Хасково

Haskovo — city of the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary in the world and the famous mineral baths.

The Haskovo valley has been inhabited since ancient times — the first settlers appeared here during the Middle Neolithic, around 5000 BC, and during the Iron Age, the lands around today's town fell into the lands of the Thracians, who left numerous burial mounds, sanctuaries and fortresses. A few tens of kilometers from Haskovo, in the district, is the famous Thracian Alexander tomb with unique wall paintings. At the end of the 8th century, the Slavs built a fortified settlement in the area of ​​Hisarya, south of today's city, surrounded by a thick fortress wall; during its expansion at the beginning of the 10th century, a second fortification wall was built. One of the most glorious events in Bulgarian history took place near the village of Klokotnitsa in Haskovo, where in 1230 Tsar Ivan Asen II defeated the army of the Epirus despot Theodore Comnenus. Today's settlement was formed as a city during the period of Ottoman rule under the name of Haskovo (Haskøy), and its proximity to one of the few preserved land routes through the Southern Balkans helped its development. Nearby flourished the Uzundzów Fair, one of the largest trade fairs in the Ottoman Empire, attracting traders from all over Europe and Asia. The Eski Jumaya Mosque in the center of the city dates back to the end of the 14th century. During the Renaissance, Haskovo established itself as a craft and trade center — leather and fur-dressing developed, with over 200 workshops in the city. After liberation from Ottoman rule in 1878, the city gradually became the economic and administrative center of Southern Bulgaria. At the beginning of the 20th century, Haskovo established itself as the center of the tobacco industry, and after 1944 it experienced industrial development with textile, engineering and food processing enterprises. The city went through the transition to a market economy at the end of the century, retaining its role as a regional center. Today, Haskovo is best known for the monumental 33-meter statue of the Holy Virgin and Child on the hill above the city, erected in 2003 and listed in the Guinness World Records as the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary in the world. The city lies at the intersection of trans-European transport corridors No. 4, 9 and 10, connecting Europe with Asia, and the nearby Haskovo mineral baths make it a balneological center as well.