Razgrad was built upon the ruins of the Ancient Roman town of Abritus on the banks of the Beli Lom river. Razgrad Province has one of the densest Turkish populations in Bulgaria, with 27% of the municipality (which also includes 22 villages) 's citizens declaring to be Turks in 1998. An absolute majority of 69% are Bulgarians, with the remaining 4% being composed for the most part of Roma.
Some of Razgrad's landmarks include the Varosha architectural complex from the 19th century, the ethnographic museum and several other museums, the characteristic clock tower in the centre built in 1864, the St Nicholas the Miracle Worker Church from 1860, the Momina cheshma sculpture, the Mausoleum Ossuary of the Liberators (1879�1880) and the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque from 1530. The mosque is said to be the third largest one in the Balkans (excluding Istanbul) and its reconstruction has still not been completed, having begun in Socialist times.
In 251, the town was the site of the Battle of Abrittus, during which the Goths defeated a Roman army under the emperors Trajan Decius and Herennius Etruscus. The battle is notable for being the first occasion of a Roman emperor being killed in a battle with barbarians.
The name of the city was Hezargrad in the Ottoman times. Razgrad Peak on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Razgrad
