| Shumen Шумен |
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| A view of Shumen from above | |||
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Shumen
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Bulgaria | ||
| Province (Oblast) |
Shumen | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Krasimir Kostov (BSP) | ||
| Elevation | 184 m (604 ft) | ||
| Population (Census February 2011)[1] | |||
| • City | 82,557 | ||
| • Urban | 95,070 | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
| Postal Code | 9700 | ||
| Area code(s) | 054 | ||
| License plate | H | ||
Shumen (Bulgarian: Шумен, also spelled Shoumen or Šumen) is the tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and capital of Shumen Province. In the period 1950–1965 it was called Kolarovgrad, after the name of the communist leader Vasil Kolarov. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 80,885 inhabitants.[1]
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The city lies 80 km west of Varna and is built within a cluster of hills, northern outliers of the eastern Balkans, which curve round it on the west and north in the shape of a horse-shoe. A rugged ravine intersects the ground longitudinally within the horse-shoe ridge. From Shumen roads radiate northwards to the Danubian cities of Rousse and Silistra and to Dobruja, southwards to the passes of the Balkans, and eastwards to Varna and Balchik.
| Climate data for Shumen | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 3 (38) |
4 (40) |
9 (49) |
16 (60) |
21 (69) |
24 (76) |
27 (80) |
26 (79) |
23 (74) |
17 (62) |
9 (49) |
6 (42) |
15.5 (59.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −3 (26) |
−2 (28) |
1 (34) |
6 (42) |
11 (51) |
14 (57) |
16 (60) |
15 (59) |
12 (54) |
7 (45) |
2 (36) |
−1 (31) |
6.4 (43.6) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 36 (1.4) |
41 (1.6) |
38 (1.5) |
53 (2.1) |
64 (2.5) |
79 (3.1) |
48 (1.9) |
41 (1.6) |
33 (1.3) |
41 (1.6) |
53 (2.1) |
51 (2) |
577 (22.7) |
| Source: Weatherbase [2] | |||||||||||||
According to Census 2011, Shumen has a population of 82,557 inhabitants as of February 2011.[1] The number of the residents of the city reached its peak in the period 1990-1991 when exceeded 110,000.[3] The following table presents the change of the population after the liberation of the country in 1878.
| Shumen | |||||||||||||
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| Year | 1887 | 1910 | 1934 | 1946 | 1956 | 1965 | 1975 | 1985 | 1992 | 2001 | 2005 | 2009 | 2011 |
| Population | 23,161 | 22,225 | 25,486 | 31,327 | 41,546 | 59,513 | 83,718 | 100,125 | 93,292 | 89,214 | 86,381 | 86,824 | 80,855 |
| Highest number 112,091 in 1991 | |||||||||||||
| Sources: National Statistical Institute,[1][3][4] „citypopulation.de“,[5] „pop-stat.mashke.org“,[6] Bulgarian Academy of Sciences[7] | |||||||||||||
In 811 Shumen in the First Bulgarian Empire was burned by the emperor Nicephorus and he was brutally killed by Krum of Bulgaria then, long time passed to 1087 when the city was besieged by Alexius I. During the golden age of Bulgarian culture under Simeon the Great (866-927), Shumen was a centre of cultural and religious activity, and may have born the name Simeonis. Until the 15th century, the city was located around the Shumen Fortress, a sophisticated complex of defensive installations, religious and civil buildings.
In 1388 the sultan Murad I forced it to surrender to the Ottoman Turks. After Władysław Warneńczyk's unsuccessful crusade in 1444, the city was destroyed by the Ottomans and moved to its present location. It was known by the Ottomans as Şumnu. In the 18th century it was enlarged and fortified. Three times, in 1774, 1810 and 1828, it was unsuccessfully attacked by Russian armies. The Turks consequently gave it the name of Gazi ("Victorious"). In 1854 it was the headquarters of Omar Pasha and the point at which the Turkish army concentrated (See Crimean War).
During the 19th century Shumen was an important centre of the Bulgarian National Revival, with the first celebration of Cyril and Methodius in the Bulgarian lands taking place on 11 May 1813 and the first theatre performance. A girls' religious school was established in 1828, a class school for girls and a chitalishte (community centre) followed in 1856. The first Bulgarian symphony orchestra was founded in the city in 1850. In the same year, influential Hungarian politician and revolutionary leader Lajos Kossuth spent a part of his exile in the then-Ottoman town of Shumen. The house he lived in is still preserved as a museum.
On the 22nd June 1878 Shumen finally capitulated to the Russians and became part of the newly-independent Principality of Bulgaria. In 1882 the Shumen Brewery, one of the first breweries in Bulgaria, was founded.
Shumen has 11 elementary and 5 common schools, as well as 2 high schools. The University of Shumen Episkop Konstantin Preslavski and the Artillery and Air Defense Faculty to the Vasil Levski National Military University are the only higher education establishments in the city. The former operates a small astronomical observatory.
PFC Panayot Volov is the local football club, and uses a stadium of the same name as its home ground. Basketball, volleyball and handball are also represented, and most of the games are held at the Mladost sports centre.
Other sporting activities include martial arts (mostly karate) and horse racing. Shumen has its own rallying tournament, the Stari Stolitsi.
Shumen boasts the Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, regarded as the only monument in the world to depict the history of a whole country from its creation to the present day.
The Shumen Fortress, partially restored after being destroyed by the Ottomans in the past, is an important historical monument of the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It is located not far from the city on the Shumen Plateau.
The Madara Horseman, a World Heritage Site and an only such example of medievel rock art in Europe, is an ancient (710 AD) monument usually attributed to the Bulgar culture, and lies some 20 km from Shumen.
The religious buildings in the city include the Eastern Orthodox Holy Three Saints Cathedral and Holy Ascension Basilica, as well as the Sherif Halil Pasha mosque (also known as the Tombul Mosque), the largest mosque in Bulgaria and one of the largest in the Balkans, serving Shumen and the region's Muslim minority.
Shumen Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Shumen.
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