Provadia is the site of
Solnitsata, Europe's oldest prehistoric town. Excavations on city walls that started in 2005 reveal a town that dates back to between 4,700 BC and 4,200 BC. It is believed to have been the site of salt trading. Historical names of the medieval fortress, the ruins of which have been preserved until today, include
Provat (
Byzantine Greek),
Ovech (Овеч, Bulgarian),
Provanto (
Italian) and
Pravadı (
Turkish language). The Greek name and its adaptations stem from the word πρόβατο,
provato, "sheep", and the medieval Bulgarian name corresponds directly (being derived from овца,
ovtsa, with the same meaning). The fortress is open for visitors. During the Middle Ages the town was a key centre of the
First Bulgarian Empire with an important monastery at the modern village of Ravna, the church of which was consecrated on 23 April 897, and a major
scriptorium of the
Preslav Literary School. The rebel leader and subsequently emperor of Bulgaria
Ivailo defeated a 10,000-strong Byzantine army near the city in 1279. During the
Second Bulgarian Empire it was the seat of a metropolitan in the 14th century. Ovech was captured by the Ottomans in 1388 after a long siege. In the 17th and 18th century Provadia was a commercial centre of the
Ottoman Empire and was inhabited by many
Jewish and
Ragusan merchants. A 16th-17th-century
Dubrovnik-style church still stands in the nearby village of
Dobrina. ==Today==