Pazardzhik (Bulgarian: Пазарджик [ˈpazɐrd͡ʒik]) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality.

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Pazardzhik Пазарджик
City
Top to Down; Right to Left; Drama and Puppet Theatre Konstantin Velichkov; Island & Park Svoboda; Chitalishte Videlina; Municipal Hall; Ethnographical Museum; Hotel Hebar; Pazardzhik History Museum; Old Post Office;
Flag Coat of arms
Pazardzhik Location of Pazardzhik Show map of Bulgaria Pazardzhik Pazardzhik (Balkans) Show map of Balkans
Coordinates: 42°12′N 24°20′E
Country	Bulgaria
Province (Oblast)	Pazardzhik
Government
• Mayor	Todor Popov
Area
• City	37.382 km2 (14.433 sq mi)
Elevation	205 m (673 ft)
Population  (Census 2021)[1]
• City	65,671
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
• Urban	103,681
Demonym	Pazardzhiklia
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code	4400
Area code	034
License plate	PA
Website	Official website

The Tatars founded Pazardzhik in the end of the XIV century, which they named it Tatar-Pazardzhik. The population was muslim, but it would provoke an interest to christians, which would allow the first church in the small town in the XVII century.[2] The economy grew over the centuries with the prosper trading of iron, leather and rice. During the 19th century, a brief siege was made during the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) and the Russians in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) moved out the Ottomans from the area. There was a massacre in Batak, a small town near Pazardzhik. Even though undefended, it was spared from massacres, because the Armenian Ovanes Sovadzhiyan, a Ottoman command, didn't execute his plan to burn down the town. In the 20th century, the town grew by a lot.

It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain and in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Fields, a subregion of the plains. It is west of Plovdiv, about 37 kilometres, 112 kilometres southeastern of Sofia and 288 kilometres from Burgas.

Located in the Upper Thracian Plain, due to relatively flat and fertile lands, vegetation is also a big part of the economy of Pazardzhik. Industry is also important, as an industrial zone is located at right bank of the river Maritsa.

The population is around 65,671, as it has been growing around from the end of the 19th century to the end of the 20th century. The city reached its highest milestone, exceeding 80,000. After the Fall of Communism and the occurrence of emigration in Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria was affected by this cause. This allowed for Pazardzhiklians to move out of their homeland due to poor economic performance in many oblasts or okrugs by that time.

Geography

Location

The city is located in the southwestern parts of the Upper Thracian Plain, and also in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Fields, a subregion of the plains. Pazardzhik also lays on the both right and left banks of the Maritsa River, with an island named ''Svoboda'', which turned into a park in the beginning of the 20th century.[3]

Terrain

Pazardzhik is one of the few cities to have a flat terrain without any high elevation.

Name

The name comes from the word pazar, ultimately from the Persian: bāzār, "market" + the Turkic diminutive suffix -cık, "small". Called Tatar Pazardzhik earlier in the town's history, its title thus signified, "small Tatar market".[4]

History

Pazardzhik was founded in 1485 by Tatars originating from what is today Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. They sited it on the left bank of the river Maritsa, near the market of the region, an important crossroad at the center of this productive region. Thanks to this favourable location, the settlement quickly developed. Very small at the beginning of the 19th century, it became the administrative centre for the region by the end of that century and remained so until the dissolution of Ottoman Empire. During the following centuries the town continued to grow and strengthen its position. Trade in iron, leather and rice prospered.

The town impressed visitors with its beautiful houses and clean streets. In 1718 Gerard Kornelius Drish visited Pazardzhik and wrote "the buildings here according to construction, size and beauty stand higher than those of Niš, Sofia and all other places".

By the mid-19th century Pazardzhik was an important centre of crafts and trade, with a population of about 25,000 people. It hosted two large annual fairs, and a substantial market on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There was a post office with a telegraph. During this period, it also became an important cultural centre: a school was opened in 1847, a girls' school in 1848, a community centre in 1868, the women's union Prosveta in 1870.

During the Ottoman period Pazardzhik had 18 mosques but only Kurshumlu Mosque, built in 1667, survives. In 1837 the Church of the Holy Mother of God, Panagyurishte was built; it is an important national monument, famous for its architecture and woodcarving.^{[citation needed]}

The Russians under Count Nikolay Kamensky took the city after a brief siege in 1810, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812.

At the close of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, areas of Bulgaria which had been wrested from Ottoman rule had a continuing Russian Imperial Army presence, commanded by Lt. Gen. Iosif Gurko. The detachment of Zapdniya Russian troops stationed in Pazardzhik were withdrawn on 14 January 1878 (new style). Unlike many other Bulgarian towns, where there were massacres during the course of the war or its aftermath, the unprotected Pazardzhik was spared from planned depredations. Elsewhere along the Maritsa, the Ottoman commander, Süleyman Hüsnü Pasha had burnt multiple settlements, killing or mistreating the inhabitants. The Armenian, Ovanes Sovadzhiyan, prevented the similar destruction of Pazardzhik and its inhabitants.[5][6]

From the early 20th century, on people built factories, stores and houses, and thus the industrial quarter of the town. The notable British travel writer, Patrick Leigh Fermor, visited Pazardzhik in the late summer of 1934, as described in his book The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos (2013). From 1959 to 1987 Pazardzhik was again an administrative centre for the region, and is again since the 1999 administrative division of Bulgaria.

Population

In the 1880s the population of Pazardzhik numbered about 15,000 and it was one of the largest of Bulgaria.[7] Since then it started growing decade by decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding smaller towns, reaching its peak in the period 1985–1992 exceeding 80,000.[8] After this time, the population has started decreasing in consequence of the poor economic situation in the Bulgarian provinces during the 1990s that led to a new migration in the direction of the country capital Sofia and abroad. As of February 2011, the city has a population of 71,979 inhabitants, while the Pazardzhik Municipality of 114,817 inhabitants.[9][8][10]

Ethnic linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:[11][12]

According to some reports, as of the middle of the 19th century the city was composed by 33 neighborhoods – 18 Turkish, 12 Bulgarian and 3 Gypsy. Although the Bulgarian neighborhoods were numerically smaller they were more densely populated, while there were Bulgarians in the Turkish neighborhoods too. In 1865 the population of the city was 25.000, Bulgarians comprised 57% of it and the Turks 28,5%.[13] As a trading town the city was attractive for other peoples and sizable minorities of Jews, Armenians and other peoples remained for decades, they are currently present although in much smaller numbers.^{[citation needed]} Some Aromanian families inhabit Pazardzhik too.[14]

Culture and pedestrian areas

Kurshumlu Mosque from 1667 is one of the oldest mosques in Europe. It is one of the highlights of Pazardzhik.

The Church of the Theotokos preserves the most impressive icons in Bulgaria by master artists of the Debar School, wood-carvings of New and Old Testament scenes, and icons by Stanislav Dospevski. Among the town's landmarks are also the clock tower, the ethnographic and history museums.

As with most Bulgarian cities, Pazardzhik has developed a significant pedestrian center, in which several central squares typify the European coffee house society and pedestrian culture. In Bulgaria the café culture is particularly prominent, with many downtown squares easily providing up to a half dozen cafés, with ample outside seating.

Pazardzhik has a level of pedestrian streets (or network of carfree areas) even above the relatively high Bulgarian standard. There are several longer pedestrian streets, and at one point there is even an intersection where five different pedestrian streets converge. A few of these do not continue for very long, but most do, or are connected to the rest of the pedestrian areas of the city, and thus could be said to form the pedestrian network of the city.

During the warmer seasons, most afternoons of the week and especially weekends find a large number of people strolling about or sitting in cafés.

Island-park ''Svoboda'' is a pedestrian area, where people can walk freely. The park includes a football field, a basketball court in a stadium and also different sport areas. In 2009, a zoo was established, where various animals are kept. There is a lion, tigers, llamas, raccoons, horse and others. There is a monument of Aleko Konstantinov, and an iron cross which was built in 2005.[3]

Pazardzhik Point on Snow Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Pazardzhik.[15]

Museums and Theaters

Konstantin Velichkov Drama and Puppet Theater

The city is home to one of the oldest theaters in the country, built with funds raised voluntarily by citizens. Today the theater is united with the puppet theater under the name Drama and Puppet Theater "Konstantin Velichkov".

133 years of theatrical tradition and over 40 years of state theater; 35 theatrical seasons. The first production of the State Drama Theater in Pazardzhik is Albena by Yordan Yovkov. From January by Radichkov, directed by Krikor Azaryan, to Epic Times again by Radichkov, directed by Petrinel Gochev, from As You Like It by Shakespeare directed by Leon Daniel to The Storm by Alexander Ostrovsky directed by Vladlen Alexandrov. From Vampire by Anton Strashimirov, directed by Vili Tsankov, through Roman Bath by Stanislav Stratiev, to The Backyard by Bilgesu Erenus, directed by Iskender Alton. Some of the greatest directors have worked on the Pazardzhik stage: Krikor Azaryan, Asen Shopov, Leon Daniel, Nikolay Polyakov, Zdravko Mitkov, Nikolay Lyutskanov and others, some of the most famous actors: Nevena Kokanova, Georgi Georgiev - Getz, Georgi Kaloyanchev, Katya Paskaleva, Ilka Zafirova, Zlatina Todeva, Leda Taseva, Georgi Cherkelov and more, and more... of text, theme, direction, with always spiritually young actors and directors.

Regional Historical Museum

The Pazardzhik History Museum is one of the leading and oldest museums in Bulgaria. It was established in 1911 by a decision of the management board of Chitalishte "Videlina". In 2000 it was transformed into a Regional Historical Museum with territory of activity in the towns of Pazardzhik and Plovdiv. The profile of the museum is general history and has the following main departments: Archeology; History of Bulgaria 15 - 19 century; Ethnography; Recent history;Funds and scientific archive; Public Relations. The historical expositions are housed in a specially built building with an area of 1200 m2. The museum has its own specialized library, restoration studio and photo laboratory, has a stand for the sale of advertising materials and souvenirs and a cafe.

The ethnographic exposition of the Regional Historical Museum is arranged in the largest residential building in Pazardzhik from the Renaissance era, built in 1850 in the style of the Plovdiv Revival Baroque house. The owner of the house, Nikola Hristovic, was a wealthy merchant from Pazardzhik. Declared a national architectural and artistic cultural monument.

Stanislav Dospevski Art Gallery

The Stanislav Dospevski Art Gallery was founded in 1966. It is named after the Samokov school artist and public figure Stanislav Dospevski (1823-1878), who worked in the field of the portrait genre. The current gallery building was opened in 1980. Later (1911) it housed the Regional History Museum. The total exhibition area is 800 m2. The art fund of the gallery exceeds 10,000 works.

The exposition presents the Bulgarian fine arts from the end of the last century to the present day. It consists of 731 works by 204 authors and is located in 5 exhibition halls. All genres (portrait, landscape and still life) are presented, as well as the different currents in the Bulgarian fine arts: Revival realism, romanticism, academism, realism, symbolism, impressionism, expressionism, socialist realism, abstractionism and others.

Stanislav Dospevski Art Gallery has two branches: Stanislav Dospevski House Museum and Georgi Gerasimov House Museum, as well as the open-air exhibition of Velichko Minekov.

Konstantin Velichkov House Museum

Birth house of Konstantin Velichkov (1855 - 1907) - a prominent Revival activist, active participant in the national liberation struggle, politician and statesman in post-liberation Bulgaria, poet, writer, translator and artist.

The house is located on Vl. Gyoshev ”4. One-storey and with a veranda, it was built around 1850. In 1964 - 1965 the house was completely repaired and restored. Since 1967, the urban living conditions from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century have been arranged in it. In the native house of Konstantin Velichkov in 1876 his sister Teofana sewed the flag of the Pazardzhik Revolutionary Committee, and on 21 April 1876.

Vasil Petleshkov was the first to announce in Pazardzhik the outbreak of the April Uprising. The house is a branch of the Regional History Museum. It has been open for visits since 2 March 1967.

Twin towns – sister cities

Pazardzhik is twinned with:[16][17]

Notable people

• Stefan Zahariev (1810–1871), revival, educationalist
• Konstantin Velichkov (1855–1905), enlightener, poet, politician
• Zaharina Dimitrova (1873-1940), Bulgarian doctor, Order of Civil Merit recipient, philanthropist.
• Ivan Batakliev (1891–1973), geographer, historian
• Nicolas Digests (1903–1968), poet
• Artine Artinian (1907–2005), scholar of French literature
• Violeta Gindeva (1946–2019), actress, deputy mayor of Pazardzhik in 2003–2007
• Ekaterina Mihaylova (born 1956), politician
• Serafim Todorov (born 1969), boxer
• Ekaterina Zakharieva (born 1975), politician
• Georgi Petkov (born 1976), footballer

Gallery

• 
  Old post building
• 
  Street scene
• 
  Stanislav Dospevski's house
• 
  Dormition of the Theotokos Church

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pazardzhik.

• Pazardzhik municipality
• "Tatar Pazarjik" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

На других языках

[de] Pasardschik

[ru] Пазарджик