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Svishtov celebrates 169 years since the first chitalishte was founded in Bulgaria

The memorial plaque honouring Dimitar Nachovich
Photo: BTA-archive

Svishtov on the Danube is celebrating 169 years since the first Bulgarian chitalishte was founded. The official celebrations will take place at the memorial plaque honouring Dimitar Nachovich.

The chitalishte in Svishtov was founded on 30 January, 1856, at the initiative of Dimitar Nachovich, Emanuil Vaskifovich, Georgi Vladikin and Hristaki Filchev.

This marked the start of the spread of these cultural institutions nationwide. The chitalishte in Svishtov is named after Elenka and Kiril Avramov who donated 200,000 gold Leva for the construction of the building.

The chitalishte is the first kind of urban centres offering access to different cultural and educational services at a time when the country was still under Ottoman domination.




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