Kalofer

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Kalofer (Калофер)
Coat of arms is missing
Help on coat of arms 		Map of Bulgaria, position of Kalofer highlighted
Basic data
State : BulgariaBulgaria Bulgaria
Oblast : Plovdiv
Residents : 2746  (December 31, 2018)
Coordinates : 42 ° 37 ′  N , 24 ° 59 ′  E Coordinates: 42 ° 37 ′ 0 ″  N , 24 ° 59 ′ 0 ″  E
Height : 666 m
Postal code : 4370
Telephone code : (+359) 03133
License plate : PB
administration
Mayor : Sofia Dimitrova
Website : www.kalofer.com
the central square in Kalofer
the house of Christo Botew in Kalofer

Kalofer ( Bulgarian Калофер ) is a town in the Karlovo municipality in Plovdiv Oblast in central Bulgaria .

geography

Kalofer, located on the southern slopes of the Balkan Mountains , is in the immediate vicinity of the Central Balkan Mountains National Park , at the foot of the Botew . The city is located in the Rose Valley , between the Balkan Mountains (in the north) and the much smaller mountain range of the Sredna Gora (in the south). The city lies on both sides of the Tundscha River . The smaller river Byala reka flows near the city .

It is 17 km to the next larger city Karlovo and 22 km to Sopot . The city is 164 km east of the capital Sofia and 56 km west of Plovdiv. It is 222 km to Burgas on the Black Sea. The main road Sofia – Karlovo – Burgas runs on the southern outskirts. The Sofia – Burgas railway line runs 2 km south of the town, where the train station is located.

history

The name of Kalofer derives from the Wojwoden from Kalifer. According to other versions, it was called Kalefer, Kalefir, Karanfil or Kalemfir. According to legend, he was the leader of a 40-man squad of Heidukes who ruled this part of the Balkan Mountains, regularly raided the Ottoman trade caravans and made the area unsafe. Their base camp was at the ruins of the old Slavic city and fortification Swanigrad (Bulgarian Звъниград), which had been destroyed by the Ottomans - west of the present-day Caliph.

Swanigrad, of which there are no more traces today, lay between Strascha and the monastery of Kalofer, on the bank of a small river called Swanuschka; west of the valley of the river Byala reka, the place is now called Poleto (Bulgarian местност Полето). After the invasion of the Ottomans (late 14th, early 15th century), Swanigrad was destroyed.

After years of struggle, the Caliph was ready to bow to the Ottomans and finally sought an understanding with them. Since the Ottomans could not master these attacks, the Sultan Murad III. (1546–1595) forced to meet them. The Sultan's ( Ferman ) decree offered them to settle in the region on condition that they stop the raids and pass the Strascha Pass (bulg. Проход "Стражата") and the Rusalska pateka (bulg. Русалска пътека) for guarded the Ottomans, thus serving them as derwendschi , which also brought them exemption from tax. Califer accepted the offer and negotiated that in addition to the settlement he would be given an area that he could circumnavigate on horseback in two days. As a ruse, he had his people post rested horses along the route, which he changed several times during his violent kick and thus marked out a very large area for his new settlement. The city of Kalofer was founded here in the middle of the 16th century, in an area where only forests stood, with a very large surrounding area that still belongs to the city today. The legend also tells that the Heiducken, since they had no wives, robbed them from the neighboring city of Sopot ( bride robbery ).

The privileges that the settlement received from the time it was founded helped to maintain its purely Bulgarian character. The traditional Bulgarian festivals have always been celebrated here. The Ottomans called the settlement Usun Uluk ("long river bed"; Cyrillic: Узун Улук).

In the centuries after its founding, Kalofer grew into a cultural and economic center and was known as the "Golden Kalofer" (Turkish: Altan Kalofer).

In 1799 and 1804 the city was attacked and burned down by so-called Kardschalis (Turkish kırcaliler , Bulgarian Кърджалии, kǎrdžalii ) - marauding gangs - but then quickly rebuilt.

Kalofer was a center of national recollection during the period of the Bulgarian Revival . During this period, 150 years ago, one of the first Bulgarian schools, the Botjo Petkow School, was built here.

Kalofer reached its heyday in the first half of the 19th century. At that time there were 1200 craftsmen in the city.

During the Russo-Ottoman War (1877–1878) , Kalofer suffered the same fate as the neighboring towns of Karlowo and Sopot; it was burned and looted by the Bashi Bosuks (irregular Ottoman troops), so that today there is almost nothing left from the period before 1877 in Kalofer is preserved.

The city is namesake for Kalofer Peak , a mountain on Livingston Island in Antarctica.

Attractions

Today Kalofer is also known for its many churches and monasteries and for the preserved old Bulgarian handicrafts. There still woodcarvers, weavers pottery, copper driver and coopers. The city is particularly known for its traditional carpets and unique lace from Kalofer.

The male monastery was built in 1640 and the female monastery in 1700 (Sw. Roshdestwo Bogoroditschno; Bulgar. Св. Рождество Богородично). Both monasteries burned down several times. They are open to visitors today. The churches Sw. Bogorodiza (Св. Богородица) and Sw. Atanas (Bulgar. "Св. Атанас") from the time of the Bulgarian rebirth.

There are three museums in the city: the Christo Botev Museum, the museum with one of the first Bulgarian schools and the city's history museum.

Thursday is market day. There is also a factory for distilling rose oil in Kalofer.

Kalofer is one of the 100 national tourist objects in Bulgaria . The stamp for this is in the Christo Botew Museum.

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Kalofer  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Population by towns and sex. In: nsi.bg. Republic of Bulgaria - National Statistical Institute (NSI), April 12, 2019, accessed May 5, 2019 .