Характерни черти в развитието на българските селища до началото на XX в
Characteristic Features in the Development of the Bulgarian Settlements up to the Early 20th Century

Summary/Abstract: After elucidating the question of ethnographic research on the Bulgarian traditional settlement system, a review is made of settlements at various periods of history from Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages to up to our own day, more attention being paid to the period of Ottoman domination and the National Revival period. It is emphasized that, in spite of the country's dynamic historical fate, five groups of settlements can be delimited on Bulgarian ethnic territory in the 19th century. These settlements actually represent the traditional Bulgarian settlement system. They are: separate courtyards, hamlets or neighbourhoods, villages, small towns and towns. According to their planning, the first two settlement forms are scattered in type, while the others are compact. According to their orographic characterization they are plain, hill and mountain settlements, and according to structure they are ribbon or compact. The reasons for which they were created are given for each individual type of settlement, its spread and length of existence. The characteristic features of the scattered and compact settlements are emphasized and so are those in the plains, hills and mountains, their specific features and architectural and urban silhouette. The great variety of the Bulgarian traditional settlement system is, on the one hand, a reflection of settlement forms inherited from past historical epochs, and on the other hand it is linked with the changes which set in in the material culture of the Bulgarian people during the National Revival period and after the Liberation.

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