Targovishte Търговище | |
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City | |
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  Targovishte Location of Targovishte | |
| Coordinates:43°15′N26°35′E / 43.250°N 26.583°E /43.250; 26.583 | |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Province(Oblast) | Targovishte |
| Municipality | Targovishte |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Darin Dimitrov (GERB) |
| Area | |
• City | 87.427 km2 (33.756 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 170 m (560 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• City | 34,793 |
| • Density | 400/km2 (1,000/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 53,041 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal Code | 7700 |
| Area code | 0601 |
| License Plate | T |
| Website | Official website |
Targovishte (Bulgarian:Търговище,alsotransliteratedTǎrgovište,pronounced[tɐrˈɡɔviʃtɛ],Turkish:Eski Cuma) is acity inBulgaria, the administrative and economic capital ofTargovishte Province.
It is situated at the northern foot of the low mountain ofPreslav on both banks of theVrana River. The town is 335 kilometres (208 miles) north-east of the capitalSofia and about 125 km (78 mi) west of the city ofVarna and theBulgarian Black Sea Coast. Targovishte is known as an old market settlement.
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 BulgarianSborishte "gathering place"). The name is etymologically and semantically the same as that of the cityTârgoviște in Romania andTrgovište in Serbia.
Archaeological studies prove that in these places there were people in theCopper-Stone Age (Chalcolithic) – between the 5th and the 4th millennium BC. In the city's vicinity are the remains ofThracian settlements (5th–3rd century BC), aRoman settlement (2nd–4th century AD), and a fortress from the earlyByzantine period (5th–6th century). A Bulgarian settlement was founded in the 10th century during theFirst Bulgarian Empire, however due to its proximity to the capitalPreslav, it did not develop until the 12th century. In the 12th century, due to its location on a main road from the new capitalVeliko 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 calledEski Cuma ("old bazaar" in Turkish).[2][3][4][5][6] A monastical school was opened in the 18th century and a secular one, called theSlaveykov School and situated in the oldVarosha Quarter was established in 1846, withPetko Slaveykov being a teacher there; achitalishte was also built. Industrial development began after theSecond 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.[7]
The town is a cultural centre. In 2000, ruins of anAncient Roman town calledMissionis (Мисионис) were unearthed near Targovishte. The town art gallery named after the eminentBulgarian artistNikola Marinov, who was born here, has a considerable collection of his works.
The local football team is calledPFC Svetkavitsa ("lightning") and plays in theB PFG. The city is also noted for itsshooting sports traditions. There is also a drama theatre and a puppet theatre.
In January 2012, Targovishte was inhabited by 37,341 people within the city limits, while theTargovishte Municipality with the legally affiliated adjacent villages had 56,868 inhabitants.[8] The number of the residents of the city (not the municipality) reached its peak in the period 1980-1990 when exceeded 45,000 with a highest rate in 1989 numbering 47,798.[9] The following table presents the change of the population after 1887.
| Targovishte | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1887 | 1910 | 1934 | 1946 | 1956 | 1965 | 1975 | 1985 | 1992 | 2001 | 2005 | 2009 | 2011 | 2021 | |
| Population | 8,519 | 9,388 | 10,343 | 10,561 | 14,193 | 25,588 | 38,875 | 46,043 | 42,988 | 40,659 | 38,390 | 37,375 | 37,611 | 34,793 | |
| Highest number47,798 in1989 | |||||||||||||||
| Sources: National Statistical Institute,[9][10][1] citypopulation.de,[11] pop-stat.mashke.org,[12] Bulgarian Academy of Sciences[13] | |||||||||||||||
According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:[14][15]
Total: 37,611
The ethnic composition ofTargovishte Municipality is 33,229 Bulgarians, 14,883 Turks and 3,902 Roma among others.
Targovishte is theadministrative centre for theTargovishte Municipality, one of five municipalities of theTargovishte Province. In addition to Targovishte, which has the status oftown (in Bulgarian: град, transliterated asgrad), the municipality contains 51 other localities with the status ofvillage (in Bulgarian: село, transliterated asselo).
The following list shows the names of localities transliterated inLatin alphabet,[16][17] followed in parentheses by the name in the BulgarianCyrillic alphabet (which links to the corresponding Bulgarian Wikipedia article).
Targovishte Glacier onGreenwich Island in theSouth Shetland Islands,Antarctica is named after Targovishte.
Targovishte istwinned with:[21]
Bolhrad, Ukraine
Cottbus, Germany
Kozani, Greece
Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal
Smolensk, Russia
Suresnes, France
Târgovişte, Romania
Waterloo, United States
Utrecht,The Netherlands
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