Targovishte ( bg, Търговище, also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

''Tǎrgovište'', , tr, Eski Cuma) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 ...

, the administrative and economic capital of

Targovishte Province Targovishte Province ( bg, Област Търговище, transliterated ''Oblast Tǎrgovište'', former name Targovishte okrug) is a province in northeastern Bulgaria, named after its main city - Targovishte. As of December 2009, it has a po ...

. It is situated at the northern foot of the low mountain of

Preslav The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new ...

on both banks of the

Vrana River Vrana may refer to: * Vrana (town), a village in Zadar County, Dalmatia, Croatia * Vrána, Czech surname * Vrana Palace, a former royal palace, located on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria * Lake Vrana (Cres), a lake on the island ...

. The town is north-east of the capital

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 ...

and about west of the city of

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

and the

Bulgarian Black Sea Coast The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (), also known as the Bulgarian Riviera, covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coast ...

. Targovishte is known as an old market settlement.

Name

The name comes from the Slavic root targ ("trade") + the Slavic placename suffix -ishte, "market town" (a calque of the Ottoman Turkish Eski Cuma, "old Friday", though the Turkish name may be derived from the earlier Bulgarian ''Sborishte'' "gathering place"). The name is etymologically and semantically the same as that of the city

Târgoviște Târgoviște (, alternatively spelled ''Tîrgoviște''; german: Tergowisch) is a city and county seat in Dâmbovița County, Romania. It is situated north-west of Bucharest, on the right bank of the Ialomița River. Târgoviște was one of the ...

in Romania and

Trgovište Trgovište ( sr-cyr, Трговиште) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the population of the town is 1,785, while population of the municipality is 5,091. Settlements As ...

in Serbia.

City

Archaeological studies prove that in these places there were people in the

Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

- Stone Age (

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...

) – between the 5th and the 4th millennium BC. In the city's vicinity are the remains of

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 ...

settlements (5th–3rd century BC), a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

settlement (2nd–4th century AD) and a fortress from the early

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

period (5th–6th century). A Bulgarian settlement was founded in the 10th century during the First Bulgarian Empire, however due to its proximity to the capital

, it did not develop until the 12th century. In the 12th century, due to its location on a main road from the new capital

Veliko Turnovo 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 ...

, a fortress by the name "Сборище" (''Sborishte'') was built. In the 18th and 19th centuries it became a famous market for animals and craft products called ''Eski Cuma'' ("old bazaar" in Turkish). A monastical school was opened in the 18th century and a secular one, called the Slaveykov School and situated in the old Varosha Quarter was established in 1846, with

Petko Slaveykov Petko Rachov Slaveykov ( bg, Петко Рачов Славейков) (17 November 1827 OS – 1 July 1895 OS ) was a Bulgarian poet, publicist, politician and folklorist. Biography Early years and educational activity Slaveykov was born in ...

being a teacher there; a ''

chitalishte A ''chitalishte'' (, . Derives from the verb "чета" - "to read" or "читател" - "reader") is a typical Bulgarian public institution and building that fulfills several functions at once, such as a community centre, library, and a theat ...

'' was also built. Industrial development began after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Factories producing car batteries and machines for the food industry were opened; later, furniture and textile industries developed. One of Bulgaria's largest wine production factories is located there. Targovishte is home to one of the largest glass factories in Europe. The investment in the factory was $380,000,000 and employs 1,500 people. The town is a cultural centre. In 2000, ruins of an Ancient Roman town called ''Missionis'' (Мисионис) were unearthed near Targovishte. The town art gallery named after the eminent

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

artist Nikola Marinov, who was born here, has a considerable collection of his works. The local football team is called

PFC Svetkavitsa Profesionalen futbolen klub Svetkavitsa 1922 ( bg, Професионален футболен клуб „Светкавица 1922“; en, Svetkavitsa 1922 Professional Football Club) is a Bulgarian football club based in Targovishte, which cu ...

("lightning") and plays in the B PFG. The city is also noted for its shooting sports traditions. There is also a drama theatre and a puppet theatre. Targovishte1panorama

Population

In January 2012, Targovishte was inhabited by 37,341 people within the city limits, while the

Targovishte Municipality Targovishte Municipality ( bg, Община Търговище) is a municipality ('' obshtina'') in Targovishte Province, Northeastern Bulgaria, located in the transition between the Danubian Plain and the area of the so-called Fore-Balkan. It ...

with the legally affiliated adjacent villages had 56,868 inhabitants.National Statistical Institute - 2012
The number of the residents of the city (not the municipality) reached its peak in the period 1980-1990 when exceeded 45,000 with a highest rate in 1989 numbering 47,798. The following table presents the change of the population after 1887.

Ethnic, linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: *

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 ...

: 27,825 (79.4%) *

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

: 6,222 (17.8%) * Roma: 633 (1.8%) *Others: 138 (0.4%) *Indefinable: 235 (0.7%) **Undeclared: 2,558 (4.2%) Total: 37,611 The ethnic composition of

is 33,229 Bulgarians, 14,883 Turks and 3,902 Roma among others.

Municipality

Targovishte is the administrative centre for the

, one of five municipalities of the

. In addition to Targovishte, which has the status of

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

(in Bulgarian: град, transliterated as ''grad''), the municipality contains 51 other localities with the status of

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

(in Bulgarian: село, transliterated as ''selo''). The following list shows the names of localities transliterated in

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and th ...

, followed in parentheses by the name in the Bulgarian

Cyrillic alphabet , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = Gr ...

(which links to the corresponding Bulgarian Wikipedia article). * Aleksandrovo ( Александрово) * Alvanovo ( Алваново) * Bayachevo ( Баячево) * Bistra ( Бистра) * Bojurka ( Божурка) * Bratovo ( Братово) *

Buhovtsi Buhovtsi ( bg, Буховци, also transcribed as Bukhovtsi, Buhovtzi or Buhovci) is a village in northeastern Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast ...

( Буховци) * Buynovo ( Буйново) * Cherkovna ( Черковна) *

Dalgach Dalgach is a village in Northern Bulgaria. The village is located in Targovishte Municipality, Targovishte Province. Аccording to the numbers provided by the 2020 Bulgarian census, Dalgach currently has a population of 484 people with a permanent ...

( Дългач) * Davidovo ( Давидово) * Draganovets ( Драгановец) *

Dralfa Dralfa is a village in Northern Bulgaria. The village is located in Targovishte Municipality, Targovishte Province. Аccording to the numbers provided by the 2020 Bulgarian census, Dralfa currently has a population of 587 people with a permanent ...

( Дралфа) * Golyamo Sokolovo ( Голямо Соколово) *

Golyamo novo Golyamo Novo is a village in Northern Bulgaria. The village is located in Targovishte Municipality, Targovishte Province. Аccording to the numbers provided by the 2020 Bulgarian census, Golyamo Novo currently has a population of 1239 people with ...

( Голямо Ново) * Gorna Kabda ( Горна Кабда) * Koprets ( Копрец) * Koshnichari ( Кошничари) * Kralevo ( Кралево) * Krashno ( Кръшно) * Lilyak ( Лиляк) * Lovets ( Ловец) * Makariopolsko ( Макариополско) * Makovo ( Маково) * Miladinovtsi ( Миладиновци) * Mirovets ( Мировец) *

Momino Momino (Cyrillic Момино) may refer to: * Momino, Haskovo Province, village in Haskovo Province, Bulgaria * Momino, Targovishte Province, village in Targovishte Province, Bulgaria * Momino Selo, Plovdiv province, see List of Turkish exonym ...

( Момино) * Nadarevo ( Надарево) * Osen ( Осен) * Ostrets ( Острец) * Ovcharovo ( Овчарово) * Paydushko ( Пайдушко) * Pevets ( Певец) * Podgoritsa ( Подгорица) * Preselets ( Преселец) * Presian ( Пресиян) * Presyak ( Пресяк) * Probuda ( Пробуда) * Prolaz ( Пролаз) * Ralitsa ( Ралица) * Razboyna ( Разбойна) * Rosina ( Росина) *

Ruets The third season of ''Canada's Drag Race'' premiered on July 14 and concluded on September 8, 2022. The season airs on Crave (TV network), Crave in Canada, BBC Three in the United Kingdom and WOW Presents Plus internationally. Casting for the th ...

( Руец) * Saedinenie ( Съединение) * Strazha ( Стража) * Tarnovtsa ( Търновца) * Tsvetnitsa ( Цветница) * Tvardintsi ( Твърдинци) *

Vardun Vardun ( bg, Вардун) is a village in Targovishte Municipality, Targovishte Province, Bulgaria. History Until the 1980s, Vardun had over 300 Bulgarian dwellings and several Romani people, gypsies dwellings. It was separated from the vill ...

( Вардун) *

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 ...

( Васил Левски) * Zdravets ( Здравец)

Honour

Targovishte Glacier Targovishte Glacier ( bg, ледник Търговище, lednik Targovishte, ) is situated in Breznik Heights on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, east of Zheravna Glacier and southwest of Musala Glacier. It is bound ...

Greenwich Island Greenwich Island (variant historical names ''Sartorius Island'', ''Berezina Island'') is an island long and from (average ) wide, lying between Robert Island and Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Surface area . The name Greenwic ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

is named after Targovishte.

Churches

* Sv. Uspenie Bogorodichno Church (Dormition of the Theotokos Church) * St. John of Rila Church

Schools

* Sveti Sedmochislenitsi High School * Profesor Nikola Marinov High School * Mitropolit Andrey High School * Hristo Botev Comprehensive School * P.R.Slaveykov Comprehensive School * John Atanasov Vocational School * Nikola Simov Vocational(Sport) School * St. John of Rila School for children with hearing problems

Notable people

Andrey, Metropolitan of New York Andrew Petkov ( bg, Митрополит Андрей; secular name Stoyan Nikolov Petkov; bg, Стоян Николов Петков; 31 December 1886 – 9 August 1972) was the diocesan prelate of the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the US ...

* Nikola Marinov (artist) * (revolutionary) *

100 Kila Yavor Dimitrov Yanakiev ( bg, Явор Димитров Янакиев; born 16 May 1985), better known by his stage name 100 Kila ( bg, 100 Кила; also stylized as 100KILA), is a Bulgaria, Bulgarian rapper, actor, songwriter and entrepreneur f ...

(musician) * (conductor) * (financist) * Rosen Vladimirov, former National Assemblyman for Targovishte *

Tunalı Hilmi Abdullah Hilmi Tunalı (28 August 187126 July 1928) was a Turkish politician, member of the Chamber of Deputies, and later member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd terms. He was a politician and statesman w ...

, Turkish politician

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Targovishte is twinned with: * Bolhrad, Ukraine *

Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...

, Germany *

Kozani Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas river valley. The city lies above sea ...

, Greece *

Santa Maria da Feira Santa Maria da Feira () is a city and a municipality in Aveiro District in Portugal, 23 km from central Porto. The population in 2011 was 139,309,Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

, Russia *

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud a ...

, France * Târgovişte, Romania * Waterloo, United States

Gallery

File:Targovishte 017.JPG, Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother (1851) File:targovishte_hub.jpg, Targovishte centre File:Old Building - Targovishte.jpg, Street scene File:Targovishte 054.JPG, Street scene File:TargovishteTheatre.jpg, Targovishte Theatre with the Statue of Orpheus File:HristoBotevSchool.jpg, Comprehensive School Hristo Botev File:TheOldChurchTargovishte.jpg, The Old Church File:Old Slaveykov School Targovishte.jpg, The Old Slaveykov School (Now Museum) File:VaroshaTargovishte1.jpg, The Old Quarter Varosha File:VaroshaTargovishte2.jpg, The Old Quarter Varosha File:TheOldChurchTargovishte2.jpg, The Old Church File:StJohnRilaChurch_Tshte1.jpg, St. John of Rila church

References

External links

Official website of Targovishte municipality

Info portal of Targovishte municipality

Targovishte the portal

Another info portal of Targovishte

Portal of Targovishte
{{Authority control Populated places in Targovishte Province