Pleven ( ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest economic center in Northwestern Bulgaria. At the 2021 census its population was 89,823.
Internationally known for the siege of Plevna of 1877, today it is a major economic centre of the Bulgarian Northwest and Central North and the third largest city of Northern Bulgaria after Varna and Ruse.
Name The name comes from the Slavic word plevnya ("barn") or from plevel, meaning "weed", sharing the same root, and the Slavic suffix -en.
Geography
Pleven is in an agricultural region in the middle of the Danubian Plain, the historical region of Moesia, surrounded by low limestone hills, the Pleven Heights. The city's central location in Northern Bulgaria defines its importance as a big administrative, economic, political, cultural and transport centre. Pleven is from the capital city of Sofia, west of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and south of the Danube.
The river Vit flows near the city and the tiny Tuchenitsa river (commonly known in Pleven as Barata, literally "The Streamlet") crosses it.
Neighborhoods & Districts Pleven, like all cities in Bulgaria, is divided into a number of neighbourhoods and residential complex's. Residential areas are often denoted with zhk. (жк.) that stands for residential complex (Bulgarian: Жилищен Комплекс). The two main and larger residential complex's in Pleven are Storgozia (Bulgarian: жк. Сторгозия) and Druzhba (Bulgarian: жк. Дружба) which are among the cities largest residential areas. These two residential areas are mostly composed of brutalist-style apartment blocks built during Bulgaria's communist era.
The centre of Pleven features large squares, restaurants, stores, cafés and banks. It serves as a major commercial and social area of the city. A big part of the centre is the water cascades and fountains, the Regional Historical Museum, the Pleven Municipality Hall, the Svetlin Rusev Donative Exhibition, St George the Conqueror Chapel, the Ivan Radoev Dramatic Theatre and the City Garden.
Pleven is home to a wide variety of nature and greenery. The largest park in Pleven is the Kaylaka Park (Bulgarian: Кайлъка) covering approximately 10 km². It is a protected area which is home to reservoirs and the Tuchenitsa River which flows through parts of the city. The park features some hotels, restaurants and children's play areas as well as a tennis court, the Pleven Zoo and the Summer Theatre (Bulgarian: Летен Театър) which hosts a variety of music performances. The Kaylaka Park contains the ruins of the Roman fortress, Storgosia. Other parks in Pleven include Skobelev Park (Bulgarian: Скобелев Парк) where the Pleven Panorama is located, the City Garden and 10-ti-dekemvri Park.
The north of Pleven houses large industrial zones with a diverse range of companies and factories. The industrial zones feature, but are not limited to, automotive components and repair services, textile manufacturing, engineering and metalwork, wholesale and trade facilities, general manufacturing and rail freight and industrial rail sidings
Pleven is also home to a large amount of villa zones (Bulgarian: Вилна зона) and other peripheral localities. Villa zones are generally a low density area typically in the outskirts or less densely populated area of a city.
Climate Pleven has a humid continental climate (Köppen Climate Classification Dfa). Winters are cold with snow: temperatures can fall below overnight. Springs are mild, with temperatures around . Summers are warm, and temperatures have exceeded on occasion. The average annual temperature is around .
History
Prehistory and antiquity The earliest traces of human settlement in the area date from the 5th millennium BC, the Neolithic.
Numerous archaeological findings, among them the Nikolaevo treasure found in Bulgaria, evidence the rich culture of the Thracians, who inhabited the area for thousands of years.
In the beginning of the new era, the region became part of the Roman province of Moesia, and a road station called Storgosia arose near present-day Pleven on the road from Oescus (near modern Gigen) to Philippopolis (now Plovdiv). It later evolved into a fortress. One of the most valued archaeological monuments in Bulgaria from the period is the Early Christian basilica from the fourth century discovered near the modern city.
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, Pleven was a well-developed stronghold of the First and the Second Bulgarian Empire. When Slavs populated the region, they gave the settlement its contemporary name Pleven, it was first mentioned in a charter by Hungarian king Stephen V in 1270 in connection to a military campaign in the Bulgarian lands.
Ottoman rule During the Ottoman rule, Pleven, known as Plevne in Ottoman Turkish, preserved its Bulgarian appearance and culture. Many churches, schools and bridges were built at the time of the Bulgarian National Revival. In 1825, the first secular school in the town was opened, followed by the first girls' school in Bulgaria in 1840, as well as the first boys' school a year later. Pleven was the place where the Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski established the first revolutionary committee in 1869, part of his national revolutionary network.
Siege of Plevna
The city (then mostly known as Plevna outside Bulgaria) was a major battle scene during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 that Russian Tsar Alexander II held for the purpose of the liberation of Bulgaria. The joint Russian and Romanian army paid dearly for the victory, but it paved the path for the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in this war, the restoration of Bulgaria as a state and the independence of Romania from the Ottoman Empire. It cost the Russians and Romanians 5 months and 38,000 casualties to take the town after four assaults, in what was one of the decisive battles of the war. The siege is remembered as a landmark victory of the Romanian War of Independence, as on 28 November 1877 the Plevna citadel capitulated, and Osman Pasha surrendered the city, the garrison and his sword to the Romanian Colonel Mihail Cerchez.
In the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition of 1911 J.H.V. Crowe concluded his lengthy entry on Pleven (transcribed as Plevna) with the memorable dictum:
On the other hand, the siege of Plevna stands out among other countless sieges and military actions in the region because of its significance."The Balkan Wars", Andre Gerolymatos, 2002, Basic Books, p.204
Modern history The events of the Russo-Turkish War proved crucial for the development of Pleven as a key town of central northern Bulgaria. The town experienced significant demographic and economic growth in the following years, gradually establishing itself as a cultural centre of the region.
The Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, a leading interwar party representing the Bulgarian peasantry, was founded in the town in December 1899.
Prior to the Bulgarian orthographic reform of 1945, the name of the town was spelled Плѣвенъ (with yat) in Cyrillic.
Population
According to census 2021, Pleven has a population of 89,823 inhabitants as of December 2021. The ethnic breakdown is 97% Bulgarians among others. The number of the residents of the city reached its peak in the period 1988-1991 when exceeded 135,000.National Statistical Institute - Towns population 1956-1992
Ethnic, linguistic and religious composition
According to the 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute Bulgarians: 95,386 (96.5%) Turks: 1,510 (1.5%) Gypsies: 1,017 (1.0%) Others: 489 (0.5%) Indefinable: 422 (0.4%) Undeclared: 8,130 (7.6%) Total: 106,954
In Pleven Municipality 112,414 declared as Bulgarians, 4626 as Gypsies, 3204 as Turks and 10,384 did not declare their ethnic group. Most Roma people in Pleven Municipality live in the village of Bukovlak (:bg:Буковлък).
An overwhelming majority of 90% of Pleven's residents are Eastern Orthodox Christian. The Diocese of Nikopol, of which Pleven is part, is one of the two Roman Catholic dioceses in Bulgaria, and another 5% of the residents are Roman Catholic by faith, a significant number compared to other Bulgarian cities.
Pleven has three Eastern Orthodox churches, the Bulgarian National Revival St Nicholas Church (1834) that was constructed at the place of a chapel from the Second Bulgarian Empire, the St Paraskeva Church (1934) and the Holy Trinity Church, built in 1870 at the place of a church mentioned as early as 1523 and inaugurated by Exarch Antim I. , a new Eastern Orthodox church is being built in the Strogoziya quarter.
The construction of a large Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of Fatima began in 2001. A mosque also exists in the town to serve the needs of the Muslim population, as well as a Methodist church that is situated on the site of the former local puppet theatre.
Economy
A major centre of oil processing, metalworking, machinery construction, of light and food industries in Socialist times. However, the late 1990s and early 2000s saw a revival of light industry and the development of branches such as knitwear and store clothes production. Tourism, which had attracted many people from the Soviet Union prior to 1989, and had experienced a slump in the following years, is on the rise again.
In 2015, the unemployment rate in Pleven district was 9.2%.
The most important economic sectors in Pleven are chemical, textiles and foodstuffs industries, the manufacturing of cement and glass, machine building, tailoring, agriculture, retail and services. The city has seen a number of major foreign investments in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Particularly noticeable is the mass construction of hypermarkets, with two Billa, two Kaufland, two Carrefour, DM, Plus, ELEMAG, METRO, two LIDL stores, a Praktiker, HomeMax and a number of other hypermarkets being opened . The Pleven City Center and Central Mall Pleven were opened in 2008. A new mall called ''Panorama mall'' was opened in 2014.
Transport The international railway Sofia — Bucharest — Moscow runs through Pleven. The international road E 83 passes just north of the city. The national A2 Hemus highway Sofia — Varna is projected to pass south of Pleven.
Over 90% of the inner city transportation in Pleven is maintained by trolleybuses. There are 14 trolleybus lines, and trolleybus network. The trolleybus fleet consist of ZIU-682 (1985–1988) and Skoda 26-TR Solaris trolleybuses, produced in 2014. A project for trolleybus routes extension is underway. When the extension is completed Pleven will become 100% covered by trolleybus transport.
Transmitter Near Pleven, there is a large facility for medium wave and short wave broadcasting. Pleven medium wave transmitter, working on 594 kHz, uses as antenna two tall guyed mast radiators insulated against ground. These masts belong to the tallest structures of Bulgaria.
Main sights Most of the sights of the town are related to the Russo-Turkish War. The monuments related to the war alone are about 200. Some of the more popular include the St George the Conqueror Chapel Mausoleum in honour of the many Russian and Romanian soldiers who lost their lives during the siege of Plevna and the ossuary in Skobelev Park. Another popular attraction is Pleven Panorama, created after (and reputedly larger than) the Borodino Panorama in Russia on the occasion of the anniversary of the siege of Plevna.
Culture