Momchilgrad ( bg, Момчилград , ,

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: Mestanlı); is a town in the very 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 Macedon ...

, part of

Kardzhali Province Kardzhali Province ( bg, Област Кърджали, Oblast Kărdžali, tr, Kırcaali ili) is a province of southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece with the Greek regional units of Xanthi, Rhodope, and Evros to the south and east. It is 320 ...

in the southern part of the

Eastern 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 ...

. According to the 2011 census, Momchilgrad is the largest Bulgarian settlement with a

majority (75% of the total).Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute
Notable natives include

Petar Stoychev Petar Stoychev ( bg, Петър Стойчев; born 24 October 1976 in Momchilgrad) is a Bulgarian swimmer who is one of the most successful long distance marathon swimmers in history. He is one of the greatest marathon swimmers of all time an ...

(b. 1976), the fastest swimmer across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

until 2012, table tennis player and coach Daniela Gergelcheva (b. 1964), Turkish weightlifter

Naim Süleymanoğlu Naim Süleymanoğlu ( bg, Наим Сюлейманоглу; 23 January 1967 – 18 November 2017) was a Bulgarian-born Turkish Olympic weightlifter. He was a seven-time World Weightlifting champion and a three-time Olympic gold medalist ...

(1967–2017) and singer Zdravko Zhelyazkov from the Riton pop duet.

History

Momchilgrad becomes part of Bulgaria after the Balkan wars. The previous name of the city is Mestanlı and it is renamed to Momchilgrad in 1934.

References

External links

Official web site of Municipality Momchilgrad
Towns in Bulgaria Cities and towns in the Rhodopes Populated places in Kardzhali Province {{Kardzhali-geo-stub