Gorna Oryahovitsa
Encyclopedia
Gorna Oryahovitsa is a town in northern Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, situated in Veliko Tarnovo Province
Veliko Tarnovo Province
Veliko Tarnovo is a province in the middle of the northern part of Bulgaria. Its capital city, Veliko Tarnovo, is of historical significance as it is known as the capital of Medieval Bulgaria...

, not far from the city of Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists...

. It is the administrative centre
Administrative centre
An administrative centre is a term often used in several countries to refer to a county town, or other seat of regional or local government, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located....

 of the homonymous Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality
Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality
Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality is a municipality in Veliko Tarnovo Province, Central-North Bulgaria. It covers an area of 318 km² with a total population of 48,695 people...

. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 32,436 inhabitants.

The nearby village of Arbanasi is an architectural reserve with a large number of historical monuments, such as medieval churches and examples of the Bulgarian National Revival
Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...

 architecture.

Early history

The first settlement in the area dates back to the second half of the 5th millennium BC (Middle Neolithic Age). There are traces of a later Thracian
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...

 settlement between the Kamaka (The Stone) Hill and the Arbanasi Plateau. Its inhabitants were from the tribe of Krobizi. They erected the Kamaka Fortress that existed from the 5th century BC to the 1st century BC, when the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 built up their own fortified settlement over its ruins. It gradually acquired economic power mainly through cultivating grapes and producing wine. The life of that settlement continued up to the coming of the Slavs (6th-7th century). There is no substantial evidence of settled life between the 7th and the 12th century.

Middle Ages

After the restoration of the Bulgarian State at the end of the 12th century, a need arose for protection of the new metropolis Tarnovgrad. Several fortresses were built, including Rahovets (4 km northwest of the modern town). The main purpose of the strongholds was to protect the roads leading to the Bulgarian capital Tarnovgrad. The name Rahovets means 'road fortress' (from Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

 rah, meaning 'road'). The medieval fortress gave its name to the modern town, even though with some Slavic twist.

During the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 invasion the fortress was conquered by the Ottomans after its water pipeline was cut off (without destroying the fortress). Rahovets existed up to the year 1444 when King Władysław Warneńczyk during his campaign against the Ottomans destroyed it. Three individual small villages existed during the first centuries of Ottoman rule there — Mala (Little), Sredna (Middle) and Golyama (Greater) Rahovitsa.

Development and growth

During the Bulgarian National Revival
Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...

 Gorna Oryahovitsa gradually turned into an economically strong settlement. Crafts prospered and trade was among the most active in Northern Bulgaria. Every Friday there was a big market for cattle, agricultural production, timber, and charcoal. As early as 1822 a monastery school was opened here and in 1827 a private school that became public in 1835 began functioning. In 1850 the first girls' school opened gates and in 1859 the first intermediate high school was founded. A chitalishte (library and community centre) was opened in 1869. Gorna Oryahovitsa was proclaimed a town in 1870, when it numbered 4,700 inhabitants and had 1,200 houses and 5 churches.

Revolutionary struggles

The population of the town took part in the struggle for national liberation. Vasil Levski
Vasil Levski
Vasil Levski, born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev, , is a Bulgarian revolutionary and a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed the Apostle of Freedom, Levski ideologised and strategised a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule...

 organised a revolutionary committee in Gorna Oryahovitsa during the first half of 1869 and later visited the town two more times. During the preparation of the April Uprising
April Uprising
The April Uprising was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876, which indirectly resulted in the re-establishment of Bulgaria as an autonomous nation in 1878...

 Gorna Oryahovitsa was designated as a centre of the First Revolutionary District with Stefan Stambolov
Stefan Stambolov
Stefan Nikolov Stambolov was a Bulgarian politician, who served as Prime Minister and regent. He is considered one of the most important and popular "Founders of Modern Bulgaria", and is sometimes referred to as "the Bulgarian Bismarck".- Early years :Stambolov was born in Veliko Tarnovo...

 as Chief Apostle. After the failure of the April Uprising, Georgi Izmirliev
Georgi Izmirliev
Georgi Dimitrov Izmirliev , nicknamed Makedoncheto , was a Bulgarian revolutionary and public figure. A participant in the anti-Ottoman April Uprising of 1876, he was an assistant to Stefan Stambolov and a military commander of the Tarnovo revolutionary district.Izmirliev was born in the city of...

 "Makedoncheto" (the Macedonian), one of the local leaders, was hanged in the centre of Gorna Oryahovitsa. His last words were: "How good it is to die for the freedom of the Fatherland!". Three citizens of Gorna Oryahovitsa fought in Hristo Botev
Hristo Botev
Hristo Botev , born Hristo Botyov Petkov , was a Bulgarian poet and national revolutionary. Botev is widely considered by Bulgarians to be a symbolic historical figure and national hero.-Early years:...

's detachment of armed volunteers and 132 people joined the Bulgarian volunteer forces during the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation. The Imperial Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

 liberated Gorna Oryahovitsa from Ottoman rule on 26 June 1877.

Liberated Bulgaria

After the Liberation the town developed as a significant transport (predominantly railway) centre as it is nowadays. Its proximity with the old metropolitan town of Veliko Tarnovo, tourist centre Arbanasi, the monasteries around and a great number of other sites of interest makes it a known tourist destination.

Population

Economy

Gorna Oryahovitsa is an important producer of sugar and sugar products in Bulgaria. Apart from the major sugar factory Sugar Plants Ltd. the town also has numerous smaller firms producing sweets and pastries.

Town partnerships

Gorna Oryahovitsa maintains partnership links with the following places: Szigetszentmiklós
Szigetszentmiklós
Szigetszentmiklósis a city in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 26,662 inhabitants.- Name :* Sziget – island: Szigetszentmiklós is a town in the Csepel Island* Szent Miklós – Saint Nicholas, who is the patron saint of Szigetszentmiklós...

, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 Cherepovets
Cherepovets
Cherepovets is the largest city in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the bank of the Rybinsk Reservoir of the Sheksna River, a tributary of the Volga River. Population: 311,869 ; It is served by Cherepovets Airport.-Location:...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 Waren (Müritz), Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...


Culture

During the last 15 years Gorna Oryahovitsa has been developing an intensive festive activity. Some of the major yearly events are:
  • Festival of Bulgarian Culture and the Cyrillic Alphabet
    Cyrillic alphabet
    The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...

     — 24 and 25 May
  • Festival of Gorna Oryahovitsa — 28 May
  • Golden Lion International Arm Wrestling
    Arm wrestling
    Arm wrestling is a sport with two participants. Each participant places one arm on a surface with their elbows bent and touching the surface, and they grip each other's hand...

     Tournament — 28 May
  • International Festival of Tourist Songs — 3-5 June
  • International Folklore Festival (children) — 12-18 June
  • International Folklore Festival (adults) — 1-6 August
  • Petropavlovski (St. Peter and Paul) National Folklore Festival

Sport

The town has a well-developed sport centre as the major sports practiced are:
  • Football
    Football (soccer)
    Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

  • Basketball
    Basketball
    Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

  • Arm Wrestling
    Arm Wrestling
    Arm Wrestling is a 1985 arcade game developed and released only in North America by Nintendo and a spin-off of the Punch-Out!! series. Since it was created by the same development team that made the Punch-Out!! series, Arm Wrestling features many of the same features such as a dual-monitor system...

  • Gymnastics
    Gymnastics
    Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

  • Athletics
    Athletics (track and field)
    Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

  • Wrestling
    Wrestling
    Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

  • Sambo (martial art)
    Sambo (martial art)
    Sambo is a Russian martial art and combat sport. The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMooborona Bez Oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defense without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand to hand...


Transport

Gorna Oryahovitsa is a major railway junction in northern Bulgaria. In the town is one of the six international airports in Bulgaria - Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport
Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport
Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport is in Central Northern Bulgaria; its location is approximately an equal distance from several administrative centers in Bulgaria: Sofia, Varna, Rousse, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Pleven, and Bourgas....

, with flight to or from Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

 taking about 30 minutes.

Distances from Gorna Oryahovitsa:
  • to Sofia
    Sofia
    Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

     — 230 km,
  • to Varna
    Varna
    Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...

     — 220 km,
  • to Rousse
    Rousse
    Ruse is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is situated in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, from the capital Sofia and from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast...

     — 100 km
  • to Veliko Tarnovo
    Veliko Tarnovo
    Veliko Tarnovo is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists...

     (through Arbanasi) — 7 km.

Notable citizens

  • Atanas Burov
    Atanas Burov
    Atanas Dimitrov Burov was a Bulgarian banker and politician.- Family background :Burov was born in Gorna Oryahovitsa. Members of his family played an active role in the national liberation movement, the educational and cultural reforms, the setting up of the national financial system and industry...

     — banker and politician
  • Nikola Petroff
    Nikola Petroff
    Nikola Petrov , better known as Nikola Petroff, was a Bulgarian wrestler.He was born in the town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria. On 20 July 1898, in New York, he earned the title "Champion of America". In the next year in Vienna, he became the European Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling...

     — wrestler
  • Tsvetan Gashevski
    Tsvetan Gashevski
    Tsvetan Gashevski is a Bulgarian arm wrestler. He lives and works in Gorna Oryahovitsa and he is one of the founders of the Gorna Oryahovitsa Arm Wrestling Club.- Major achievements :...

     — arm wrestler
  • Valentin Dimitrov Minovski — artist and soloist
  • Victor Chuchkov — composer, pianist and pedagogue
  • Valeri Bojinov
    Valeri Bojinov
    Valeri Emilov Bozhinov , commonly known as Valeri Bojinov, is a Bulgarian footballer who currently plays for Sporting CP.-Biography:Born in the Bulgarian town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bozhinov moved to Malta at the age of 12 with his mother Pepa, a former Bulgarian national basketball team player and...

     - Parma F.C.
    Parma F.C.
    Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...

    Striker

External links




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