Shumen

Shumen, is a city of 100 000 in the Northeastern part of Bulgaria. It is a natural geographic center of the capitals and cultural centers of the old medieval Bulgarian Kingdoms - Pliska, Preslav and Madara. The city sprang from an old Roman and Byzantine fortress, overlooking a passage from the Danubian plain to the mountain passes of the Balkan mountain. Its location made it the cite of the largest Turkish garrison town during the years of the rule of the Ottoman Empire over nowadays Bulgaria. The largest mosque on the Balkan peninsula "Tombul Mosque" was built in the city in the 17th century. Shumen was a thriving economic and cultural center during the period of the Bulgarian National Renaissance ("Vuzrazhdane") in the 19th century. Shumen was the hometown of the first Bulgarian theater and the first Bulgarian orchestra.

Today Shumen is the hometown of the "Konstantin Preslavski" University and the fourth largest public library in Bulgaria.