Pavlikeni ( ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Veliko Tarnovo Province Veliko Tarnovo () is a province in the middle of the northern part of Bulgaria. Its capital city, Veliko Tarnovo, is of historical significance as it was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The province is divided into ten municipalitie ...

, Northern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, about 41 kilometers from the city of

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Pavlikeni Municipality. As of December 2010, the town had a population of 11,604.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - towns in 2010
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History

Pavlikeni was a centre of

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

and

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

in Antiquity as evidenced by the remains from

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

times. Its name derives from the Paulicians, a Christian sect settled in Thrace by Leo the Isaurian. The modern town emerged in the 13th–14th centuries as a village initially called ''Marinopoltsi''. During the

Ottoman rule of Bulgaria The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, beginning in the late 14th century, with the Ottoman conquest of smaller kingdoms from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire. In the late 19th century, Bulgaria was liberated from th ...

, the

demographics Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examin ...

of the village changed significantly, as many Turks settled to make it a purely Turkish village. After the

Liberation of Bulgaria The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishme ...

from Ottoman rule in 1877–1878, the Turks left to be replaced by

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

from the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

and the villages of the plains. After the Liberation Pavlikeni developed as a centre of craftsmanship and trade, with many new buildings being constructed. Pavlikeni acquired town status in 1943 owing much to its position on the

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

railway line.

Notable natives

* Nicola Ghiuselev -

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer *

Kiril Rakarov Kiril Manolov Rakarov (, 24 May 1932 – 25 August 2006) was a Bulgarian football player who played as a defender. He represented Bulgaria at the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1962 FIFA World Cup. For 13 seasons he made 190 league appearan ...

- former Bulgarian national football player

Honour

Pavlikeni Point on

Greenwich Island Greenwich Island (variant historical names ''Sartorius Island'', ''Berezina Island'') is an island long and from (average ) wide, lying between Robert Island and Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The island's surface ...

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

is named after Pavlikeni.

Changes in the city

After

became a part of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Pavlikeni created a project, which was an idea to improve the city as a whole by using the European funds. Pavlikeni took over a half a million to improve its conditions of the city centre "Svoboda". The project was realised starting 10 May 2012, with having 120 days to be completed in.

Economy

The town had a factory for steel disc wheels and rims which export around five-eighths of the production to the

market. The other big factory in the town is Metarem, which makes farming transport machinery. There's also a cardboard factory.

Food economy

The town had one of the biggest companies in North

for seeds, and a smaller factory for sweets and larger company for animal feed.

Education

*Tzanko Tzerkovski `s farming high school * Bacho Kiro High School *OU"Sv.Kliment Ohridski"

Transport

*Pavlikeni railway station - a stop on the

line. *Pavlikeni bus station

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Pavlikeni is twinned with: *

Pruzhany Pruzhany is a town in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pruzhany District. The town is located at the confluence of the Mukha River and the Vets Canal, where the Mukhavets River rises. As of 2025, it has a popu ...

, Belarus (2000)

Gallery

File:Pavlikeni city centre project.jpg, The final design of the project for the city centre that must be completed in 120 days.

References

Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Veliko Tarnovo Province {{VelikoTarnovo-geo-stub