographic museum Etara
*
Village of Bozhentsi
*
City of Tryavna
*
City of Dryanovo
*
Dryanovo Monastery
*
Sokolsky Monastery
*
Winter Resort Uzana
References
External links
Sevlievo municipality – cities and villages, maps, informationSevlievo municipality's home pagePictures from SevlievoVisitSevlievo.com – Unofficial travel guide and on-line presentation of Sevlievo.Karacakılavuz Belediyesi
Original source
Guide-bulgaria.com("All text from Guide-Bulgaria.com is available for reproduction at external web sites if link to Guide-Bulgaria.com is added.") The article has been edited from the source version.
{{Authority control
Towns in Bulgaria
Populated places in Gabrovo Province