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Razgrad

Razgrad
Разград

Coat of arms
Razgrad is located in Bulgaria
Razgrad
Razgrad
Location of Razgrad
Coordinates: 43°32′N 26°31′E / 43.533°N 26.517°E / 43.533; 26.517Coordinates: 43°32′N 26°31′E / 43.533°N 26.517°E / 43.533; 26.517
Country Bulgaria
Province (Oblast) Razgrad
Government
 • Mayor Valentin Vassilev
Area
 • City 92.845 km2 (35.848 sq mi)
Elevation 270 m (890 ft)
Population (2012)
 • City 33,416
 • Density 360/km2 (930/sq mi)
 • Urban 50,457
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code 7200
Area code(s) 084
Website http://www.razgrad.bg/

Razgrad (Bulgarian: Разград [rɐzˈɡrat]) is a city in northeastern Bulgaria, administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Razgrad Province.

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.

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.


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