Town Hall “Zarya-1858”

A set of political and social economic factors determine the cultural development during the National Revival and create prerequisites to establish a new form of an educational center – the town hall. Following the example of the first town hall in Svishtov (1856), town halls in Lom and Shumen were founded within a year. Only two years later, in 1858 the Town Hall “Zarya – 1858” was founded in the town of Haskovo, being the first one in South Bulgaria and the fourth in the country. Christodul Shishmanov, Ivancho Minchev, Hristo Zlatarov, Yani Kozhuharov and other active and influential residents founded this Town Hall, which quickly became an attractive center for every patriot. During the years it has established itself as a cultural institution connected with the history and the spiritual life of the town of Haskovo.
Even today, the Town Hall “Zarya – 1858” continues to perform its main functions – to disseminate knowledge and culture. The building, where it has been housed since 1966, is the place where various activities have been developed: A library with a fund of over 118 000 volumes serves the readers’ demands for information; linguistic, music, computer and art schools enjoy great interest and attendance; participants in the choir “Rodna Pesen”, in the sports dance club “Haskovo” and the club for old urban songs “Ari” are laureates of a number of prestigious national and international awards.