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The town of Shoumen (108,000 residents) is situated in the central part of North-East Bulgaria at the foot of the natural reserve Shoumen Plateau. It occupies some parts of the Eastern Danubian Plane and the eastern part of the Balkan Mountains.
Founded in the early Middle Ages as a fortress and a settlement, it was given the name of Shoumen by the end of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.
There are 3 interesting monuments of architecture dating back to that epoch:
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The Tower of the Old Clock - built in 1742, is a stone prism with a built-in fountain.
The famous Tomboul Mosque - built in 1745, is the biggest and most beautiful in Bulgaria and second largest on the Balkan Peninsula.
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The original Kourshoum Cheshma (Bullet Fountain) - built in 1769, is located in the central part of the town. The fountain's original name comes from the lead tiles that cover it.
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The lands around Shoumen preserve unique cultural monuments from ancient times, when the region was inhabited by Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians - evidence of the role of the town during the 13-century-long history of the Bulgarian state.
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The region boasts several monuments of culture of international importance: the historic cities of Pliska, Preslav and Madara.
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Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument
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The unique vast composition symbolises the birth and rise of the Bulgarian spirit, a psalm of praise to the founding and prosperity of the First Bulgarian Kingdom (7th - 10th centuries).
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Madara Horseman
At only 15 km to the east of Shoumen, lying midway between the first two Bulgarian capitals - Pliska and Great Preslav, Madara National Historical and Archaeological Reserve is one of the most visited tourist places in Bulgaria.
Madara Reserve is so popular due to the famous "Madara horseman" rock relief - the only of its kind in Europe. UNESCO Heritage site since 1979, this unique masterpiece is one of the most significant monuments of the official old Bulgarian art.
To commemorate the fact that in 705 Khan Tervel entered Constantinople and was proclamed Caeser, he had the huge figure of a horsman with an inscription carved on the face of the cliff.
Madara Reserve gained the name of "Bulgarian Troy" for its thousands of archaeological monuments.
The pre-historic cult figures and ritual tiles devoted to Zews, Hercules, Dionysus, Kibela, the Three Nymphs, Heros - the Thracian horseman, and others, are an evidence that since prehistoric and Thracian times until late antiquity, the rock shelters and the springs below them have served as temples for tribes and peoples living in the area.
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Shoumen Fortress
Remains of Thracian, Roman and Mediaeval settlements at only 3 km away from the centre of Shoumen. The fortress history is revealed in the exhibition of the specialized museum nearby.
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Shoumen today is among the largest by the Bulgarian scale cities. In 1998 the town became a member of the Foundation of the European Carnival Towns.
The Shoumen Carnival of Fertility is carried out in October every second year.
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