Krichim ( bg, Кричим ) is a town in Bulgaria, located in the southwestern part of Plovdiv Province close to Perushtitsa. It lies at the foot of the Rhodopes' northern slopes in the plains of Thrace, 20 km southwest of

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 c ...

. The river Vacha, an important tributary of the Maritsa, runs through the town. Krichim is the only place in

Krichim Municipality Krichim ( bg, Кричим ) is a town in Bulgaria, located in the southwestern part of Plovdiv Province close to Perushtitsa. It lies at the foot of the Rhodopes' northern slopes in the Upper Thracian Lowlands, plains of Thrace, 20 km southwe ...

. Inhabited since Early Byzantine times as evidenced by the remains of two ancient fortresses on both banks of the river in the beginning of its gorge, Krichim was contested by the Byzantine Empire and the

Bulgarian Empire In the medieval history of Europe, Bulgaria's status as the Bulgarian Empire ( bg, Българско царство, ''Balgarsko tsarstvo'' ) occurred in two distinct periods: between the seventh and the eleventh centuries and again between the ...

during most of the Middle Ages. It was conquered by

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Ivan Asen II in 1230 and a stone inscription from this period is preserved, saying 'On this stone sat Tsar Asen, when he conquered Krichim'. During the early Bulgarian National Revival, the village was one of the few in the region to have a monastery school. Two monasteries, one of the Holy Theotokos and one of St Vrach, worked during the Ottoman rule and helped preserve the Bulgarian culture and language.

Demography

The town is populated by both Eastern Orthodox Bulgarians and (Muslim) Turks as well as Pomaks (Muslim Bulgarians) and Muslim Roma. The

Sts. Cosmas and Damian Cosmas and Damian ( ar, قُزما ودميان, translit=Qozma wa Demyaan; grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός, translit=Kosmás kai Damianós; la, Cosmas et Damianus; AD) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were r ...

Church and the mosque coexist peacefully on either bank of the Vacha.

Religion

According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following:

Honour

Krichim Peak Krichim Peak ( bg, връх Кричим, vrah Krichim, ) is an ice-covered peak of elevation 500 m in Vidin Heights on Varna Peninsula, Livingston Island, an island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Surmounting Saedinenie Snowfield to ...

on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Krichim.

References

Towns in Bulgaria Cities and towns in the Rhodopes Populated places in Plovdiv Province {{Plovdiv-geo-stub