Razgrad

Etymology

The suffix "grad" means city in Bulgarian, while the origin and the meaning of the first part "raz" is obscure. During the Second Bulgarian Empire, around the present city there was a settlement, mentioned by the names of Hrasgrad, Hrazgrad and Hrizgrad'. These names come from the name of the Proto-Bulgarian and Slavic god Hors.

History

Razgrad was built upon the ruins of the Ancient Roman town of Abritus on the banks of the Beli Lom river. Abritus was built on a Thracian settlement of the 4th-5th century BC with unknown name. Several bronze coins of the Thracian king Seuthes III (330-300 BC) and pottery were found, as well as artifacts from other rulers and a sacrificial altar of Hercules.

Some of Razgrad's landmarks include the Varosha architectural complex from the 19th century, the ethnographic museum and several other museums, the characteristic clock tower in the centre built in 1864, the St Nicholas the Miracle Worker Church from 1860, the Momina cheshma sculpture, the Mausoleum Ossuary of the Liberators (1879–1880) and the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque from 1530. The mosque is said to be one of the largest in the Balkans.

In 251, the town was the site of the Battle of Abrittus, during which the Goths defeated a Roman army under the emperors Trajan Decius and Herennius Etruscus. The battle is notable for being the first occasion of a Roman emperor being killed in a battle with barbarians.

Razgrad Peak on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Razgrad.

Population

In January 2012, Razgrad was inhabited by 33,416 people within the city limits, while the Razgrad Municipality with the legally affiliated adjacent villages had 50,457 inhabitants. The number of the residents of the city (not the municipality) reached its peak in the period 1988-1991 when exceeded 55,000. The following table presents the change of the population after 1887.

Ethnic, linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:

Total: 33,880

The Razgrad Province has the second largest Turkish population in Bulgaria behind the Kardzhali Province, though the municipality and the city of Razgrad have a lower proportion of Turks than the rest of the province. In the city live 6,000 of the total 57,000 Turks in the Razgrad Province. According to the 2011 census, Razgrad Province has a Turkish majority of 50%, what in Bulgaria has only the Kardzhali Province in addition, in the Razgrad Municipality the Turkish population is a minority with 30% and within the city limits of Razgrad it is 19%. An absolute majority are the Bulgarians, with the remaining being composed for the most part of Gypsies, who constitute 5% in the province and 3.3% in the municipality. The ethnic composition of Razgrad Municipality is 30,660 Bulgarians, 14,296 Turks and 1,549 Gypsies among others.

Sport

Razgrad is widely recognizable for being home to the association football club Ludogorets Razgrad, who in recent years have become the dominant force in Bulgarian football after winning six consecutive Bulgarian First League titles in a row. fter reaching the Europa League Round of 16 during the 2013-14 season, the club also made their 2014–15 UEFA Champions League debut appearance a season later, in 2014. Ludogorets currently play their home matches at the Ludogorets Arena, a stadium with a capacity of 8,808 people, which is currently being expanded to accommodate 12,500 spectators.

Notable people born in Razgrad

Twin towns — sister cities

Razgrad is twinned with: