On July 4, 2025, as part of the "Historical Chameleons" project, a discussion on the concept of "city" was held in a hybrid form. Researchers from different historical periods made brief presentations of the meanings and perceptions of the term. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vladimir Slavchev from the Regional History Museum - Varna and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tosho Spiridonov presented on prehistoric cities, formulating the main characteristics that a settlement must meet to be classified as such. Prof. Svetlana Yanakieva reviewed the terms used to designate cities in written evidence, clearly distinguished the etymological differences between cities and villages, and presented the development of some of the concepts in chronological order. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivo Topalilov from IBCT-BAS gave a presentation on the Roman city, mainly in the period of the Principate and the early empire. He emphasized the different status of cities and the essential characteristics that distinguish them. The changes that the Roman city underwent during Late Antiquity were described by Prof. Dr. Ventsislav Dinchev, NAIM-BAS, a highlight being the unification of cities and their inclusion within the church structure.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Dimov, IBCT-BAS, spoke on the changes observed in the medieval city. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gergana Georgieva from VTU "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" and Assoc. Dr. Ventsislav Muchinov from the Institute of Urban and Regional Studies-BAS examined the Ottoman city in the Balkans - terminologically, topographically and demographically. Various examples were given for tracing the urbanization processes. The emergence of the modern Balkan city and the changes we observe in the larger settlements were examined by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivaylo Nachev. The discussion concluded with а presentation by Dr. Vasil Karadjov from IBCT-BAS, who talked about the city and its internal social structure – the city as a market, as a jungle, as an organism and as a melting pot of differences. Finally, he gave a peek into the future of the so-called smart city, which is managed by its digital twin. Moderating the event was Asst. Prof. Eli Filipova from IBCT-BAS.
The discussions involved both live and Zoom participants on key topics, such as the characteristics that define a settlement as a city and whether they change over time, the urban cultural environment and the ways of transmitting culture, the relationship between the existence of a state structure and cities, etc.
The "Historical Chameleons" project’s discussions are organized by a team of the Institute of Balkan Studies with the Center for Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences within the framework of the e-infrastructure for the Bulgarian linguistic and cultural heritage KLaDA-BG.
