Haskovo

Haskovo is a town in southeastern Bulgaria. Around 96,000 people live there. It celebrated the 1,000th anniversary in 1985.

History
Archeologists (people who study stuff from long ago) say that people started to live in the Haskovo area about 7,000 years ago.  

During the 9th century, a fortress was built, and soon after, a town was built around the fortress.  The town was located on a big piece of land between the Klokotnitsa, Harmanliyska, and Maritsa rivers.

In 1395, the Eski camii (the Old Mosque) was built as one of the first in the Balkans.

In 1782, the town was known as Marsa (Arab name).

Most Bulgarians started living in Haskovo in the 19th century.  The town was a trading center for merchants (people who sell stuff) from Edirne, Enos, and Istanbul. The area became known for producing cotton, silk fabrics, and carpets. At the Treaty of Istanbul in 1913, after the second Balkan Wars, a population exchange was made by the Ottoman Empire with the Kingdom of Bulgaria, 9714 Muslim's (Turks and Xoraxane Roma) from Haskovo was expelled to East Thrace in Ottoman Empire, and 9472 Orthodox Christian (Bulgarians) from Edirne was expelled to North Trace at Kingdom of Bulgaria. 

Other websites

 Haskovo municipality website
 Online guide of Haskovo
 Haskovo.net 
 Haskovo municipality at Domino.bg 
 Haskovo.info
 Haskovo.biz

Category:Towns in Bulgaria