Blagoevgrad
Blagoevgrad (Благоевград) | ||||
|
||||
Basic data | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
State : | Bulgaria | |||
Oblast : | Blagoevgrad | |||
Residents : | 69,610 (December 31, 2016) | |||
Coordinates : | 42 ° 1 ' N , 23 ° 6' E | |||
Height : | 410 m | |||
Postal code : | 2700 | |||
Telephone code : | (+359) 073 | |||
License plate : | E. | |||
administration | ||||
Mayor : | Roumen Tomov |
Blagoewgrad [ bɫɐˈɡɔɛvˌɡrat ] ( Bulgarian Благоевград , until 1950 Gorna Dschumaja / Горна Джумая , Turkish Yukarı Cuma ) is a city in southwest Bulgaria , at the same time the administrative seat of the Blagoevgrad Oblast and has about 69,610 inhabitants (2016). The city is the economic and cultural center of south-west Bulgaria.
location
Blagoevgrad is located in the valley of the Struma River at the foot of the Rila and Pirin Mountains , 86 km south of Sofia and near the border with Greece , Serbia and North Macedonia . The Blagoevgradska Bistritsa flows through the city .
In the vicinity of the city are the winter sports resort Bodrost and the pyramids of Melnik and Stob , as well as the Roschen monastery .
history
An ancient Thracian settlement called Scaptopara emerged around 300 BC. And was later conquered by the Romans . The settlement was famous for its mineral springs in nearby Rila .
Although hardly anything has been handed down from the medieval development of the city, the originally Muslim- majority city was called Cuma-ı Bala under Ottoman rule in the Balkans , which means Upper Juma in Persian and Ottoman . Today's district of Warosha was built during the Bulgarian Revival and has been preserved with many typical buildings and the Church of the Apparition of Our Lady (1844). A Tschitalischte (cultural center with adult education center ) was founded in 1866.
In 1902 the Gorna Dschumaja uprising broke out in the area , which was directed against the Turkish rule and was also supported logistically and by arms deliveries from Bulgaria.
The city has been part of the Bulgarian state since the Balkan War of 1912/1913. Before the Balkan War, Cuma-ı Bala belonged as a Kaza to the Sanjak Serez in Vilayet Selanik .
Many Bulgarian re-emigrants from Aegean and Vardar Macedonia settled here in the following decades, as a result of which the city, then called Gorna Dschumaja (Горна Джумая, a partial translation of the Ottoman name), grew in size and importance.
In 1950 the city was renamed Blagoevgrad in honor of the founder of the Bulgarian Communist Party , Dimitar Blagoew , who was himself a Bulgarian from Aegean Macedonia.
Skaptopara Cove on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands , Antarctica , is named after the ancient predecessor of Blagoevgrad. Since 2012, the city has also given its name to the Blagoevgrad Peninsula on the Oskar II coast of Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula
Cityscape
The city center is characterized by a pedestrian zone with numerous restaurants, cafes and retail shops. There are two universities, the South West University Neofit Rilski and the American University in Bulgaria . The city is also the location of the Kyrill and Method Humanistic Gymnasium , which was moved from Thessaloniki in 1913 .
Blagoevgrad is a well-known balneological health resort. As early as the Middle Ages, people flocked to the 30 mineral springs and warm baths to receive treatments for the musculoskeletal system and neurological, skin, kidney, urological and other diseases at a water temperature of 55 ° C.
Twin cities
- Auburn, Alabama , USA
- Delčevo , North Macedonia
- Serres , Greece
- Székesfehérvár , Hungary
- Thessaloniki , Greece
- Nagasaki , Japan
- Skopje , North Macedonia
- Lecce , Italy
Sports
The local football club Pirin Blagoevgrad plays in the highest Bulgarian football league .
sons and daughters of the town
- Georgi Wassilew (* 1946), football player and coach
- Alexander Arabadjiev (* 1949), politician and judge at the European Court of Justice
- Ivajlo Andonov (* 1967), football player
- Stojtscho Stoilow (* 1971), football player
- Dimitar Berbatow (* 1981), football player
- Georgi Daskalow (* 1981), football player
- Boris Galtschew (* 1983), football player
- Stanislaw Manolew (* 1985), football player
- Petar Sanew (* 1985), football player
- Dimitar Partalow (* 1990), biathlete
- Weni Sarbinska (* 1995), soccer player
- Kiprijan Berbatow (* 1996), chess player