Lom ( ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in northwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, part of

Montana Province Montana Province (, transliterated: ''Oblast Montana'') is a Provinces of Bulgaria, province in northwestern Bulgaria, bordering Serbia in the southwest and Romania in the north. It spreads its area between the Danube river and the Balkan Mountai ...

, situated on the right bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, close to the estuary of the Lom River. It is the administrative centre of the eponymous

Lom Municipality Lom Municipality () is a frontier Municipalities of Bulgaria, municipality (''obshtina'') in Montana Province, Northwestern Bulgaria, located along the right bank of Danube river in the Danubian Plain (Bulgaria), Danubian Plain. It is named after ...

. The town is north of

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, southeast of Vidin, north of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, and west of Kozloduy. It is the second most important Bulgarian port on the Danube after Ruse.

Geography

The town of Lom is located near the mouth of the eponymous river Lom. Its development as a large river port center, second in importance to Bulgaria after Ruse, is determined by the fact that it is the closest port to the capital.

History

Antiquity and Middle Ages

Lom was founded by the

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

under the name of ''Artanes'' in Antiquity. The Romans built the

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

of ''Almus'' (from where the name of the today's city and of the Lom River comes) on the Danubian Limes frontier system along the

. The town developed around it. There are no reports proving that there existed a big settlement in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. It was not until Ottoman rule that it enlarged but for a long time it was under the shadow of the dominant towns of Vidin, Nikopol and Silistra. It is assumed that the Ottoman village was founded in 1695 by Kara Mustafa and Murad Giray, who were defeated at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1683 and who came here sailing rafts along the Danube.

Ottoman rule and Bulgarian National Revival

The name ''Lom Palanka'' was mentioned for the first time in 1704. At the time, the name ''palanka'' was used for settlements that stood between village and city (''grad'') in size and importance. In 1798 Lom suffered from brigand raids. With the development of shipping along the Danube after 1830, the importance of the town grew. The road to Sofia contributed to its progress and turned it into a main export port to

. By 1869 there were 120 shops, 148 trade offices, 175 food shops, 34 coffee bars, six hotels and two mills. The town was centred on the old ''Kale'' (fortress), which was entered through three ''kapii'' (gates), each named after the place that the respective road led to - Vidin, Belogradchik,

. The tradesmen from Lom offered goods at the biggest fairs in the region and beyond. In 1880 there were 7,500 inhabitants in the town. Lom is proud of its traditions from the period of the Bulgarian National Revival. During the Bulgarian National Revival, the first '' chitalishte'' in Bulgaria (1856) was founded in the town, the first women's society in the country was also established in 1858 and one of the first theatre performances took place in the town. Krastyu Pishurka, a noted educator, also worked in Lom. Until the Second World War it was a major market town. In 1943, the Bulgarian government transported several thousand Jewish captives from Bulgarian-occupied territory in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

to Lom to be embarked on boats bound for

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, from where they were taken to be exterminated in Treblinka. Lom was the main hub for the first deportations of victims of the Holocaust from the Axis-aligned Balkans. After 1944 the industry developed — sugar factory, can factory, grain industry. It became a port for the northwestern part of Bulgaria.

Neighbourhoods

Neighbourhoods of Lom include: *Boruna *Humata *Kaletata *Lyulyatsite *Mladenovo *Mladost *Momin brod *Stadiona *Zornitsa

Landmarks

*Plazha () - the 500 m. long pebbled beach at the bank of the Danube River, 3 km. from the centre of the city *Town Museum of History, housed in the building of the old town-hall. *Preserved foundations of the antique fortress Almus *Postoyanstvo, the oldest '' chitalishte'' (community centre) in Bulgaria *Building of the former School of Pedagogy *The Church of Boruna *Monument of Tseko Voivoda (1807–1881), a participant in the battles for liberation of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and proclaimed by the Serbian government to be a voyvoda (revolutionary leader)

Religion

The majority of the population of Lom is Christian Orthodox. The second biggest religious group is

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

- adventists and

baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Climate

Notable people

Born in Lom

* Aleksandar Belev (1898 – 1944), politician * Alexander Raichev, composer * Alexander Chirkov (1938 – 2020), doctor, performed the first heart transplant in Bulgaria (1986) * Andrej Andreev (1943 –), doctor * Anton Tornjov (1868 – 1942), architect * Asen Parteniev (1876 – 1905), revolutionary * Bojcho Bojchev (1902 – 1971), doctor * Bojan Smilov (1885 – 1947), politician * Cvetan Minkov (1891 – 1967), writer * Cvetan Todorov (1899 – 1962), linguist * Cenko Tsvetanov (1904 – 1960), writer and bibliographer * Chavdar Chakarov (1977 – 2005), writer * Violeta Minkova (1932 – 1992), actress * Vladimir Shkodrov (1930 – 2010), astronomer * Georgi Ivanov, revolutionary * Georgi Chaushov (1938 –), painter and animator * Dimitar Marinov (1846 – 1940), public figure * Ekaterina Blagoeva (1933 –) geographer and landscape scientist * Emil Andreev (1956 –), writer * Emil Minkov (1930 – 2003), musician * Igor Damjanov (1953 –), politician * Iskra Fidosova (1971 –), politician * Jordan Gavrilov (1904 – 1997), professor * Jana Jazova (1912 – 1974), writer * Kiril Drangov (1901 – 1946), revolutionary * Marion Koleva (1956 –), journalist * Mariyan Ognyanov (1988 –), footballer * Milko Bechev (1926 – 1988), architect * Milcho Goranov (1928 – 2008), footballer, bronze medalist * Mihail Kantardzhiev (1910 – 2002), chess player * Mihail Lazarov, revolutionary * Nikola Logofetov (1880 – 1945), politician and lawyer * Nikola Parvanov (1837 – 1872), bookman * Obreten Evstatiev (1891 – 1946), conductor * Petar Berkovski (1852 – 1892), revolutionary * Parvan Draganov (1890 – 1945), officer and politician * Simeon Pironkov (1927 – 2000), compositor * Todor Borov (1901 – 1933), bibliographer * Todor Jonchov (1859 – 1940), teacher and public figure * Todor Petrov (1919 – 1992), painter * Todor Pironkov (1891 – 1962), artist Louis-Emil Eyer Balkan war

* Ralcho Trashliev (1930 – 2014), psychiatrist, pedagogy professor

Died in Lom

* Krastjo Pishurka (1823 – 1875), national awakener * Miron Iliev (? – 1914), icon painter

Others, connected with Lom

* Louis-Emil Eyer (1865 – 1916), Swiss, co-founder of the sport movement in Bulgaria, physical education teacher * Jonas Basanavičius (1851 – 1927), Lithuanian popular figure * Dimitar Spisarevski (1916 – 1943), fighter pilot in the Second World War

Honour

Lom Peak on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetland Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands north of the ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

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

is named after Lom.

Municipality

The municipality of Lom consists of the following 9 villages plus the town of Lom itself, which is the administrative centre of the municipality.

Twin towns – sister cities

Lom is twinned with: * Băilești, Romania * Debar, North Macedonia * Pantelej (Niš), Serbia * Moudania, Greece

References

External links

The Official Site of Lom
{{Authority control Towns in Bulgaria Populated places on the Danube Populated places in Montana Province Port cities and towns in Bulgaria Roman auxiliary forts in Bulgaria