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Silistra Силистра
Silistra Art Gallery building
Coat of arms
Country	Bulgaria
Province (Oblast)	Silistra
Government
• Mayor	Yulian Naydenov
Area
• City	27.159 km (10.486 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population
• City	35 230
• Urban	50 780
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code	7500
Area code	086
Website	Official website

Silistra (Template:Lang-bg, pronounced [siˈlistrɐ] is a port city in the far northeast of Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of the Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha.

Silistra is a major cultural, industrial, transportation, and educational center of northeastern Bulgaria. There are many historical landmarks including a Roman tomb, remains of the Medieval fortress, an Ottoman fort, and an art gallery.

Etymology

The name Silistra is possibly derived from the root of the old Thracian name of the lower part of the Danube "Istrum." By another theory, the city's name comes from the Latin words "silo" and "stra", meaning "awl" and "strategy". Also, the Romanian version of its name, Dârstor is considered to have given the name of Dristor, a neighborhood in Bucharest which was at that time placed on the road to Silistra.

Geography

Silistra is in the northeastern part of Bulgaria on the right bank of the Danube River. It is located in the Bulgarian part of Dobrudzha.

The municipality of Silistra covers an area of 516 km and includes the city and 18 villages. The area of the city-proper is 27.159 km.

Silistra is 431 km from Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, 141 km from Varna, and 119 km from Ruse.

History

The Romans built a fortress in AD 29 on the site of an earlier Thracian settlement and kept its name, Durostorum (or Dorostorum). The earliest saints of Bulgaria are Roman soldiers executed at Durostorum during the Diocletian Persecution (303–313), such as St. Dasius and St. Julius the Veteran. Durostorum became an important military center of Moesia, and grew into a city at the time of Marcus Aurelius. In 388, Durostorum became the seat of a Christian bishopric and a center of Christianity in the region. Roman general Flavius Aëtius was born in the town in 396. After the Roman Empire split into the Eastern and Western empires, the town (known as Δουρόστολον, Durostolon in Byzantine Greek) became part of the Byzantine Empire. As part of the Bulgarian Empire Durostolon then became known as Drastar by the Bulgarians in Medieval times.

Around the end of the 7th century, the town was incorporated in the First Bulgarian Empire and the bishop of Drastar (Дръстър in Bulgarian) was proclaimed the first patriarch of Bulgaria. In 895 during the Bulgarian-Hungarian War of (894-896), the Hungarians who acted as Byzantine allies besieged the Bulgarian army under the personal command of Simeon I the Great in the fortress of the town but were repulsed. On the next year the Hungarians were decisively defeated in the battle of Southern Buh.

The town was captured by the forces of Sviatoslav I of Kiev in 969, but two years later it was besieged by the Byzantines during the Battle of Dorostolon. Having been ceded to the Byzantines, it was renamed Theodoropolis, after military saint Theodore Stratelates, who is said to have come to Emperor John I Tzimiskes' aid during the battle. In 976, Tsar Samuil restored Bulgarian rule in the region until 1001, when it was once again incorporated within the bounds of the Byzantine Empire.

In 1186, after the Rebellion of Asen and Peter, the town became part of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

In 1279 Emperor Ivailo was besieged by the Mongols in Drastar but after three-month siege the Bulgarians managed to break through. The town remained part of the Empire until the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans around 1400. Throughout the Middle Ages, Drastar(possibly known by the name Silistra too) was among Bulgaria's largest and most important cities.

During Ottoman rule, Silistra (Silistre in Ottoman Turkish) was part of Rumelia Province and was the administrative centre of the Silistra district (sanjak). This district was later upgraded to become the Silistra Province that stretched over most of the western Black Sea littoral.

The town was captured by Russian forces numerous times during several Russo-Turkish Wars and was besieged between 14 April and 23 June in 1854 during the Crimean War. Namık Kemal wrote his most famous play, Vatan Yahut Silistre ("Fatherland; or, Silistra"), a drama evolving around the siege of Silistra, in which he expounded on the ideas of patriotism and liberalism. It was staged first on 1 April 1873 and led to his exile to Famagusta.

The Ottoman Silistra Province was reduced in size, as the districts of Özi and Hocabey and the region of Bessarabia were ceded to the Russian Empire between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, and the Edirne Province was established from its south regions in 1830. Finally, Silistra Province merged with the provinces of Vidin and Niš in 1864 and became Danube Province in 1864. Silistra was downgraded to a kaza centre in Ruse district in this province in the same year.

Between 1819 and 1826, Eliezer Papo — a renowned Jewish scholar — was the rabbi of the community of Silistra, making this town famous among observant Jews. (Up to the present, his grave is a focus of pilgrimage, some pilgrims flying especially from Israel and even from Latin America to Bulgaria for that purpose.)

In 1878, following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Silistra was included in Bulgaria.

In May 1913, after unsuccessful Bulgarian-Romanian negotiations in London, the two countries accepted the mediation of the Great Powers, who awarded Silistra and the area in a 3 km radius around it to the Kingdom of Romania at the Saint Petersburg Conference. Following the Second Balkan War, the Treaty of Bucharest (1913) granted Silistra and the whole of Southern Dobruja to Romania when the city became called Dârstor by the Romanians. Although Bulgaria regained the town during World War I with the Treaty of Bucharest (1918), in which Romania surrendered to the Central Powers (including Bulgaria), the Treaty of Neuilly (1919) following World War I returned it to Romania. Silistra remained a part of Romania until the Axis-sponsored Treaty of Craiova of 1940, when the town once again became part of Bulgaria, a transfer confirmed by the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947. Silistra was center of Durostor County between 1913–1938, except Bulgarian rule between 1916–1918, and part of Ţinutul Mării between 1938-1940 during Romanian rule.

Population

In January 2012, Silistra was inhabited by 35 230 people within the city limits, while the Silistra Municipality along with the legally affiliated adjacent villages had 50 780 inhabitants. The number of the residents of the city (not the municipality) reached its peak in the period 1986-1991, when it exceeded 70,000. The following table presents the change of the population after 1887.

Ethnic, linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:

• Bulgarians: 29,677 (88.3%)
• Turks: 3,458 (10.3%)
• Gypsies: 123 (0.4%)
• Others: 190 (0.6%)
• Indefinable: 180 (0.5%)
  • Undeclared: 1,979 (5.6%)

Total: 35,607

The ethnic composition of Silistra Municipality is 40707 Bulgarians, 6258 as Turks and 899 Roma among others.

Notable natives

• Flavius Aetius (396-454), a Roman general, defeated Attila the Hun
• Saint Dimitra of Kiev (b. 1810), a Bulgarain saint

Honour

Silistra Knoll on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Silistra, as is the Dristor neighbourhood of Bucharest.

"Silistra" is also the name of a fictional planet in Janet Morris' book High Couch of Silistra (1977).

References

1. ^ Template:Bg iconNational Statistical Institute - 2012
2. "Bulgaria Guide, Silistra Municipality". Retrieved 30 July 2009.
3. "Bulgaria Guide, Silistra". Retrieved 30 July 2009.
4. Andreev, J. The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars (Balgarskite hanove i tsare, Българските ханове и царе), Veliko Tarnovo, 1996, p. 95, ISBN 954-427-216-X
5. Andreev, J. The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars (Balgarskite hanove i tsare, Българските ханове и царе), Veliko Tarnovo, 1996, p. 226, ISBN 954-427-216-X
6. Maariv, September 12, 2009,
7. ^ Template:Bg iconNational Statistical Institute - Towns population 1956-1992
8. Template:En icon „WorldCityPopulation“
9. „pop-stat.mashke.org“
10. Template:Bg icon Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
11. Durostor County, as per 1930 Romanian census Template:Ro icon
12. Template:Bg icon Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute
13. Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute Template:Bg icon

External links

• Official municipality website (in Bulgarian and English)
• News from UNESCO nature reserve in Silistra
• Awarded "EDEN - European Destinations of Excellence" non traditional tourist destination 2010

v t e Cities and towns of Bulgaria (2011 census)
1,000,000+	Sofia (capital)
300,000+	Plovdiv Varna
200,000+	Burgas
100,000+	Pleven Ruse Stara Zagora
50,000+	Asenovgrad Blagoevgrad Dobrich Gabrovo Haskovo Pazardzhik Pernik Shumen Sliven Veliko Tarnovo Vratsa Yambol
20,000+	Aytos Botevgrad Dimitrovgrad Dupnitsa Gorna Oryahovitsa Kardzhali Karlovo Kazanlak Kyustendil Lom Lovech Montana Nova Zagora Petrich Razgrad Samokov Sandanski Sevlievo Silistra Smolyan Svishtov Targovishte Troyan Velingrad Vidin
10,000+	Balchik Bankya Berkovitsa Byala Slatina Cherven Bryag Chirpan Elhovo Etropole Gotse Delchev Harmanli Ihtiman Karnobat Kavarna Knezha Kostinbrod Kozloduy Mezdra Nesebar Novi Iskar Novi Pazar Panagyurishte Parvomay Pavlikeni Peshtera Pomorie Popovo Provadia Radnevo Radomir Rakovski Razlog Stamboliyski Svilengrad
5,000+	Aksakovo Bansko Belene Belogradchik Beloslav Bobov Dol Bozhurishte Byala, Ruse Province Chepelare Devin Devnya Dolni Chiflik Dryanovo Dulovo Elena Elin Pelin Galabovo General Toshevo Hisarya Isperih Kostenets Kotel Krichim Krumovgrad Kubrat Kuklen Levski Lukovit Lyaskovets Lyubimets Madan Momchilgrad Omurtag Oryahovo Perushtitsa Pirdop Rakitovo Saedinenie Septemvri Simeonovgrad Simitli Slivnitsa Sopot, Plovdiv Province Sredets Straldzha Svoge Tervel Teteven Topolovgrad Tryavna Tsarevo Tutrakan Tvarditsa Varshets Veliki Preslav Yakoruda Zlatitsa Zlatograd
2,000+	Aheloy Apriltsi Ardino Banya Batak Batanovtsi Belitsa Belovo Borovo Bratsigovo Bregovo Breznik Byala Chernomorets Dalgopol Debelets Dobrinishte Dolna Banya Dolna Mitropoliya Dolna Oryahovitsa Dolni Dabnik Dospat Dragoman Dunavtsi Dve Mogili Dzhebel Glodzhevo Godech Gulyantsi Gurkovo Hadzhidimovo Ignatievo* Iskar Ivaylovgrad Kableshkovo Kalofer Kameno Kaspichan Kilifarevo Klisura Kocherinovo Koprivshtitsa Kostandovo Koynare Kresna Kran Krivodol Kula Laki Letnitsa Loznitsa Maglizh Malko Tarnovo Marten Мizia Nedelino Nikolaevo Nikopol Obzor Opaka Pavel Banya Polski Trambesh Pordim Pravets Primorsko Rila Roman Rudozem Sadovo Sapareva Banya Sarnitsa Shabla Shivachevo Slavyanovo Slivo Pole Smyadovo Sozopol Strazhitsa Strelcha Sungurlare Suvorovo Sveti Vlas Tran Trastenik Tsar Kaloyan Ugarchin Valchedram Valchi Dol Varbitsa Vetovo Vetren Yablanitsa Zavet Zlataritsa
1,000+	Ahtopol Alfatar Antonovo Balgarovo Boboshevo Bolyarovo Boychinovtsi Brusartsi Byala Cherkva Chiprovtsi Dimovo Glavinitsa Gramada Kaolinovo Kermen Merichleri Momin Prohod Plachkovtsi Senovo Shipka Suhindol Zemen
500+	Kiten Madzharovo Pliska
499-	Melnik
Notes	city status after the census of 01.02.2011: Ignatievo, Kran

v t e Municipality of Silistra
Capital: Silistra
Villages	Aydemir Babuk Balgarka Bogorovo Bradvari Glavan Kalipetrovo Kazimir Polkovnik Lambrinovo Popkralevo Profesor Ishirkovo Sarpovo Smilets Sratsimir Srebarna Tsenovich Vetren Yordanovo
Landmarks	Srebarna Nature Reserve Silistra History Museum Roman Tomb
Culture	Battle of Silistra Siege of Dorostolon
Notable people	Flavius Aetius Mariya Kocheva Denislav Kalchev Veselin Metodiev Petre Borilă Pavel Tsvetkov

• Cities in Bulgaria
• Populated places on the Danube
• Populated places in Silistra Province
• 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria
• Silistra
• Bulgaria–Romania border crossings
• Jewish pilgrimage sites