Shumen is a historic city, known primarily for the ruins of a medieval fortress and the monumental Monument to the Creator of the Bulgarian State. There is also the largest working mosque in Bulgaria.
The medieval history of Szumen was related to the existence of the local fortress. During the reign of Byzantium, a stronghold with five corner towers and high walls was built here. In the 12th century it fell prey to the Bulgarians, and in 1388 it was captured by the Turks. The end of the castle's splendor was put by the troops which, under the command of Władysław Warneńczyk, moved through Bulgaria in 1444. Currently, its area is a historical and archaeological reserve of the Shumen Fortress with numerous remains of old defensive structures.
A valuable monument of Szumen is the Tombul Mosque, built in the 18th century. One of the most beautiful in the country, it is also used all the time. The Orthodox Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs is later, in the nineteenth century.
In 1981, the Monument to the Creator of the Bulgarian State was erected on the hill above the city. It consists of 8 concrete blocks forming the rooms in which the figures of Asparuch, Tervel, Krum the Conqueror, Omurtag, Boris I Michael, Simeon I the Great and other leaders and warriors who led to the establishment of the state were placed. There is also a place for St. Cyril and Methodius, the Naum of Ohrid, and scholars and artists working in the so-called the golden age of the Bulgarian state.
There are also many interesting museums in Šumen. These are the Military Museum, the Panayot Volov Museum, the Dobrij Wojnikov Museum, the Dimitar Srebrov Museum and the Lajos Kossuth Museum, which commemorate the internment in the city of insurgents from the Hungarian Spring of Nations, headed by Kossuth and Józef Bem.
