Sliven ( ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. It is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of the Balkan Mountains.
Sliven is famous for its heroic haiduti who fought against the Ottoman Turks in the 19th century and is known as the "City of the 100 Voyvodi", a voyvoda being a leader of haiduti.
The famous rocky massif Sinite Kamani (Сините камъни, "The Blue Rocks") and the associated Sinite Kamani Nature Park, the fresh air and the mineral springs at Slivenski Mineralni Bani offer opportunities for leisure and tourism. Investors are exploring the opportunity to use the local wind (Bora) for the production of electricity.
Another point of interest and a major symbol of the city as featured on the coat of arms, is the more than 1,000-year-old Stariyat Briast (Старият Бряст, "The Old Elm"), a huge Smooth-leaved Elm in the center of the city. During Ottoman rule, Turkish officials used it to hang Bulgarian revolutionaries. Today the city is helping the tree to live on by frequent evaluations and reinforcing its base. It was elected Bulgarian tree of the year in 2013. On 19 March 2014 the results of an online poll were revealed at a ceremony in the European Parliament. The Old Elm was voted European Tree of the Year 2014. The city also served as an important strategic centre for the Bulgarian Army, with the headquarters of the Bulgarian Third Army located in the centre of the city, being situated relatively near to the sensitive Turkish border.
Sliven Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Sliven.
Etymology The name comes from the Slavic word sliv ("pour, confluence") + the Slavic suffix or ending -en. In Turkish the name of the city is İslimiye, while in Greek it is Σήλυμνος (Sílymnos).
Geography
Sliven is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of the Balkan Mountains. It is located 300 km east of Bulgaria's capital Sofia, 100 km from Burgas, the country's largest commercial port, 130 km from the border with Turkey and 130 km from the border with Greece. It is located in close proximity to the cities of Yambol and Nova Zagora.
West of the city lies the so-called Peach Valley which contains large peach orchards. The city is also known for the mineral baths at Slivenski Mineralni Bani some 12 km southeast, whose water is used to treat diseases of the liver and nervous system.
The most visited geographical location and attraction in the city is the Karandila (Карандила). It is a hilltop 1050m above sea level, with great sights overlooking the city. The rock formation Halkata (Хaлката, "The Ring") is located on the Karandila. It is a rock protrusion with a peculiar hole in the center. According to myth, one would have their most sincere wish granted upon passing through the ring. Karandila is the site of the annual Karakachani festival, organized by the Federation of the Cultural and Educational Associations of Karakachans (ФКПДК) in Bulgaria each July.Annual Karakachan Festival, Karandila
Karandila is located in Sinite Kamani Nature Park, whose peak Bulgarka (1181 m) is the highest in the eastern Balkan Mountains.
Climate Sliven Municipality is situated on the sub-Balkan plain in the zone of transitional-continental climate. In the region of Sliven, winter is mild and summer is relatively warm. Autumn is longer than spring. The local wind Bora is typical for the region.
Demographics According to the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, as of 2021, the total population of the Sliven Municipality is 115,241 inhabitants while 83,740 inhabitants live in the city of Sliven. The town is called the under-age mother capital of Europe, with 177 such births in 2008.
Ethnic groups Members of the following ethnic groups are represented in the city's population: Bulgarians: 68,853 (87.1%) Roma: 5,666 (7.2%) Turks: 2,637 (3.3%) Greeks (Sarakatsani), Armenians and others: 1,388 (1.8%) Undefinable: 491 (0.6%) Undeclared: 12,585 (13.7%) Total: 91,620
In Sliven Municipality, 88,750 declared as Bulgarians, 12,153 as Roma, 4,209 as Turks, and 18,641 did not declare their ethnic group. The city of Sliven, Sliven Municipality and Sliven Province have the largest number of Roma in Bulgaria.
History
Antiquity
Remains of the oldest settlements on the territory of Sliven date back to around 6000 BCE of the Neolithic. Ruins of a Thracian settlement dating to around 5th–3rd century BCE as well as Thracian ceramics and Hellenistic coins have been discovered in the area of Hisarlaka — a small hill in Sliven. In antiquity it was known as Selymnos (Σήλυμνος in Greek). The area occupied by present-day Sliven has in the past been settled by the Thracian tribes Asti, Kabileti and Seleti. These tribes held their independence until time of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great who conquered them.
The 2nd century BCE marked the beginning of the Roman conquests of northeastern Thracia. Sliven was conquered by Rome around 72–71 BCE when the ThracianFol, Aleksandar. The Thracian Royal city of Kabyle. - In: Settlement Life in Ancient Thrace. IIIrd International Symposium “Cabyle”, 17–21 May 1993 Jambol. Jambol, 53-55. Kabile and later GreekAn Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, Index cities of Kabile and Apolonia are conquered. With the emergence of the Roman Empire the region of the city became part of the Thracian province of the Roman Empire.
A new stage in the city's history began around 2nd-4th century. The first written records of the settlement's name, Tuida/Suida/Tsuida date to this period. This name is most likely of Thracian origin. Its etymology is currently not understood. It is also mentioned by Hierocles, who identifies it as one of the four cities in the province of Haemimontus, established as part of the Diocese of Thrace under Diocletian and also by Procopius of Caesarea. The Roman road from Anchialos (today Pomorie) along the Tundzha to Serdika was built.
In a written record from the 3rd century, the settlement was called ''Tarzhishte" and most likely belonged to the territory of the city of Augusta Traiana (today Stara Zagora).
The fortress avoided the Gothic War, but was destroyed in the Huns' raid in the 5th century. During the reign of Emperor Anastasius I Dicorus, it was rebuilt, which retained the previous one's plan, but was considerably fortified.
In the ancient fortress' interior and near its eastern wall, are excavated the remains of a basilica with a baptistery, which functioned in the 5th-6th centuries. It was likely destroyed by the Huns and rebuilt under Justinian I. A larger church was founded in the south of the fortress, built in the 5th century and enlarged in the 6th century. This indicates that the settlement was not limited to the territory of the fortress, but also expanded in the surrounding area.
The city of Tuida/Tsuida was the seat of a bishop, subordinate to the Metropolitanate of Adrianople. Until that time the bishop seat was in Cabyle. In the 4th century, most likely due to the proximity of the two cities, which were in different provinces, Cabyle was abandoned and its population moved to Diospolis. The seat of the bishop, however, for unknown reasons, was moved to Tuida, which very likely marked the beginning of the proverbial rivalry between Sliven and Yambol.
Tuida ceased to exist around 598-599, when it was again destroyed, most likely by the Avars and Slavs. There is a theory that this happened as part of a major battle between the Avars and the Byzantine general Comentius.
Middle Ages The area of Sliven was incorporated into the First Bulgarian Empire around 705 as part of the Slav-settled Zagore, according to Tervel's treaty with the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II. A settlement was established on the area of Tuida, of which the etymology is unknown. The beginnings of the settlement weren't dated, but were before 870, when a lead seal of Boris I was discovered. The Bulgarians reconstructed the walls of the fortress and also the water supply at the northern gate. New buildings were built, some of which, have lined marble slabs made in Preslav's stonemasonry workshops.
Paleoornithologist Zlatozar Boev discovered bone remains of 14 species of wild and domestic birds in Hissarlaka from the 10th-12th centuries. The findings of Hawk eagle (Aquila fasciata) and grouse (Tetrao urogallus) are among the rarest in the country.
The town continued to exist after the dissolution of the first empire. The Pechenegs briefly controlled it in mid-10th century, after which it began to decline. In 1153, the town was rebuilt. The fortress was abandoned and ceased.
During the Second Bulgarian Empire, twenty-four monasteries were built in its vicinity, which formed a complex. Under Tsar Ivan Alexander, Sliven was a town near the Byzantine Empire.Димитър Ангелов, Въпросът за политическите емигранти в отношенията между Византия и средновековна България // В: Античная древность и средние века. – Вып. 10. – 1973. – С. 121. During the Ottoman invasion of Bulgaria, the medieval town was destroyed and the monasteries were burnt. The city was known as "İslimye" by the Turks.
Early modern history During Ottoman rule Sliven was a sanjak centre in first Rumelia eyalet, then Silistre (Özi) eyalet, Edirne vilayet. From the beginning of the 16th century it was the centre of a kaza, which retained its territory until the middle of the 19th century. In the 17th century Sliven developed as a crafts centre and also famous for the production of guns, pickaxes, iron tools. The town was the settlement of a strong Hajduk movement against the Ottomans and became known as "the town of the hundred voivodes". Among them were Hadzhi Dimitar, Zlati Voivoda and Panayot Hitov. As the chief priest of the Bulgarian Militia, Amphilohiy from Sliven consecrated the Samara flag in Ploiești. Sliven was also as a Jewish center. By 1859, 30 Jewish families lived in Sliven, where a synagogue and a Jewish school were built for them.
In 1738, the population of Sliven was predominantly Turkish. In a register from 1792, Sliven Sanjak is mentioned for the first time. Many Sliven residents participated in the Greek War of Independence. Hadzi Hristo was made a general and took the lead of the troops of Bulgarians, Albanians and Greeks, and was later elected to the Greek parliament. The inhabitants of the town also supported the Brăila revolt, Crimean War and participated in the Second Bulgarian Legion.
During the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, the troops of General Hans Karl von Diebitsch entered Sliven. Continuous massacres of the Muslim population and desecration of mosques were made, involving both Bulgarian and Russian soldiers and local residents. The first Russian consulate was opened here in April 1830. After the withdrawal of the Russian troops, more than 15,000 people from the town and surrounding villages were displaced to southern Russia, Bessarabia and Wallachia, while only 2,000-3,000 Bulgarians remained in the town. With this, Sliven suffered a severe demographic and economic blow, which blunted the momentum of its former development.