Travel Guide Dobritch (Добрич)

In the extreme northeast of Bulgaria, close to Romania and the Black Sea, Dobritch enjoys a special history and location. Between the Danube plain and the coast, the capital of the Bulgarian Dobruja, a historical region shared with Romania, can be an interesting stop. The city, with a population of about 85,000, is lively and has a typical atmosphere. In ancient times, it was called Kourouskelya, "the dry port". It changed its name several times according to the domination and the historical period. Originally, it was founded in the 16th century by the Turkish merchant Hacıoğlu, whose name it bore during the Ottoman period and until Bulgaria's independence in 1882. The great Turkish traveler Evliya Çhelebi writes in his memoirs that in 1651, the city had 2,000 houses, 7 quarters, 3 dormitories, 200 stores, a bazaar with 100 stores, a remarkable size for the time, attesting to a large trading city. After the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913 and the integration of the region into Romania, the city was named, in Romanian, Bazargic, from the old Turkish name Hacıoğlu Pazarcık, until 1940. Under the Communist yoke, it was Tolbukhin (Bulgarian: Толбухин). Today, the city is in the center of a large agricultural region - the "wheat field" of Bulgaria - and keeps a large minority of Turkish origin. It is in this city that the largest agricultural exhibition in the country is held every year.