Лясковец

The city of gardeners-gurbetchii and of the Peter and Paul Monastery near Tarnovo.

Village life on the lands of Lyaskovets has existed since the Chalcolithic (IV millennium BC). The name of the city comes from "leska" - the hazel bushes that grow in abundance on the surrounding hills. A more tangible documented history begins during the era of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (XIII-XIV centuries), when the proximity to the capital Veliko Tarnovo gave impetus to development. It was then that the Lyaskov (Petropavlovsky) monastery "St. Peter and Paul" was founded, which, according to tradition, housed one of the first Bulgarian literary schools. The city is formed around five neighborhoods, named after the churches "St. Athanasius", "St. Vasil", "St. George", "St. Dimitar" and "St. Nicholas". During the Ottoman period, with a firman of Sultan Selim II from 1538, residents were given tax breaks and autonomous status. Three anti-Ottoman uprisings started from the monastery, and the revolutionaries Georgi Rakovski and Vasil Levski stayed in the city during the Renaissance. A distinctive feature of Lyaskovets is its horticultural tradition. Since 1863, horticultural groups have operated here, and later the horticultural societies "Bee" (1906) and "Saglasie" (1910). The people of Lyaskov became famous Gurbetchii-gardeners who spread vegetable production throughout the Balkans and Russia. Liberation came bloodlessly on June 25, 1877, when the Ottoman garrison fled. On March 15, 1880, Lyaskovets was declared a city. In the 20th century, the city experienced a severe earthquake in 1913, which destroyed five churches and most of the brick buildings. Electrification came in 1928, and in 1929–1930 the Gorna Oryahovitsa–Lyaskovets railway was opened. Today, Lyaskovets preserves its horticultural heritage and continues the tradition of the Triphon Zarezan holiday.