Targovishte, Bulgaria

🇧🇬 Targovishte is a city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the low mountain of Preslav on both banks of the Vrana River. The town is 335 km north-east of the capital Sofia and about 125 km west of the city of Varna and the Bulgarian Black Sea 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 in Romania and Trgovište in Serbia.

City Archaeological studies prove that in these places there were people in the Copper-Stone Age (Chalcolithic) – between the 5th and the 4th millennium BC. In the city's vicinity are the remains of Thracian settlements (5th–3rd century BC), a Roman settlement (2nd–4th century AD) and a fortress from the early Byzantine 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 Preslav, 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, 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 being a teacher there; a chitalishte was also built. Industrial development began after the Second World War. 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 artist Nikola Marinov, who was born here, has a considerable collection of his works.

The local football team is called PFC Svetkavitsa ("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.

Ethnic, linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: • Bulgarians: (79.4%) • Turks: (17.8%) • Roma: (1.8%) • Others: (0.4%) • Indefinable: (0.7%) ◦ Undeclared: (4.2%).

The ethnic composition of Targovishte Municipality is 33,229 Bulgarians, 14,883 Turks and 3,902 Roma among others.

Municipality Targovishte is the administrative centre for the Targovishte Municipality, one of five municipalities of the Targovishte Province. In addition to Targovishte, which has the status of town (in Bulgarian: град, transliterated as grad), the municipality contains 51 other localities with the status of village (in Bulgarian: село, transliterated as selo).

The following list shows the names of localities transliterated in Latin alphabet, followed in parentheses by the name in the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet (which links to the corresponding Bulgarian Wikipedia article). • Aleksandrovo (Александрово) • Alvanovo (Алваново) • Bayachevo (Баячево) • Bistra (Бистра) • Bojurka (Божурка) • Bratovo (Братово) • Buhovtsi (Буховци) • Buynovo (Буйново) • Cherkovna (Черковна) • Dalgach (Дългач) • Davidovo (Давидово) • Draganovets (Драгановец) • Dralfa (Дралфа) • Golyamo Sokolovo (Голямо Соколово) • Golyamo novo (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 (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 (Руец) • Saedinenie (Съединение) • Strazha (Стража) • Tarnovtsa (Търновца) • Tsvetnitsa (Цветница) • Tvardintsi (Твърдинци) • Vardun (Вардун) • Vasil Levski (Васил Левски) • Zdravets (Здравец).

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.