Pazardzhik
was founded by Tatars from what is today Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in 1485 on the
left bank of the river Maritsa, near the market of the region, an important
crossroad at the middle of this productive region, and named Tatar Pazardzhik
(Tatar: Tatar Pazardjik, "small Tatar market"). Thanks to this
favourable location, the settlement quickly developed. While it was very small
at the beginning of the 19th century, it became the administrative centre for
the region at the end of the century and remained so until the Liberation from
Turkish occupation.
During the
following centuries the town continued to grow and strengthened its position.
Trade in iron, leather and rice prospered. The town impressed visitors with its
beautiful houses and clean streets. In 1718 Gerard Kornelius Drish visited
Pazardzhik and wrote "the buildings here according to construction, size
and beauty stand higher than those of Niš, Sofia and all other places".
The
Russians under Count Nikolay Kamensky took the city after a brief siege in
1810. By the mid-19th century Pazardzhik was a big, important centre of crafts
and trade, with a population of about 25,000 people. It hosted two big annual
fairs, and a big market Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There was a post office with a
telegraph.
In 1837 the
Church of the Mother of God was built – an important national monument, famous
for its architecture and woodcarving. In the mid-19th century Pazardzhik became
an important cultural centre: a school was opened in 1847, a girls' school in
1848, a community centre in 1868, the women's union "Prosveta" in
1870.
Pazardzhik
is exempt from Zapdniya Russian detachment commander with Lt. Gen. Joseph Gurko
on 14 January 1878 (new style). Thanks Ovanes Sovadzhiyan Armenian, Turkish
command failed to execute his perfidious and monstrous plan – to light the town
and destroy its Bulgarian population – before retiring.
From the
early 20th century on people built factories, stores and houses, and thus the
industrial quarter of the town. From 1959 to 1987 Pazardzhik was again an
administrative centre for the region, and is again since the 1999
administrative division of Bulgaria.
In the
1880s the population of Pazardzhik numbered about 15,000 inhabitants and it was
one of the largest of Bulgaria.[2] Since then it started growing decade by
decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding
smaller towns, reaching its peak in the period 1985–1992 exceeding 80,000.[3]
After this time, the population has started decreasing in consequence of the
poor economic situation in the Bulgarian provinces during the 1990s that led to
a new migration in the direction of the country capital Sofia and abroad. As of
February 2011, the city has a population of 71,979 inhabitants, while the
Pazardzhik Municipality of 114,817 inhabitants.
