Gabrovo Province ( bg, Област Габрово (Oblast Gabrovo), former name Gabrovo okrug) is a small

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

lying at the geographical centre of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. It is named after its main town -

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( bg, Габрово ) is a town in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an internatio ...

. In 2009 the total population of the area is 130,001.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - 2011 census

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Municipalities

The Gabrovo province (област, ''oblast'') contains four municipalities (singular: община, ''obshtina'' - plural: общини, ''obshtini''). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population of each as of 2009.

Population

The Gabrovo province had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 144,150 (144,125 also given) according to a 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, of which were

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

and were

female Female ( symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

.Population to 01.03.2001 by Area and Sex
fro

As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 130,001 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Population by age in 2009
The following table represents the change of the population in the province after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

: Total population (2011 census): 122 702 Ethnic groups (2011 census): Identified themselves: 115 358 persons: *

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...

: 106 406 (92.24%) *

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

: 6 464 (5.60%) * Romani: 1 305 (1.13%) *Others and indefinable: 1 183 (1.03%)

Religion

Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:Religious adherence in Bulgaria - census 2001

Main city

is the main city of the Province of Gabrovo. Long known for producing

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

articles and textiles that earned the town the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

of the “Manchester of Bulgaria”, Gabrovo is a charmingly laid-back provincial place. To the

, Gabrovo is mainly known as the home of

Humour Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in ...

and

Satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

, which opened on Aprils Fool’s Day 1972 in recognition of the position traditionally occupied by the town in the Bulgarian humour. People in every country tell

jokes A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

about the supposed

miser A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities, in order to hoard money or other possessions. Although the word is sometimes used loosely to characterise anyone who ...

liness of a particular community, and in Bulgaria the butt of the jokes has always been Gabrovo. A Festival of Humour and Satire takes place in May, comprising

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

ed actors,

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, animated

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

and the giving of prizes. There are plenty of restaurants in the city itself but the local people will recommend that you go out of town and visit Bozhentsi and the

Etara The Open Air Ethnographic Museum «Etar» ( bg, Етнографски музей на открито „Етър“, usually referred to as Етъра, Etara) is an open-air museum and a neighbourhood of Gabrovo (8 km south of its center) in ...

complex.

Bozhentsi and Etara

Bozhentsi is preserved as an old village

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

. There is an

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

, nearby. Strung out along the valley, with its clear bubbling stream and rich bird-life, the Etara complex has the look and feel of a

film set A set is artificially constructed scenery used in theatre, film and TV. In the latter two cases there are many reasons to build or use a set instead of travelling to a real location, such as budget, time, the need to control the environment, or ...

, and even though it is artificial, it is nonetheless convincing and a joy to explore. Traditionally

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

were inseparable from the charshya ( bazaar), and the reconstructed bazaar of the type once common in Bulgarian towns forms the heart of the open-air museum. Throughout much of the day

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

s are at work here, hammering blades, throwing pots, carving bowls and the like, and everything they make is for sale. Note that many of the artisans leave an hour or so before the complex officially closes. Even if your interest in crafts is minimal it’s difficult not to admire the interiors of the old houses, which achieve great beauty through the skilful use of simple materials. Besides dwellings and

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the on ...

s, the bazaar includes a couple of places for grabbing a quick drink, including a traditional

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

, and a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

selling

Turkish delight Turkish delight or lokum ( ota, لوقوم) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often fl ...

and many other sweet treats. An hour or so walk southwest from Etara, Sokolsky Monastery perches on a crag above the village of Voditsi. During Ottoman times the monks offered succour to Bulgarian outlaws and an assembly point during the

uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

against the Turks in 1876. Nowadays it is a discreet, little-visited place, with rosebushes and

privet A privet is a flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum''. The genus contains about 50 species of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes forming small or medium-sized trees, native to Europe, north Africa, Asia, many introduced and nat ...

shrubs laid out in a courtyard dominated by an octagonal stone fountain.

Tourism

Places of interest in Gabrovo province include architectural reserve

Bozhentsi Bozhentsi ( bg, Боженци ; also variously transliterated as ''Bozhenci, Bojenci, Bojenzi, Boženci, Bojentsi, Bojentzi, Bozhentzi'', etc.), officially but not commonly Bozhentsite (Боженците), is a village and architectural reserve ...

. Hiking is widely available in the

Central Balkan National Park The Central Balkan National Park ( bg, Национален парк Централен Балкан) lies in the heart of Bulgaria, nestled in the central and higher portions of the Balkan Mountains. Its altitude varies from 550 m. near the town ...

and in the

Bulgarka Nature Park The Bulgarka Natural Park ( Bulgarian: Природен парк ″Българка″) is a Bulgarian nature park on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina), occupying 22,000 hectares of territory in the central and eastern ...

, itself home to

Etar Architectural-Ethnographic Complex The Open Air Ethnographic Museum «Etar» ( bg, Етнографски музей на открито „Етър“, usually referred to as Етъра, Etara) is an open-air museum and a neighbourhood of Gabrovo (8 km south of its center) in ...

, Dryanovo Monastery, Sokolski Monastery,

Shipka Pass Shipka Pass ( bg, Шипченски проход, ) (el. 1150 m./3820 ft.) is a scenic mountain pass through the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. It marks the border between Stara Zagora province and Gabrovo province. The pass connects the t ...

, and the Uzana area. For admirers of historical tourism the Shipka Freedom Memorial is a must-see.

References

External links

gb.government.bg

{{Authority control Provinces of Bulgaria