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Sliven — the city of a hundred voivodes, nestled under the Blue Stones, the hometown of Hadji Dimitar.

The lands around today's Sliven have been inhabited since ancient times. As early as the Thracian era, the area was inhabited by local tribes, and in the III-IV centuries, the Roman settlement of Tuida existed here - an important fortress and trading post in the province of Hemimont. Remains of the Tuida fortress can still be seen today in the Hisarlka area, at the foot of the Blue Stones rock massif. After the settlement of the Slavs and the inclusion of the area in the Bulgarian lands in the early Middle Ages, the settlement was gradually restored - a discovered lead seal of the Bulgarian prince Boris-Mikhail testifies to a connection with Sliven as early as the 9th century. The city was first mentioned in writing in 1153 by the Arab traveler Muhammad al-Idrisi, who described it as a large and fortified settlement. During the Ottoman period, the city was known by the Turkish name Islimiye and was mentioned in registers from 1609 and 1668 as a developed craft center. It was then that Sliven and the Sliven region became one of the main centers of the Hajdush movement - the resistance against the Turkish rule, which is why the city remains in history as the "city of the hundred voivodes". Hadji Dimitar was born here on May 10, 1840, and Panayot Hitov in 1830, two of the most famous leaders of the Bulgarian national liberation movement. Sliven has a special place in the economic history of Bulgaria - in 1834 the entrepreneur Dobri Zhelyazkov (the Manufacturer) opened here the first factory in the Balkans outside of the artisan type, producing woolen fabrics for the Ottoman army. Thus, the city marks the beginning of the Bulgarian textile industry, which will determine its appearance in the next century. After the Liberation in 1878, Sliven developed as a district center and continued to strengthen as the textile capital of the country, with a number of spinning and weaving factories. The city also preserves its rich Renaissance and revolutionary heritage, immortalized in numerous monuments and museums. In the 20th century, Sliven established itself as an important industrial, administrative and cultural center of Southeastern Bulgaria. Textile production, machine building and viticulture are developing, and tourism related to the "Blue Stones" nature park is developing near the city. Today, Sliven is one of the major cities in the country - with a lively cultural scene, drama theater, museums and ancient Hajduš traditions, picturesquely located under the cliffs of the Blue Stones and known for its unique natural and historical appearance.