Omurtag ( ) is a town at the eastern foot of Stara Planina in northeastern

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 ...

, part of

Targovishte Province Targovishte Province ( bg, Област Търговище, transliterated ''Oblast Tǎrgovište'', former name Targovishte okrug) is a province in northeastern Bulgaria, named after its main city - Targovishte. As of December 2009, it has a po ...

, situated at 525 m above sea level. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Omurtag Municipality. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 7,369 inhabitants.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute – Targovishte Province – Census 2011
A notable natives are Aleksandar Aleksandrov, one of the two Bulgarian cosmonauts, and

Viktor Yosifov Viktor Yosifov ( bg, Виктор Йосифов) (born 16 October 1985) is a Bulgarian volleyball player. He is a member of the Bulgaria men's national volleyball team. Yosifov is a bronze medallist of the 2009 European Championship. Sportin ...

, captain of the

Bulgaria men's national volleyball team The Bulgaria men's national volleyball team is controlled by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, which represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. History The team's achievements include winning the Balkan Ch ...

History

000400gmtma2ddkfm1dzc2 - Omurtag city hall

The area around the modern town has been inhabited since the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

. Part of

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...

's defensive system in the 6th century, the region gained importance as part of the First Bulgarian Empire due to the proximity to the capitals

Pliska Pliska ( , cu, Пльсковъ, translit=Plĭskovŭ) was the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire during the Middle Ages and is now a small town in Shumen Province, on the Ludogorie plateau of the Danubian Plain, 20 km northeast o ...

and

Preslav The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new ...

and the passes of Stara Planina. The first written evidence of the modern town dates from the 17th century, when it was mentioned as the

kaza A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough') * bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза * el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also () * lad, kaza , ...

centre ''Osman Pazarı'' in Ottoman tax registers. The settlement was a centre of craftsmanship and trade. Osman Pazarı was liberated from

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

on 27 January 1878 by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n troops under

Johann Casimir Ehrnrooth Johan Casimir Ehrnrooth (russian: Казимир Густавович Э́рнрот, Kazimir Gustavovich Ernrot; 26 November 1833 – 5 February 1913) was a Finnish statesman in the service of Imperial Russia, who also acted as Prime Minister o ...

during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. Most of the Turkish inhabitants of the town left and were replaced by Bulgarians from around Tran and

Kyustendil Kyustendil ( bg, Кюстендил ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, ...

. Omurtag acquired its present name in 1934, named after the Bulgarian khan

Omurtag Omurtag (or Omortag) ( bg, Омуртаг; original gr, Μορτάγων and Ομουρτάγ', Inscription No.64. Retrieved 10 April 2012.) was a Great Khan ('' Kanasubigi'') of Bulgaria from 814 to 831. He is known as "the Builder". In the v ...

. On 24 February 2020 during strong winds knocked down the minaret of the 1874 mosque. The building itself survived with only minor damage to the roof, but the minaret was completely destroyed. As of 2021 the mosque is still under reconstruction. Historical Museum - Omurtag

Population

Culture

* Culture center "Father Paisii"

Education

*Primary School "Simeon Velchev" *Primary School "Hristo Smirnenski" *High School of Transport and Light Industry

Sport

*FC Levski Omurtag

Notable people

Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov ( bg, Александър Панайотов Александров) (born December 1, 1951) is a retired Bulgarian cosmonaut. He is the second Bulgarian to have flown to space, behind Georgi Ivanov. Biography ...

– retired Bulgarian cosmonaut * Daki Yordanov – Bulgarian botanist and university lecturer, academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. * Dimitar Petkov – Bulgarian teacher, leading member of the Bulgarian People's Liberal Party

References

External links

Official municipality cite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omurtag (Town) Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Targovishte Province