Teteven

Teteven Тетевен
Teteven Monastery of St Elias (17th century)
Coat of arms
Teteven Location of Teteven
Coordinates:
Country	Bulgaria
Province (Oblast)	Lovech
Government
• Mayor	Dr. Madlena Boyadzhieva
Elevation	412 m (1,352 ft)
Population (15.12.2010)
• City	10,733
• Urban	21,374
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	5700
Area code(s)	0678

Teteven Historical Museum

Teteven (Bulgarian: Тетевен) is a town on the banks of the Vit river, at the foot of Stara Planina mountain in north central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Teteven Municipality which is a part of Lovech Province. As of December 2010, the town has a population of 10,733 inhabitants.

Geography

Teteven is located in a mountainous area, in the foothills of the Balkan mountains between the peaks Ostrich, Petrahilya, Cherven, Treskavets and Vezhen. The river Vit meanders through the town. The altitude of Teteven district varies from 340 to 2100 m, and in the town center it is 415 m. The climate is temperate continental with cold winters and cool summers. The territory of Teteven is about 697 km², which is 16.86% of the territory of Lovech district.

History

The town was first mentioned in a written document in 1421. It is thought that the town's name comes from the family of a certain Tetyo (Tetyov rod), who settled in the area and founded the town. Older variants of the town's name found in documents are Tetyuven and Tetyuvene.

A thriving city in the 16th and 17th centuries, Teteven was raided by organised Turkish brigand groups in 1801, burnt down and almost completely destroyed, with only four houses surviving out of a total of 3,000. The town later revived and was active in the armed struggle for Bulgarian independence in the 19th century, sheltering a revolutionary committee part of Vasil Levski's organised rebel network.

Each summer a large chess tournament, one of the biggest events in Bulgaria's chess calendar, is held in Teteven.

Honour

Teteven Glacier on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Teteven.

Sights

Teteven combines the beauty of the surrounding scenery with the towering hills and peaks Petrahilya, Ostrich, Cherven and Ravni Kamak (they have witnessed many historical events), the cool breeze of the Vit river, and the spirit of centuries past, hovering in the multitude of monuments, ancient Bulgarian architecture, and customs and manners that have remained intact in time. Astounded by the sights revealed before him in his visit to the town, Ivan Vazov has exclaimed: "Had I not come to Teteven, I would have remained a foreigner to mother Bulgaria ... I have been wandering, I have been rambling, but I have not seen a more wondrous paradise." There is a Historical Museum in Teteven, which is among the Hundred National Tourist Sites of the Bulgarian Tourist Union.

Some of the sights of Teteven and the Teteven district

The ‘Glozhen’ Monastery The ‘Saint Elijah’ Monastery (14th century) The ‘All Saints’ Church The ‘Kosnitza’ waterfall The ‘Mother of God Shroud’ Chapel on Ostrich peak The Boev hill

Caves

Saeva Dupka Morovitza Baiovitza Draganchovitza Rushova cave (near Gradezhnitza village)

Museums

Teteven Historical Museum The Bobevska house museum The Hadzhiivanova house museum The Yorgova house museum

Regular events

• Autumn fair
• Northern Song Feast (May)
• The Feast of Teteven is on November 1 – the day the town was liberated from Ottoman domination in 1877
• Days of Mountain Water and Healing Tourism, Scientific Research Center of Medical Biophysics, Teteven municipality, June 11

Gallery

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  Teteven Municipality Hall

• 

  Teteven Chitalishte (Culture club)

• 

  Saint All Saints Church in Teteven

• 

  A 19th century house

• 

  A 19th century house

Persons

Notable persons born in Teteven

• Banyo Marinov (1853 - 1879) — revolutionary
• Valentin Bobevski — conductor
• Valentin Grozev (1950 - 2010) — artist
• Ivailo Stanev - photographer
• Dimitar Krachidzhov — poet and publicist
• Lyubomir Bobevski — writer
• Margarit Tzanev — artist
• Nikola Bobevski — artisan, elected Teteven delegate on the occasion of the signing of the San Stefano Peace Treaty
• Nikola Merekiov — actor and agriculturalist
• Nikola Tiholov — scriptwriter
• Sava Mladenov — adherent of Vasil Levski and a revolutionary from Hristo Botev’s armed group
• Sabo Dimitrov — artist
• Iva Krasteva — prominent sports journalist
• Ivan Undzhiev (1902 - 1979) — Bulgarian professor-historian
• Hristo Spasunin (1923 - 2010) — poet and publicist
• Hadji Stanyo Vrabevski — chairman of the local revolutionary committee, sent into exile in Diyarbakır
• Usin Kerim — poet
• Svilen Rusinov — sportsman, honorary citizen of Teteven
• Preslava Mravkova — singer (Music Idol)
• Ignat Ignatov — professor – biophysicist
• Mihail Ekimdzhiev — lawyer
• Vera Naidenova — Bulgarian professor – film critic
• Nikolai Vitanov — professor – nuclear physicist

Notable persons who have died in Teteven

• Atanas Murdzhev (1875 - 1944) — Bulgarian revolutionary
• Georgi Benkovski (1843 - 1876) — Bulgarian revolutionary

See also

• Lovech
• Lukovit
• Petrevene

External links

• Teteven municipality portal (Bulgarian version)
• Teteven municipality portal (English version)
• Days of Mountain Water and Healing Tourism (English version) Teteven Municipality, Scientific Research Center of Medical Biophysics