Samuil (village)
Encyclopedia
Samuil is a village in northeastern Bulgaria
, part of Razgrad Province
, located in the geographic region of Ludogorie
. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Samuil Municipality
, which lies in the southeastern part of the Province. As of December 2009, the village has a population of 1,543 inhabitants.
Samuil lies among the Samuil Heights in the Ludogorie Plateau, near the second highest hill in the Danubian Plain
(501 metres). The population consists of Bulgarians
, Turks
and Roma. The area was inhabited by the Getae
and the Romans
in Antiquity and by the Slavs and Bulgars
in the Middle Ages
. It was part of the First Bulgarian Empire
and the Second Bulgarian Empire
, but fell under Ottoman
rule as early as 1388. The construction of Baron Hirsch's Rousse
-Kaspichan
-Varna
railway line in 1867-1868 turned the small village of Ishiklar into a railway station of local importance, with the first settlers being Greek
merchants and harvesters. After the Liberation of Bulgaria
, many Bulgarians settled in the village, which was renamed to Gara Samuil ("Samuil Station") and then to Samuil in honour of the medieval tsar Samuil of Bulgaria
.
Ethnic Turks constitute 75% of the population, Bulgarians being 14% and Roma 11%.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, part of Razgrad Province
Razgrad Province
Razgrad Province , former name Razgrad okrug) is a province in Northeastern Bulgaria, geographically part of the Ludogorie region. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre - the town of Razgrad...
, located in the geographic region of Ludogorie
Ludogorie
The Ludogorie or Deliorman is a region in northeastern Bulgaria stretching over the plateau of the same name. Major cities in the region are Razgrad, Novi Pazar, Pliska and Isperih...
. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Samuil Municipality
Samuil Municipality
Samuil Municipality is a municipality in Razgrad Province, Northeastern Bulgaria, located in the Ludogorie geographical region part of the Danubian Plain...
, which lies in the southeastern part of the Province. As of December 2009, the village has a population of 1,543 inhabitants.
Samuil lies among the Samuil Heights in the Ludogorie Plateau, near the second highest hill in the Danubian Plain
Danubian Plain (Bulgaria)
The Danubian Plain constitutes the northern part of Bulgaria, situated north of the Balkan Mountains and south of the Danube. Its western border is the Timok River and to the east it borders the Black Sea. The plain has an area of . It is about long and wide.The relief of the Danubian Plain is...
(501 metres). The population consists of Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
, Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
and Roma. The area was inhabited by the Getae
Getae
The Getae was the name given by the Greeks to several Thracian tribes that occupied the regions south of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria, and north of the Lower Danube, in Romania...
and the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
in Antiquity and by the Slavs and Bulgars
Bulgars
The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....
in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. It was part of the First Bulgarian Empire
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
and the Second Bulgarian Empire
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
, but fell under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule as early as 1388. The construction of Baron Hirsch's Rousse
Rousse
Ruse is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is situated in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, from the capital Sofia and from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast...
-Kaspichan
Kaspichan
Kaspichan is a town in central northeastern Bulgaria, part of Shumen Province. It is located in the eastern Danubian Plain, some 70 km from the major Black Sea port Varna and around 120 km from the key Danube ports of Rousse and Silistra...
-Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
railway line in 1867-1868 turned the small village of Ishiklar into a railway station of local importance, with the first settlers being Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
merchants and harvesters. After the Liberation of Bulgaria
Liberation of Bulgaria
In Bulgarian historiography, the term Liberation of Bulgaria is used to denote the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that led to the re-establishment of Bulgarian state with the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, after the complete conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which...
, many Bulgarians settled in the village, which was renamed to Gara Samuil ("Samuil Station") and then to Samuil in honour of the medieval tsar Samuil of Bulgaria
Samuil of Bulgaria
Samuel was the Emperor of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 980 to 997, he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria, the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal...
.
Municipality
Samuil municipality covers an area of 250 square kilometres and includes the following 14 places:
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Ethnic Turks constitute 75% of the population, Bulgarians being 14% and Roma 11%.