Shumla

Shumla, or SCHUMNA, a city of Bulgaria, by rail 56 miles W. by N. of Varna and 80 SE. of Rustchuk. Of exceptional strategic importance, it is defended by strong detached forts and a fortified camp, all of which were to have been demolished according to the Berlin treaty, though the clause stipulating this has not been carried out. Shumla is a straggling place, and has numerous mosques and churches, the splendid mausoleum of Hassan Pasha (18th century), an arsenal, numerous barracks, and a military hospital. It manufactures slippers, clothing, copper wares, and silks. Pop. (1894) 23,520. The fortified works were attacked in vain by the Russians in 1774, in 1810, and in 1828, but were abandoned to them in 1878.