Dragoynovo ( bg, Драгойново) is a village in central southern

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 ...

, in the Parvomay municipality of

Plovdiv Province Plovdiv Province ( bg, Област Пловдив: ''Oblast Plovdiv'', former name Plovdiv okrug) is a province in central southern Bulgaria. It comprises 18 municipalities (общини, ''obshtini'', sing. общинa, ''obshtina'') on a ter ...

Geography

The region of Dragoyna is located where the

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,Rhodopes The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

. The Dragoyna peak has two summits - Golyama (Big) and Malka (Little) Dragoyna, with an attitude difference of some . They are connected by a saddle. As the highest point in the region, the peak has an extensive view.

Population

According to the 2020 census, the village of Dragoyna has 243 inhabitants.

History

The name of the village until 1906 was ''Kozluk''. In the 5th century BC, the powerful

Odrysian kingdom The Odrysian Kingdom (; Ancient Greek: ) was a state grouping many Thracian tribes united by the Odrysae, which arose in the early 5th century BC and existed at least until the late 1st century BC. It consisted mainly of present-day Bulgaria an ...

was established in the Maritsa valley. The kingdom survived for centuries. The region of Dragoyna was probably a local centre of the

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

aristocracy within the Odrysian kingdom. A high concentration of Thracian ''

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

'' has been registered in the area. A golden ring has been found in Ezerovo near Dragoyna bearing an inscription that is thought to be in Thracian using the

Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as w ...

. It indicates that the owners of the ring dedicated it to their deceased relatives. A settlement, most probably related to the sanctuary, was located close to the modern village of Dragoynovo. In the 1st century AD this part of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

was added to the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, and later it remained a part of its eastern half, the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. It is known that a town center, fortifications and churches from the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages existed in the region.

Culture and nature

A Thracian sanctuary was discovered on Dragoyna Peak in 2004. The highest part of the peak of Golyama Dragoyna – an area of about 2 dka – is surrounded by a stone wall, which can be seen on the surface as stone ruins four to ten metres in width. The ruins consist largely of local stones with irregular shape, together with some large dressed stone blocks. A concentration of artifacts has been registered on the surface and in the treasure hunters' "trenches" within the area, surrounded by the stone wall as well as north of the stone wall. Pottery and treasure hunters' digs can be found also in an area of about 1 dka in the saddle between Golyama and Malka Dragoyna, where one of the ways to the peak is located. Traces of an ancient road are visible on the eastern slopes of the peak, which offers the shortest way to the site. Some artifacts have been registered on the southeast slopes. The artifact mapping suggests that they were part of the road. There is an Orthodox Church in the village, bearing the name of "Sv. Georgi". It was built in

1853 Events January–March * January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida. * January 8 – Taiping R ...

Famous locals

* Angel Karaiotov, a 19th-century freedom fighter (''

hajduk A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...

'')

References

External links

Thracian sanctuary in Dragoyna

Tourism agencies in the region
{{Coord, 41, 59, N, 25, 14, E, display=title, region:BG_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Villages in Plovdiv Province