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{{short description|Slavic name for Constantinople}}
{{For|the Russian television channel|Tsargrad TV}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2019}}
[[File:Selim II and the Crown of Tsarigrad, Leatopiseț ce-i zice Cartea împăraților, 1757.png|thumb|370px|[[Selim II]] with the "crown of Tsarigrad", in a 1757 illustration by [[Wallachia]]'s Constantin Săidăcar ot Mogoșoaia]]
'''''Tsarigrad''''' or '''''Tsargorod''''', also ''Czargrad'' and ''Tzargrad'', is a [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] name for the city or land of [[Constantinople]] (present-day [[Istanbul]] in [[Turkey]]), the capital of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. It is rendered in several ways depending on the language, for instance:
* {{langx|orv|Цѣсарьградъ|translit=Tsěsarĭgradŭ}};
* {{langx|cu|Царьгра̀дъ|translit=Tsarĭgràdŭ}};
* {{langx|be|Царгорад|translit=Tsarhorad}};
* {{langx|ru|Царьгра́д|translit=Tsar'grád}};
* {{langx|uk|Царгород|translit=Tsarhorod}};
* [[South Slavic languages]]:  ''Carigrad'' / ''Tsarigrad'' or Цариград, depending on their alphabets;
* {{langx|cs|Cařihrad}};
* {{langx|sk|Carihrad}};
* {{langx|pl|Carogród}}.
''Tsargrad'' is an [[Old Church Slavonic]] translation of the [[Greek language|Greek]] Βασιλὶς Πόλις.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} Combining the Slavonic words ''[[tsar]]'' for "[[caesar (title)|caesar]] / [[emperor]]" and ''grad'' for "city", it meant "imperial city". According to Per Thomsen, the Old East Slavic form influenced an [[Old Norse]] appellation of Constantinople, ''Miklagard'' (Мikligarðr).
[[Bulgarians]] also applied the word to [[Veliko Tarnovo|Tarnovgrad]] (''Tsarevgrad Tarnov'', "Imperial City of Tarnov"), one of the capitals of the tsars of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]], but after the [[Balkans]] came under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule, the Bulgarian word has been used exclusively as another name of Constantinople.<ref>Софроний Врачански. Житие и страдания на грешния Софроний. София 1987. Стр. 55 (An explanatory endnote to [[Sophronius of Vratsa]]'s autobiography)</ref><ref>Найден Геров. 1895-1904. Речник на блъгарский язик. (the entry on ''царь'' in [[Naiden Gerov]]'s Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language)</ref><ref>Симеонова, Маргарита. Речник на езика на Васил Левски. София, ИК "БАН", 2004 (the entry on ''царь'' in Margarita Simeonova's ''Dictionary of the Language of [[Vasil Levski]]'')</ref>
As the ''[[zeitgeist]]'' which spawned the term has faded, the word ''Tsargrad'' is now an archaic term in [[Russian language|Russian]]. It is however still used occasionally in [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], particularly in a historical context. A major traffic artery in [[Bulgaria]]'s capital [[Sofia]] carries the name ''[[Tsarigradsko shose]]'' ("Tsarigrad Road"); the road begins as the [[Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard]] and continues into the [[Trakiya motorway|main highway]] that leads southeast to Istanbul. The name ''Tsarigrad'' is also retained in word groups such as ''tsarigradsko grozde'' ("Tsarigrad grapes", meaning "[[gooseberry]]"), the dish ''tsarigradski kyuftentsa'' ("small Tsarigrad [[kofta]]s") or sayings like "One can even get to Tsarigrad by asking". In [[Slovene language|Slovene]] it is still largely used and often preferred over the official name.<ref>Seznam tujih imen v slovenskem jeziku. Geodetska uprava Republike Slovenije. Ljubljana 2001. p. 18.</ref> People also understand and sometimes use the name ''Carigrad'' in [[Bosnia]], [[Croatia]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Montenegro]] and [[Serbia]].
The Romance language [[Romanian language|Romanian]] borrowed the term as ''Țarigrad'',<ref name="Șăineanu">{{cite book |last1=Șăineanu |first1=Lazăr |title=Dicționar universal al limbei române |date=1929 |edition=VI |url=https://dexonline.ro/definitie/%C8%9Barigrad/822437 |accessdate=10 April 2020 |language=ro}}</ref> due to the long tradition of [[Church Slavonic in Romania]], but it is an archaic usage now that has been replaced by ''Constantinopol'' and ''Istanbul''. Nowadays, a village in [[Moldova]] is called [[Țarigrad]].
== See also ==
* [[Names of Istanbul]]
* [[Constantinople]]
* [[Third Rome]]
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Bulgarian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Constantinople]]
[[bg:Истанбул (имена)#Цариград]]