Prehistory and antiquity The earliest traces of human settlement in the area date from the
5th millennium BC, the
Neolithic. Numerous archaeological findings, among them the Nikolaevo treasure found in
Bulgaria, evidence the rich culture of the
Thracians, who inhabited the area for thousands of years. In the beginning of the new era, the region became part of the
Roman province of
Moesia, and a road station called
Storgosia arose near present-day Pleven on the road from
Oescus (near modern
Gigen) to
Philippopolis (now
Plovdiv). It later evolved into a
fortress. One of the most valued archaeological monuments in Bulgaria from the period is the
Early Christian basilica from the fourth century discovered near the modern city.
Middle Ages During the
Middle Ages, Pleven was a well-developed stronghold of the
First and the
Second Bulgarian Empire. When
Slavs populated the region, they gave the settlement its contemporary name
Pleven, it was first mentioned in a charter by
Hungarian king Stephen V in 1270 in connection to a military campaign in the Bulgarian lands.
Ottoman rule During the
Ottoman rule, Pleven, known as
Plevne in
Ottoman Turkish, preserved its Bulgarian appearance and culture. Many churches, schools and bridges were built at the time of the
Bulgarian National Revival. In 1825, the first secular school in the town was opened, followed by the first girls' school in Bulgaria in 1840, as well as the first boys' school a year later. Pleven was the place where the Bulgarian
national hero Vasil Levski established the first revolutionary committee in 1869, part of
his national revolutionary network.
Siege of Plevna The city (then mostly known as Plevna outside Bulgaria) was a
major battle scene during the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 that Russian
Tsar Alexander II held for the purpose of the liberation of Bulgaria. The joint
Russian and
Romanian army paid dearly for the victory, but it paved the path for the defeat of the
Ottoman Empire in this war, the restoration of Bulgaria as a state and the independence of Romania from the Ottoman Empire. It cost the Russians and Romanians 5 months and 38,000 casualties to take the town after four assaults, in what was one of the decisive battles of the war. The siege is remembered as a landmark victory of the
Romanian War of Independence, as on 28 November 1877 the Plevna citadel capitulated, and
Osman Pasha surrendered the city, the garrison and his sword to the Romanian Colonel
Mihail Cerchez. , one of the town's best known sights In the
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition of 1911
J.H.V. Crowe concluded his lengthy entry on Pleven (transcribed as Plevna) with the memorable dictum: On the other hand, the siege of Plevna stands out among other countless sieges and military actions in the region because of its significance.
Modern history The events of the Russo-Turkish War proved crucial for the development of Pleven as a key town of central northern Bulgaria. The town experienced significant demographic and economic growth in the following years, gradually establishing itself as a cultural centre of the region. The
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, a leading
interwar party representing the Bulgarian peasantry, was founded in the town in December 1899. Prior to the Bulgarian
orthographic reform of 1945, the name of the town was spelled Плѣвенъ (with
yat) in
Cyrillic. ==Population==