Provadia Провадия | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view of Provadia | |
  Provadia Location of Provadia | |
| Coordinates:43°11′N27°26′E / 43.183°N 27.433°E /43.183; 27.433 | |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Province (Oblast) | Varna |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Dimo Dimov |
| Elevation | 56 m (184 ft) |
| Population (2021-12-02)[1] | |
• Total | 9,113 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal Code | 9200 |
| Area code | 0518 |
| License plate | B |
Provadia (Bulgarian:Провадия[proˈvadijɐ]) is a town in northeasternBulgaria, part ofVarna Province, located in a deepkarst gorge (Provadiasyncline) along theProvadiya River not far from theBulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is the administrative centre of Provadia Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 12,901.[1]
Provadia served as a customs point since ancient times. It is well known forsaltymineral waters, its mildclimate and a total of 70 km ofcaves in the surrounding mountain walls. It can be reached bytrain fromSofia orVarna and there are also hourly buses from and to Varna, and a sophisticated road system.
Provadia is the site ofSolnitsata, Europe's oldest prehistoric town. Excavations on city walls that started in 2005 reveal a town that dates back to between 4,700 BC and 4,200 BC.[2] It is believed to have been the site of salt trading.[2]
Historical names of the medieval fortress, the ruins of which have been preserved until today, includeProvat (Byzantine Greek),Ovech (Овеч, Bulgarian),Provanto (Italian) andPravadı (Turkish language). The Greek name and its adaptations stem from the word πρόβατο,provato, "sheep", and the medieval Bulgarian name corresponds directly (being derived from овца,ovtsa, with the same meaning). The fortress is open for visitors.
During the Middle Ages the town was a key centre of theFirst Bulgarian Empire with an important monastery at the modern village of Ravna, the church of which was consecrated on 23 April 897, and a majorscriptorium of thePreslav Literary School. The rebel leader and subsequently emperor of BulgariaIvailo defeated a 10,000-strong Byzantine army near the city in 1279. During theSecond Bulgarian Empire it was the seat of a metropolitan in the 14th century. Ovech was captured by the Ottomans in 1388 after a long siege.
In the 17th and 18th century Provadia was a commercial centre of theOttoman Empire and was inhabited by manyJewish andRagusan merchants. A 16th-17th-centuryDubrovnik-style church still stands in the nearby village ofDobrina.
South of Provadia lies the largest rocksalt mine in Bulgaria, which is believed to be virtually inexhaustible with asalt dome up to 3900 m high, and has been sporadically exploited for some 7500 years but industrially, through leaching, only since the 1960s; now it is part ofSolvay Sodi AD inDevnya under the name Provadsol AD. Some of the leaching caverns are used for the storage of natural gas. Provadia is an important hub on both theDruzhba Gas Pipeline and as of 2015 abandonedSouth Stream. Other industrial facilities include a modernbiodiesel installation, a sunflower oil mill, a heavy earth-mover repair plant, shipbuilding machinery and textile factories. The town has a certain potential as a spa centre; its saline mineral water is allegedly similar in composition to the one atKarlovy Vary.
Places of interest include the Lambova Kashta ethnographical complex and ethnographical collections in Dobrina and Manastir villages, as well ascave monasteries and the ruins of the 9-10th-centuryRavna Monastery, one of the most important centres of the Preslav Literary School, dubbed "language laboratory" byUmberto Eco for its graffiti by common folks in several languages and alphabets.[citation needed]
Provadiya Hook inGreenwich Island,South Shetland Islands,Antarctica is named for Provadia.
The current mayor of the town is Dimo Dimov, elected in .
Provadia is the seat of Provadia municipality (part of Varna Province), which also includes the following 24 villages:
43°11′N27°26′E / 43.183°N 27.433°E /43.183; 27.433
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