Teteven ( bg, Тетевен, ) is a town on the banks of the Vit river, at the foot of

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border be ...

mountain in north central

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 the administrative centre of the Teteven Municipality which is a part of

Lovech Province Lovech Province ( bg, Област Ловеч, translit=Oblast Lovech, former name Lovech okrug) is one of the 28 provinces of Bulgaria, lying at the northern centre of the country. It is named after its main city - Lovech. As of December 200 ...

. As of December 2010, the town had a population of 10,733 inhabitants.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian towns in 2009
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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 Teteven Glacier ( bg, ледник Тетевен, lednik Teteven, ) is a glacier on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica situated east of Yakoruda Glacier, west of Quito Glacier, northwest of Traub Glacier and north of ...

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

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.

Sights of Teteven and the Teteven district

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

Caves

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

Museums

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

Regular events

* Autumn fair * Northern Song Feast (May) * The Feast of Teteven 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

Teteven Town Hall.JPG, Teteven Municipality Hall File:Teteven Chitalishte.JPG, Teteven Chitalishte (Culture club) File:Saint All Saints Church in Teteven.JPG, All Saints Church in Teteven File:Teteven old house 01.JPG, A 19th-century house File:Teteven old house 02.JPG, A 19th-century house

Persons

Notable persons born in Teteven

* Lyubomir Bobevski — writer * Nikola Bobevski — artisan, elected Teteven delegate on the occasion of the signing of the San Stefano Peace Treaty * Valentin Bobevski — conductor * Sabo Dimitrov — artist * Mihail Ekimdzhiev — lawyer *

Valentin Grozev Valentin is a male given name meaning "strong, healthy, power, rule, terco". It comes from the Latin name ''Valentinus'', as in Saint Valentin. Commonly found in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Scandinavia, Latin America ...

(1950-2010) — artist *

Ignat Ignatov Ignat (russian: Игнат) is a Slavic given name that corresponds to the given name Ignatius. Notable persons with that name include: * Ignat Bednarik (1882–1963), Romanian painter * Ignat Dameika (1802–1889), Belarusian geologist, mineralo ...

— professor, biophysicist * Usin Kerim — poet *

Dimitar Krachidzhov Dimitar ( bg, Димитър; Macedonian: Димитар) is a South Slavic masculine given name. It is widely found in Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Dimitar is derived from Saint Demetrius (280–306), alternate form of Demetrius. Containing the ...

— poet and publicist *

Iva Krasteva Iva or IVA may refer to: Organizations * Independent Voters Association, a North Dakota U.S. political organization * Informationsvidenskabelige Akademi, a Danish university * Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, (Swedish: ''Kungliga In ...

— sports journalist, lives and works in London * Banyo Marinov (1853-1879) — revolutionary *

Nikola Merekiov Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος). It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Monten ...

— actor and agriculturalist * Sava Mladenov — adherent of Vasil Levski and a revolutionary from Hristo Botev's armed group * Preslava Mravkova — singer (''Music Idol'') * Vera Naidenova — Bulgarian professor, film critic *

Svilen Rusinov Svilen Aldinov Rusinov ( bg, Свилен Алдинов Русинов; born February 29, 1964 in Teteven) is a Bulgarian boxer, who twice competed at the Summer Olympics for his native country. He won a bronze medal in the super heavyweight div ...

— sportsman, honorary citizen of Teteven * Hristo Spasunin (1923-2010) — poet and publicist * Ivailo Stanev — photographer * Nikola Tiholov — scriptwriter * Margarit Tzanev — artist * Ivan Undzhiev (1902-1979) — Bulgarian professor-historian * Nikolai Vitanov — professor, nuclear physicist * Hadji Stanyo Vrabevski — chairman of the local revolutionary committee, sent into exile in Diyarbakır

Notable persons who have died in Teteven

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

References

External links

Teteven municipality portal (Bulgarian version)

Teteven Municipality, Scientific Research Center of Medical Biophysics {{Authority control Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Lovech Province