Kilifarevo

Infobox Settlement
official_name = PAGENAME
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = BUL
subdivision_type1 = Provinces
(Oblast)
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3
map_caption = Location of Kilifarevo
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position =
pushpin_map_caption =Location of Kilifarevo
pushpin_mapsize =
leader_title =Mayor
postal_code_type =Postal Code|native_name=Килифарево
|subdivision_name1=Veliko Tarnovo
population_total=2532|population_footnotes=GR|Bulgaria
population_as_of=2005-09-13
elevation_m=303
postal_code=5050
area_code=06114
blank_info=BT|blank_name= License plate|
latd=42|latm=59|lats=|latNS=N|longd=25|longm=38|longs=|longEW=E|leader_name=Stefan Harizanov (BSP)

Kilifarevo ( _bg. Килифарево) is a small town in central northern Bulgaria, administratively part of Veliko Tarnovo municipality, Veliko Tarnovo Province. Previously a village, it was proclaimed a town in 1973.

Ruins and remains are proof ot the presence of civilization in the neighbouring area since the times of the Thracians. A fortress which guarded a pass through the Balkan Mountains existed nearby during the Roman Empire. During the Second Bulgarian Empire and more precisely the rule of Ivan Alexander (1331–1371), Kilifarevo was a centre of literary activity and the site of Theodosius of Tarnovo's school and monastery which actively promoted the spiritual practice of hesychasm.

Upon Bulgaria's conquest by the Ottoman Empire, the monastery was besieged, captured and razed by the invading Ottomans. It was later reconstructed and still exists today. During the Ottoman rule, Kilifarevo was the birthplace of Velcho Atanasov the Glazier, who organized the Velchova zavera (Велчова завера), an unsuccessful uprising against the Ottomans, in 1835.

Kilifarevo has a cultural centre ("chitalishte"), founded in 1884 and called Napredak ("Progress"), and a museum of local history, which occupies an old house. There are two Eastern Orthodox churches, St Archangel Michael and Dormition of the Mother of God.

References and external links

* [http://free.hit.bg/kilifarevo/index.html Website on the history of Kilifarevo] bg icon
* [http://www.pravoslavieto.com/manastiri/kilifarevski/index.htm Kilifarevo Monastery at Pravoslavieto.com] bg icon en icon
* [http://www.bulgarianmonastery.com/bg/kilifarevo_monastery.html Kilifarevo Monastery at BulgarianMonastery.com] bg icon en icon

References