Shoumen is town with
hundred thousand inhabitants (a population of 100 000) with rich history and traditions,
center of education and culture, with developed industry and communications.
It is situated at the foot of natural reserve Shoumen Plateau.
Shoumen Region is situated in the central part of northeast Bulgaria.
It occupies some parts of the eastern Danubian Plane and the eastern part of the Balkan mountain.
In Shoumen and the lands around it, unique monuments of culture are preserved from ancient times
to the present. Here are the first Bulgarian capitals - Pliska and Veliki Preslav(Great Preslav),
here is Madara - the Bulgarian Troy, with the unique Madara horsemen. In 1979 it is declared
as a monument with world significance and it is placed under the eegie of UNESCO,
here is the old Shoumen Fortress, here are numerous evidences of the role of the town of
Shoumen in 13 century history of the Bulgarian people.
Places of interest in Shoumen
MONUMENT "THE FOUNDERS OF THE BULGARIAN STATE"
No other
non- utilitarian structure in Europe can compare to the Monument to the Founders of the
Bulgarian State. It is a monument to the birth and rise of the Bulgarian spirit, a psalm
of praise to the founding, affirmation and prosperity of the first Bulgarian Kingdom.
The unique result is a vast composition recounting through images and symbols the history of
Bulgaria and the peaks attained in social and cultural development between the 7th and the 10th century.
SHOUMEN FORTRESS
It is 3 km
away from the centre of Shoumen. The history of the fortress is revealed in the exhibition of
the specialized museum near the fortress.
COMMUNITY CENTRE "DOBRI VOINIKOV"
The community centre "Dobri Voinikov" is established in 1856.
HISTORICAL MUSEUM - SHOUMEN
About 11 000 exponents are displayed on an area of 2 400 sq. m.
In its overall appearance and contents the exposition of the museum reveals the rich,
multidimensional and intransient history of the Shoumen region which still keeps the memories
of the steps of Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians, the foundation of the
Bulgarian State in 681, the adoption of Christianity in 865, the establishment of the old
Bulgarian school, the Golden century of Simeon.
THEATRE "VASIL DRUMEV"
TOMBUL MOSQUE
The most impressive mosque in Bulgaria.
HOUSE - MUSEUM "PANCHO VLADIGEROV"
The house-museum "Pancho Vladigerov" is a part of the only museum comlex in the country for the music deed in Shoumen. It is located in a quarter of the town in preserved Bulgarian Revival style.
The complex consists of the house-museum "Pancho Vladigerov", the exposition "The music deed of Shoumen", chamber hall with 80 seats and a specialized bookshop for music literature.
Over thousand original exponents are kept in the house where Pancho Vladigerov grew up and started his music activities.
HOUSE - MUSEUM "DOBRI VOINIKOV"
Reconstructed decorations of different theatrical performances of the famous Bulgarian playwright Dobri Voinikov are exhibited. Through authentic exponents, objects, photos, and documents, the exposition demonstrates significant cultural-historical processes of local and national importance.
HOUSE - MUSEUM "PANAIOT VOLOV"
HOUSE - MUSEUM "PANAIOT VOLOV"
The atmosphere in which one of the most fascinating revolutionaries and heroes from the time of the April uprising lived is recreated. The house-museum is an authentic and exciting story for the life and the deed of Panaiot Vichev Volov.
HOUSE - MUSEUM "LAIOSH KOSHUT"
This a big rich man's house from the beginning of the last century, turned into a museum of the Hungarian immigrants in Shoumen, headed by Laiosh Koshut.
MADARSKI KONNIK
The national historic and archaeological reserve Madara is one of the most visited tourist places in Bulgaria. The popularity of Madara is due most of all to the fact that it is the only in Europe rock relief, called "Madarski konnik"("Madara horseman").
Madarski Konnik (Madara Horseman) is 15 km to the east of Shoumen. It is one of the most significant monuments of the official old Bulgarian art, included from UNESCO in the list of the world cultural treasures. The remains of thousands of archaeological monuments (dwellings, vilas, temples, fortresses) and finds from six historical epochs are the reason for which Madara received the name "The Bulgarian Troy". The pre-historic cult figures and ritual tiles devoted to: The Three Nymphs, Zevs, Heracule, Dionisius, Kibela, of the Thracian horseman - hero Heros and others are an evidence that from the prehistoric and the Thracian epoch until late antiquity, the rock shelters and the springs below them served as temples for the living in the area tribes and peoples.
ARCHAELOGICAL RESERVE "VELIKI PRESLAV"
Veliki Preslav (Great Preslav) is situated 20 km to the south of Shoumen.
Preslav is the second capital of Bulgaria.
It was a capital from 893 to 971 - the epoch of its greatest
political and military might, the epoch of the grandeur of the old Bulgarian culture.
The success of the old Bulgarian culture of that time is marked by the great nickname
"Golden Century of the Bulgarian literature and culture".
The Gold Church - built under the command of Tsar Simeon is a real masterpiece of the Bulgarian
medieval architecture.
In the place "Patleina" (in the outskirts of Preslav), the foundations of the
monastery "St Panteleimon" are kept. The unique exponents from the excavations can be
seen in the historical museum.
ARCHAELOGICAL RESERVE "PLISKA"
Pliska is situated 30 km northeast of Shoumen.
Pliska was a capital of Bulgaria from 681 to 893.
It is situated in a plain, surrounded by the slopes of the neighbouring plateaus. The proto-Bulgarians chose this place because of the favourable conditions for stock breeding - vast pasture lands and numerous water sources. The plain occupied an important military-strategic position as well. The material and the spiritual culture of the first Bulgarian capital is unreachable for the new countries of Medieval Europe of that time.
