Melnik ( bg, Мелник , el, Μελένικο, ''Meleniko'')
is a town in
Blagoevgrad Province
Blagoevgrad Province ( bg, област Благоевград, ''oblast Blagoevgrad'' or Благоевградска област, ''Blagoevgradska oblast''), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Маке ...
, Southwestern
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 Macedon ...
, in the Southwestern
Pirin Mountains
, photo=Pirin-mountains-Bansko.jpg
, photo_caption=Pirin scenery in winter
, country= Bulgaria,
, parent=
, geology= granite, gneiss, marble, limestone
, area_km2=2585
, range_coordinates =
, length_km=80 , length_orientation= north-s ...
, about 440 m above sea level. The town is an architectural reserve and 96 of its buildings are cultural monuments. With a population of 385, it is the smallest town in Bulgaria, retaining its town status today for historical reasons. It is situated on the foothills of the
Pirin
, photo=Pirin-mountains-Bansko.jpg
, photo_caption=Pirin scenery in winter
, country= Bulgaria,
, parent=
, geology= granite, gneiss, marble, limestone
, area_km2=2585
, range_coordinates =
, length_km=80 , length_orientation= north-s ...
mountain range and is overlooked by the
Melnik Earth Pyramids
The Melnik Earth Pyramids ( bg, Мелнишки пирамиди) are rock formations, known as hoodoos, situated at the foothills of the Pirin mountain range in south-western Bulgaria. They span an area of 17 km2 near the town of Melnik, ...
.
History
According to archaeological evidence, the first to settle in the area were 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 t ...
tribe ''
Medi'' to which the famous rebel
Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...
belonged.
Centuries later, the presence of the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
left the town one of its landmarks — the
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
bridge, which is still preserved. The
Slavs
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
who later came in these parts named the settlement ''Melnik'' after the sand formations surrounding it on all sides (the
Bulgarian word мел ''mel'' means "white clay, chalk").
[ Melnik became a part of the ]First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...
under the rule of Khan Presian I
Presian ( bg, Пресиян, Персиян, Пресиан) was the khan of Bulgaria in 836–852. He ruled during an extensive expansion in Macedonia.
Origin
The composite picture of the Byzantine sources indicates that Presian I was the son o ...
(836-852) and prospered greatly in the period. Melnik became the capital of an independent feudal principality ruled by Despot Alexius Slav
Alexius Slav ( bg, Алексий Слав, el, ; 1208–28) was a Bulgarian nobleman ('' bolyarin''), a member of the Asen dynasty, and a nephew of the first three Asen brothers. He was first probably the governor of the Rhodopes domain of ...
, a descendant of the Asen dynasty
The Asen dynasty ( bg, Асеневци, ''Asenevtsi'') founded and ruled a medieval Bulgarian state, called in modern historiography the Second Bulgarian Empire, between 1185 and 1280.
The Asen dynasty rose as the leaders of Bulgaria after a r ...
, in 1209, and passed through an economic and cultural upsurge during his reign. The town continued to flourish under 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
Ivan Asen II, also known as John Asen II ( bg, Иван Асен II, ; 1190s – May/June 1241), was Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241. He was still a child when his father Ivan Asen I one of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empi ...
because of the duty-free trade with Venetian-ruled Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
.
The Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the 14th-15th century resulted in a long period of decline, but Melnik was once again a thriving town in the 17th and 18th century, the time of the Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...
, due to the tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
and wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
production, with wine being exported abroad, mainly to England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. In that time Melnik was also a centre of craftsmanship, particularly church decoration and woodcarving. Many Bulgarian schools and churches were built in Melnik in that period.
Melnik was taken by the Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, but was given back to 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) ...
according to the Treaty of Berlin. The town was the centre of 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
, ...
'' in the Sanjak of Siroz
The Sanjak of Siroz or Serres ( Ottoman Turkish: ''Sancak-i/Liva-i Siroz''; el, λιβάς/σαντζάκι Σερρών, bg, Серски Санджак) was a second-level Ottoman province (''sanjak'' or '' liva'') encompassing the region aro ...
as ''Menlik'' (or el, Μελένικο, ''Meleniko'') until 1912. During the First Balkan War
The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
, Melnik was ultimately liberated and became once again part of Bulgaria. In the late 18th century, the town had 1300 houses, seventy churches and a population of some 20,000 people, but a fire largely destroyed it. Since then it has been restored and rebuilt, and still, the current population of 400 is nowhere near the one from the beginning of the 20th century, when it primarily consisted of Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, but also of Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe.
Etymology
Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...
, Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...
, Vlachs
"Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...
and Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
. Melnik is the subject of Yuri Trifonov
Yury Valentinovich Trifonov (russian: link=no, Юрий Валентинович Трифонов; 28 August 1925 – 28 March 1981) was a leading representative of the so-called Soviet "Urban Prose". He was considered a close contender for the N ...
's short story "The Smallest Town on Earth" (1967). According to the statistics of Vasil Kanchov
Vasil Kanchov ( bg, Васил Кънчов, Vasil Kanchov) (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a Bulgarian geographer, ethnographer and politician.
Biography
Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school in Lom, ...
("Macedonia, Ethnography and Statistics"), Melnik used to have 2.650 Greek Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, 950 Turkish, 500 Bulgarian Christian, 200 Romani and 30 Vlach inhabitants in 1900.
At the end of the Second Balkan War in 1913, the Greeks left Melnik and moved to Greece by the express orders of the Greek government; the order being given when it was known that Melnik was to be ceded to Bulgaria.[, pp. 202-204] According to Bulgarian claims submitted to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, some Bulgarian shops and houses were looted by retreating Greeks. The Greek population moved primarily to Sidirokastro
Sidirokastro ( el, Σιδηρόκαστρο; Bulgarian and Macedonian: ''Valovišta''; tr, Demirhisar) is a town and a former municipality in the Serres regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipali ...
and fewer settled in Serres
Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki.
Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...
and Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
.
Climate
Melnik has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and cool winters.
Climate table:
Sights and winemaking
The unique architecture of Melnik and the nearby Rozhen Monastery
The Rozhen Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God ( bg, Роженски манастир "Рождество Богородично", ''Rozhenski manastir "Rozhdestvo Bogorodichno"'', Greek: Μονή Ροζινού, ''Moni Rozinou'') is t ...
(located 6 km northeast of Melnik) make it a popular tourist destination. In addition, the town has been famous for producing strong wine since at least 1346. The local wine from the varietal Broad Leave Melnik Vine was reportedly a favourite of Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
's. Lately, the area of Melnik is enjoying a revival of vine growing and wine making. Several new, modern wineries have been built and operate (Villa Melnik Winery
Villa Melnik is a family-owned winery located near the village of Harsovo, about 7 km south of Melnik, Bulgaria.
The winery has 30 hectares of vineyards. Grown are local (reds: Shiroka Melnishka Loza, also known as Broadleaved Melnik Vin ...
, Sintica Winery, Orbelus, etc.), producing high quality wine from local and international varieties.
Interesting architectural landmarks include the Byzantine House, one of the oldest civilian buildings in the Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
(built probably in the 12th or 13th century as a Bulgarian fortress), the Kordopulov House (named after the merchant Manolis Kordopulou to whom it once belonged), which also has one of the largest wine cellars in Melnik, the Pashov House (1815), which houses the Historical Museum of Melnik and the Pasha's House, built by Ibrahim Bey
Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...
, one of the richest beys in the region, during Ottoman rule. Some of the old churches in the town worth visiting are St Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...
(built in the 13th century), SS Peter and Paul (1840), St Nicholas the Thaumaturge
Thaumaturgy is the purported capability of a magician to work magic or other paranormal events or a saint to perform miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking.
A practitioner of thaumaturgy is a "thaumaturge", "thauma ...
(1756) and St Anthony.
The area around Melnik is strikingly eroded, particularly the enormous area of cliff that serves as a backdrop to the town. This area, covering some 17 km² near Melnik, Kurlanovo and Rozhen, has been called the Melnik Earth Pyramids
The Melnik Earth Pyramids ( bg, Мелнишки пирамиди) are rock formations, known as hoodoos, situated at the foothills of the Pirin mountain range in south-western Bulgaria. They span an area of 17 km2 near the town of Melnik, ...
or Melnik Badlands. The hills in this area can rise up to high. The unique formations, which can resemble giant mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...
s, ancient tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
s, and obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
s, were formed when heavy rain eroded the sand and clay the hills are composed of.
Notable people
* Anastasios Polyzoidis a Greek politician and judicial official.
* Anastassios Christomanos, Greek chemist
* Emanuil Vaskidovich a Bulgarian National Revival enlightener of Greek descent.
* Ivan Anastasov an IMRO revolutionary of Greek descent.
Honours
Melnik Ridge
Melnik Ridge (Melnishki Hrebet \'mel-nish-ki 'hre-bet\) is a narrow ridge rising to 696 m in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica bounded by Kaliakra Glacier to the north and west, and Struma Glacier to the south, ...
and its summit Melnik Peak
Melnik Peak ( bg, връх Мельник, vrah Melnik, ) is the 696 m summit of Melnik Ridge in eastern Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands in Antarctica. Surmounting Kaliakra Glacier to the north and west, and Struma Glacier to the sou ...
Melnik Peak.
SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica. 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 ...
are named for Melnik.
Gallery
File:Melnik Klearchos 1.jpg, Overview
File:Кордопуловата къща.jpg, The Kordopulov House in winter
File:Sandstone erosion - Melnik, Pirin, Bulgaria.jpg, The famous sand pyramids
File:The Melnik Konak.jpg, The Ottoman konak
File:Basilica of Saint Anthonius, Melnik.jpg, Basilica of St Anthony (1765)
File:The 'Byzantine House', Melnik 1.jpg, The Byzantine House (12th–13th century)
File:The 'Byzantine House', Melnik 2.jpg
File:Melnik Klearchos 3.jpg, Ruins of the St Nicholas Church
File:Melnik Despot-Slavova Fortress.jpg, Despot Slav's Fortress
File:Melnik panorama.jpg, View of Melnik
File:Melnik TodorBozhinov (11).JPG
File:House of Kordopoulos Melnik 1.JPG
File:Melnik 12.04.2008 037.jpg
File:House of Kordopoulos Melnik 2.JPG
File:House of Kordopoulos Melnik 4.JPG
File:House of Kordopoulos Melnik 3.JPG
File:Bulgaria Melnik-01.jpg
File:Melnik pyramids TodorBozhinov (24).JPG
File:Melnik pyramids TodorBozhinov (23).JPG
File:Melnik pyramids TodorBozhinov (22).JPG
File:Melnik pyramids TodorBozhinov (15).JPG
File:Melnik pyramids TodorBozhinov (18).JPG
File:Melnik pyramids TodorBozhinov (5).JPG
File:Melnik Pyramids near Karlanovo.jpg
References
Further reading
*
External links
D. M. Brancoff. La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne. Paris, 1905, 192–193Popovic, M. Die Siedlungsstruktur der Region Melnik in spätbyzantinischer und osmanischer Zeit. – Зборник радова Византолошког института, Т. 47 (2010), 247-276Todic, B. The Symbolical Investiture of the Archbishop Basil of Bulgaria at Melnik. – Zograf, 32 (2008), 59-68
{{Authority control
Towns in Bulgaria
Populated places in Blagoevgrad Province
Tourist attractions in Blagoevgrad Province