Hotalich

Hotalich was a fortified medieval centre near Sevlievo, guarding approaches to the passes of the central Balkan Mountains. Its hilltop enclosure and outer town contained churches, dwellings and workshops, rather than serving only as a refuge in wartime. After the Ottoman conquest, its name survived in the district of Hotalich, while nearby Selvi developed into the district's administrative and market centre. An Ottoman tax register records Selvi in 1516. By the later sixteenth century it possessed the features of an Ottoman town: two quarters, a Friday mosque and a market. Over the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the district’s weight shifted from the older fortified centre to a town whose importance rested on administration, converging roads and regular exchange, including market dues, with its rural hinterland.