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| Siege of Tarnovgrad | |||||||||
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| Part of theBulgarian–Ottoman wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Bulgarian Empire |  Ottoman Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Euthymios | Bayezid ISüleyman Çelebiİsa ÇelebiMustafa ÇelebiMehmed ÇelebiMusa Çelebi | ||||||||
Thesiege ofTarnovgrad occurred in the spring of 1393 and resulted in a decisiveOttoman victory. With the fall of its capital, theBulgarian Empire was reduced to a few fortresses along theDanube.
In the spring of 1393,Bayazid I gathered his troops fromAsia Minor, crossed theDardanelles, and joined his western army, which likely included someChristian rulers fromMacedonia. He entrusted the main command to his sonCelebi, and ordered him to depart for Tarnovo. Suddenly, the town was besieged from all sides. The Turks threatened the citizens with fire and death if they did not surrender.
The great siege lasted for about three months, following an attack from the direction ofTsarevets, on July 17, 1393, the fortress fell to the Ottomans. The Patriarch's church "Ascension of Christ" was turned into a mosque, the rest of the churches were also turned into mosques, baths, or stables. All palaces and churches ofTrapezitsa were burned down and destroyed. The same fate was expected for the tzar palaces of Tsarevets; however, parts of their walls and towers were left standing until the 17th century.
In the absence ofTsarIvan Shishman, who was with the remnants of his troops in the fortress ofNikopol, the main Bulgarian leader in the town wasPatriarch Evtimiy. He went to the Turkish camp with the intention of assuaging the Turkish commander, who listened politely to his pleas, but afterwards fulfilled very little of his promises. After a fierce battle, the town was captured by the Turks under Celebi.
Celebi left the town after appointing a local commander. The new governor gathered all eminent citizens and boyars under a pretense and had them all killed. According to legend, Evtimiy was sentenced to death but saved at the last minute by a miracle. After leaving behind a Turkish commander to govern the town, Celebi left and joined up his army with the main army led by his fatherBayazid I and they went on to capture the fortress ofNikopol. This rapid success by the Turks led a great deal of panic throughout the rest ofEurope and the Pope called for aCrusade. This Crusade would be fought at Nikopol three years later in theBattle of Nicopolis.
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