Chiprovtsi
Chiprovtsi ( bulg: Чипровци ) is a Bulgarian town in the Oblast Montana in the western Balkan Mountains about 30 km from Montana.
The city is known for its colorful rugs that are decorated with geometric figures who rarely occur in the Bulgarian folklore.
History
In the 13th century attracted Catholic miners from Saxony in the city.
After the fall of the last Bulgarian fortress of Vidin in 1396, Bulgaria finally fell under Ottoman rule.
About this rule in Chiprovtsi writes Prof. Duichev: "The Turks met in this area the Saxon miners to. Through its position in the first centuries of Ottoman rule, nothing is known. The Ottoman state needed the mines, and one can assume that certain liberties were the miners allowed. However, since the had no opportunity to stay with their compatriots and with the Catholic Church in contact, they were strongly influenced by the local Bulgarian population. In the first documents from the XVI -XVII. Century above these areas, no Saxon miners are mentioned as inhabitants. One must assume that already in the first half of XVI.Jhs. the Saxons merged with the local population, which had left lasting consequences. In the language of the Bulgarian miners many words of German origin were obtained. Part of the city was called even until the second half of the XVII.Jhs. , Saxony mahala ' (, Saxony quarter). "
Between August and October 1688 Chiprovtsi uprising against Turkish rule took place. Due to the low support from the neighboring Christian powers, Austria - Hungary, Poland - Lithuania and Venice the uprising by the Turks could be struck down. The crackdown was carried out by the Janissaries, which take precedence over with great brutality and burned a number of villages. Many rebellious Bulgarians fled afterwards to Wallachia (see Banat Bulgarian). It prevails in the Bulgarian historiography is still a tendency for strong overvaluation of this revolt, which is justified neither in quantitative and qualitative terms. For at that time lived only a few thousand Christians in the area of Chiprovtsi.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Petar Bogdan (1601-1674), Bulgarian Catholic bishop, author of the first Bulgarian history (Latin )
- Petar Partschewitsch Baron (1612-1674), Bulgarian Catholic archbishop, diplomat
- Georgi Pavlov (1913-1995), Bulgarian painter