Maritsa (Sofia Oblast)
| Mariza (Марица) | |||||
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| Basic data | |||||
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| State : |
 Bulgaria
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| Oblast : | Sofia | ||||
| Residents : | 695 (2008) | ||||
| Coordinates : | 42 ° 18 ' N , 23 ° 42' E | ||||
| Height : | 891 m | ||||
| Postal code : | 2044 | ||||
| Telephone code : | (+359) 071228 | ||||
| License plate : | CO | ||||
| administration | |||||
| Mayor : | Nikolay Wasilew | ||||
Maritsa ( Bulgarian Марица ) is a village in western Bulgaria in the Sofia Oblast, in the municipality of Samokow . The village is located in a mountain area, 14 km southeast of Samokow and 10 km west of Kostenez Banya .
history
The village used to be called Machala ( Bulgarian Махала ). It was built in the middle of the 16th century at the foot of the Rila Mountains on the upper reaches of the Maritsa River, not far from Samokow. There were iron-making factories in the village that were protected by the laws of Suleyman I. The village flourished from 1570 to the 1580s. At that time the church "Saint Nikolai Archbishop Nikolaus von Myra" ( Bulgarian Св. Николай архиепископ Мирликийски ) was built, which has valuable wall paintings from the 16th and early 19th centuries. The wall paintings were declared a monument of the performing arts in 1968.