Tervel (town)

Tervel Тервел
Tervel Location of Tervel
Coordinates:43°45′N27°24′E
Country	Bulgaria
Provinces (Oblast)	Dobrich
Government
• Mayor	Zhivko Georgiev
Population (December 2009)
• Total	6,667
Time zone	UTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3(EEST)
Postal Code	9450
Area code	05751

Tervel(Bulgarian:Тервел,pronounced[ˈtɛrvɛɫ]) is a town in northeasternBulgaria,part ofDobrich Province.It is the administrative centre ofTervel Municipality,which lies in the westernmost part of the province. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 6,667.

History

The oldOttoman Turkishname of the town wasKurtbunar( "well of the wolves" ): the village was first mentioned inOttomantax registers of 1673, although the area has been inhabited continuously since antiquity by theGetaetribe ofThracians,then theSlavsand theBulgars,and constituted a part of the Bulgarian Empire during most of theMiddle Ages.In 1878, Kurtbunar became part of the newly liberatedPrincipality of Bulgariaand it was promoted to a district centre ofSilistraCounty on 26 July 1882. The village was part ofRomaniaalong with all ofSouthern Dobrujabetween 1913 and 1940, and the name was rendered asCurtbunar.It was also a district centre ofDurostor Countyunder Romanian rule. The modern Bulgarian name honoursTervel of Bulgaria,a successful eighth-century Bulgarian monarch. The former village was proclaimed a town in January 1960.

Tervel has a museum opened in 1986. It features anethnographiccollection, an art gallery and an archaeological exposition, including a 3,500-year-oldhuman skeleton.