Shivachevo ( bg, Шивачево ) is a small town in the
Sliven Province
Sliven Province ( bg, Област Сливен, former name Sliven okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of Sliven. It embraces a territory of Balkan Mountains in central eastern
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 ...
.
History
The area around the present town of Shivachevo has been inhabited since ancient times. Numerous archeological artifacts have been found in the area. Thracian earthenware used during funeral ceremonies and containing burnt bones and wheat were found in the yard of the present-day school. Other discoveries include a Thracian bronze helmet, Roman coins, and Byzantine coins with the faces of the emperors
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...
and Nikiforos Foka.
From the distant past the inhabitants of Shivachevo were famous for their patriotic spirit. They aided the volunteer detachments (called "haidushki chet") who fought against the Turkish rule during the 19th century. After the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
(1853–1856) and the new Turkish laws that followed it, a committee was established in Shivachevo in 1857 for building a church which was finished in 1859 and was given the name of St. Dimitar. The town celebration is held on October 26 every year on St. Dimitar's Day.
The year 1860 is connected with the opening of the first school in Shivachevo on the grounds of the church. After the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish rule in 1892, a new school building was constructed. The first female teacher, Tina Kirkova, was appointed in the same year. At a town meeting on August 22, 1909, the name of the village was changed from Terzobas (from the Turkish word for "tailor") to Eastern Shivachevo, "Shivach" (Шивач) stemming from the Bulgarian word for “tailor”. In 1934, the name was changed to Greater Shivachevo. In 1976, the village became, simply, Shivachevo. In 1984, the village officially became a town.
Geography and climate
Shivachevo is located 260 km east of
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 h ...
, 35 km west of the city of
Sliven
Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace.
Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...
(pop. 147,000), and 140 km west of the port city of
Bourgas
Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after So ...
and the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
. Nearby towns and villages include
Nova Zagora
Nova Zagora ( bg, Нова Загора ) is a town located in the southeastern plains of Bulgaria in Sliven Province. It is the administrative centre of Nova Zagora Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 19,562 inhabita ...
,
Kazanlak
Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seuthopolis''), tr, Kazanlık) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountai ...
, Sborishte, Banya, and the administrative center of the municipality, Tvarditsa.
The area surrounding the town is well known as the heart of the wine-growing region in Bulgaria. Vini Sliven, a winery operating out of Sliven, owns a production facility in Shivachevo, 220 hectares of vines in the area, and produces a well-regarded Cabernet Sauvignon named after the town, "Chateau Shivatchevo". Peaches, cherries, plums, and figs are also cultivated in the region.
Demographics
As of 2006, the population was 3,968.
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 ...
make-up the largest ethnic group in the town, followed by
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
. There is no official estimate as to the percentage of Bulgarians to Romani.
Culture
The town cultural center (Chitalishte / Читалище) was founded in 1898 and is called "Prosveta", which means "Enlightenment". A new building was constructed in 1958 and serves as the centerpiece of the town park. It currently houses a library, community meeting space, and theater for live performances.