Devin ( bg, Девин ) is a
spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...
in
Smolyan Province
Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative ...
in the far south of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous
Devin Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 7,054 inhabitants.
[Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - towns in 2009]
Location and geography
Devin is located in the valley of the
Vacha River, 45 km from the city of
Smolyan
Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province. The town is built ...
. Devin is also at a distance of 220 km from
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
and 70 km from
Plovdiv
Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the ...
. The town itself is located in the vicinity of the popular ski resort of
Pamporovo
Pamporovo ( bg, Пампорово, ''pronunciation'': /pam'porovo/) is a popular ski resort in Smolyan Province, southern Bulgaria. It is set amongst Norway spruce forests and is primarily visited during the winter for skiing and snowboarding. It ...
which is 35 km east of Devin.
The Devinska river runs through it and numerous other brooks and rivers (namely Krichim, Muglenska and Trigradska) are found nearby, all tributaries of the Vacha river. The altitude is uneven owing to the mountainous location, ranging from 684 m to around 800 m above sea level.
Devin's climate is described as having mild winters, cool summers with prolonged spells of sunny days. The air is pleasantly cool and crisp and humidity is normal. The mean annual temperature is 4 to 10 °C, depending on altitude. The lowest winter temperature is around -10 °C while the maximum summer temperature is in the region of 30 to 33 °C. Devin is protected from cold and violent westerly and north westerly winds due to the ridges that surround the town.
Attractions
Devin is a popular tourist attraction. There is an abundance of
hot spring
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
s and hence
spa resort
A destination spa or health resort is a resort centered on a spa, such as a mineral spa. Historically, many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or mineral springs; in the era before modern biochemical knowledge and ...
s in the area. The region was known in antiquity for the healing properties of its mineral springs. The waters have been claimed to treat and heal a variety of maladies: conditions of the skeletal, peripheral nervous, cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, skin disorders and others. In addition to these, the water is drunk or inhaled in the treatment of respiratory diseases, allergies and infections. The conditions available in Devin make it a centre for recovery and stabilising health.
A popular brand of
mineral water
Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases.
T ...
being sold under the name ''Devin'' is bottled there.
The situation of Devin offers access to nearby gorges, rock formations, caves, forests, natural reserves with protected and endemic species, and most of all, clean air. Namely
Trigrad gorge
The Trigrad Gorge ( bg, Триградско ждрело, ) is a canyon of vertical marble rocks in the Rhodope Mountains. It is in Smolyan Province, one of the southernmost provinces of Bulgaria.
The gorge encloses the course of the Trigradska ...
, the
Devil's Throat Cave
Devil's Throat Cave, or Dyavolsko Garlo ( bg, Дяволското гърло ), is located in the western Rhodopes close to the village of Gyovren in Bulgaria, near its border with Greece. A popular tourist attraction, Devil's Throat branches ...
and
Yagodinska cave. The Trigrad-Yagodina region has a
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
scenery and has tens of other, albeit inhospitable, caves and rock formations. The protected region "Chairité" attracts visitors with an abundance of lakes, meadows and spruce and beech forests, one of which is called "the Drunken Forest" (Bulgarian: Пияната гора.) "Kastraklii", "Kazanite" and "Shabanitza" are natural reserves in the region around Devin with centuries-old pine and spruce forests and protected plant and animal communities.
Economy
There is a great deal of hydroelectric construction in the area. Agriculture is highly developed. Dairy cattle rearing, fish farming, mushroom picking and cultivation, potato growing and others are of significance to the local economy.
History
![Nastan Mosque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Nastan_Mosque.jpg)
Between 1878 and 1886, Devin formed a part of the short-lived and unrecognised
Republic of Tamrash
The Republic of Tamrash ( bg, Тъмръшка република, Tǎmrǎška republika), was a short-lived self-governing administrative structure of the Pomaks, living in the Tamrash region of the Rhodope Mountains. It existed from 1878 to 1 ...
, an entity created by the local
Pomaks
Pomaks ( bg, Помаци, Pomatsi; el, Πομάκοι, Pomáki; tr, Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is ...
who rejected the creation of
Eastern Rumelia
Eastern Rumelia ( bg, Източна Румелия, Iztochna Rumeliya; ota, , Rumeli-i Şarkî; el, Ανατολική Ρωμυλία, Anatoliki Romylia) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, '' vilayet'' in Turkish) in the Ott ...
(to which it would have belonged). Although all within the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, the regions were largely self-governing and Tamrash would maintain warm relations with the Ottoman authorities. Following the Bulgarian
unification with Eastern Rumelia, Bulgaria occupied Tamrash with the intent of reintegrating the territories, but the Ottoman recognition of Bulgaria's new borders (de facto independent though nominally within the Ottoman Empire) meant that Devin - with the rest of the Tamrash region plus other rebelling Turkish villages - would be reincorporated into Ottoman society.
It was a
kaza
A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough')
* bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза
* el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also ()
* lad, kaza
, ...
centre in the
Sanjak of Drama
The Sanjak of Drama (Ottoman Turkish: ''Sancak-i/Liva-i Drama''; el, λιβάς/σαντζάκι Δράμας) was a second-level Ottoman province (''sanjak'' or '' liva'') encompassing the region around the town of Drama (now in Greece) in east ...
in the
Vilayet of Salonika before the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
as "Ropçoz". The first Bulgarian school in Devin was founded in 1914 and the Rodopska Prosveta Community Centre (''
chitalishte
A ''chitalishte'' (, . Derives from the verb "чета" - "to read" or "читател" - "reader") is a typical Bulgarian public institution and building that fulfills several functions at once, such as a community centre, library, and a theat ...
'') followed in 1923.
Honour
Devin Saddle on
Livingston Island
Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...
in the
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...
,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
is named after Devin.
Notable natives
*
Nikola Todev (actor)
References
External links
Snimki ot Devin - A video slideshow of photographs from Devin.User-submitted photographs from Devin.
Sources
This article contains translations and data from:
* Bulgarian Wikipedia.
{{Authority control
Towns in Bulgaria
Cities and towns in the Rhodopes
Populated places in Smolyan Province
Spa towns in Bulgaria