Varbitsa (town)

Varbitsa
Върбица

Coat of arms
Varbitsa
Location of Varbitsa
Coordinates:
Country Bulgaria
Provinces
(Oblast)
Shumen
Government
 • Mayor Ismail Mehmed
Elevation 430 m (1,411 ft)
Population (December 2009)[1]
 • Total 3,585
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code 9870
Area code(s) 05391

Varbitsa (Bulgarian: Върбица [vərbit͡sə]; "little willow", from varba, "willow"; also transliterated Vǎrbica, Varbitza, Varbica, Vurbica, Vurbitza, Vurbitsa) is a town in eastern Bulgaria, part of Shumen Province. It is the administrative centre of Varbitsa Municipality, which lies in the southwestern part of Shumen Province. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 3,585 inhabitants.[1]

Varbitsa is located in the southeastern Danubian Plain, at the foot of the eastern Balkan Mountains, on both banks of the Gerila river. The area was populated in Antiquity by the Thracians and Romans, while the Slavs and Bulgars arrived in the Early Middle Ages. It is thought that the first ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, Asparuh, settled the Severians in the region of the Varbitsa Pass in order to guard it in the 7th century. The pass was the site of the Battle of Pliska on 26 July 811, during which Krum of Bulgaria's forces routed the Byzantine army, killing and beheading Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I.

Municipality

Varbitsa municipality includes the following 16 places:

  • Bozhurovo
  • Byala Reka
  • Chernookovo
  • Ivanovo
  • Konevo
  • Kraygortsi
  • Kyolmen
  • Lovets
  • Malomir
  • Mengishevo
  • Metodievo
  • Nova Byala Reka
  • Stanyantsi
  • Sushina
  • Tushovitsa
  • Varbitsa

References

External links