Montana-Bulgaria-church-Cyril-and-Methodius-park

Montana ( bg, Монтана ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in northwestern

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 ...

. It is the administrative centre of the

Montana Province Montana Province ( bg, Област Монтана, transliterated: ''Oblast Montana'') is a province in northwestern Bulgaria, bordering Serbia in the southwest and Romania in the north. It spreads its area between the Danube river and the Balka ...

. On the 2021 census, it had a population of 36,455.

Names

When the town was first settled by Slavs it was known as Kutlovitsa; later in

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...

as Kutlofça. The town was renamed Ferdinand in 1890, receiving the benevolence of Bulgarian ''Knyaz''

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

and town status. On 1 March 1945, by a decree of the government, the communist authorities changed the town's name to Mihaylovgrad after the Communist Party activist

Hristo Mihaylov Hristo Mikhailov Popov (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Христо Михайлов Попов; April 18, 1893, Vidin – February 8, 1944, Sofia) was a Bulgarian Communist politician and military commander who was a leading participant of the an ...

(died 1944), a leader of the 1923

September Uprising The September Uprising ( bg, Септемврийско въстание, ''Septemvriysko vastanie'') was a 1923 communist insurgency in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) attempted to overthrow Alexander Tsankov's new government e ...

in the region. In 1993, after a presidential decree, the town received the name Montana, inspired by the name of the nearby Roman settlement, setting up a military camp, Castra ad Montanesium, on top of existing Thracian settlement.

Geography

Montana is situated on the river

Ogosta The Ogosta ( bg, Огоста , Latin: ''Augusta''), is the largest river in Northwestern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the Danube. It originates at Chiprovska Mountain, 2,168 meters high section of the Western Balkan Mountains, at about an altitu ...

, north of

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

, surrounded on the south and east by uplands. The climate is temperate continental, with a cold winter and hot summer. The average temperature is in January and in July. In the last 15–20 years, temperatures reaching up to in the summer are not uncommon.

Population

As of February 2011, the town had a population of 43,781 inhabitants.National Statistical Institute - Main Towns Census 2011
The number of the residents of the town reached its peak in the period 1988-1991 when it exceeded 55,000, with a highest measurement in 1991 of 57,142. According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: *

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 ...

: 38,278 (91.8%) *

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

: 3,055 (7.3%) *

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 ...

: 29 (0.1%) *Others: 166 (0.4%) *Indefinable: 171 (0.4%) *Undeclared: 2,082 (4.8%) Total: 43,781 There is a large concentration of Roma within the town limits as the Roma are 3055 in the town and 3764 in the municipality, while the Bulgarian elements are 38278 in the town and 47464 in the municipality. The following table presents the change of the population after 1887.

Educational facilities

The town hosts about a dozen high schools, two of the most notable are: *Math and Science HS "St. Kliment Ohridski". Enhanced studies in math, biology, geography and foreign languages. Excellent development of talents and outstanding student performance. http://www.pmgmontana.com/pmgsite/ *Foreign Language HS "Petar Bogdan". Emphasis on English and German language proficiency. Recognized and praised for its scholars' academic accomplishments worldwide. http://gpchemont.com/sitegpche/

History

Roman times

The region around Montana became part of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Upper

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

in 29 BC. Around 160 AD, a military camp that was most likely founded on the remains of an older

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 ...

settlement acquired

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

under the name of ''Civitas Montanensium.'' The town developed and urbanized after a Roman model and became the second most important settlement in the province after Raciaria (near modern-day Archar). The fortress of ''

Castra ad Montanesium Castra ad Montanesium is a ruined Roman fortress in the town of Montana, Bulgaria. It was built as the town grew to greater importance as a Roman settlement. Description The site is located in the southwest part of Montana on Kaleto Hill, on t ...

'' was built atop the hill overlooking Montana, as well as public and residential buildings, temples, baths and theatres. Montana became a typical imperial settlement, where the local romanized population coexisted alongside Italic and

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

n settlers. The base of the town's economy was the big landowners of Italic origin and their villas and mansions, while the locals served to work in agricultural production and gold mining in the Ogosta river valley. A community of Greek settlers engaged in craftsmanship and money-lending lived in the town during the period. The patrons of Montana, in the spirit of Hellenism, were Diana and

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

Middle Ages

Between 440 and 490, the northwest of modern Bulgaria was devastated by the raids of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

, under

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

, and later by the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

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 ...

and Avars delivered the final blow to Greco-Roman culture in the region. The Slavs who settled later in the area called the town ''Kutlovitsa''. During the time of the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...

s, the settlement recovered and became the centre of an

eparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on th ...

Ottoman rule

After Kutlovitsa was seized by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

, the settlement was destroyed and became deserted. It was renamed "Kutlofça" by the Ottomans, which was derived from Kutlovitsa. Between 1450 and 1688, the town was resettled by

because of its strategic location, and went through another period of blossoming as a typically

Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

al town. A mosque, fountains, and other new buildings were erected. There was also a Roman Bath left over the Middle Ages.

Modern history

After the Liberation began a massive wave of migration towards Kutlovitsa and a period of economic blossoming. An electricity station, a railway station, a post office and a hospital were built, a fair and a community centre emerged. The football team,

FC Montana FC Montana ( bg, ФК Монтана) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Montana, which currently plays in the Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football league system. Montana plays its home matches at the Ogosta Sta ...

, was founded in 1921 and currently plays in the

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

People from Montana

Yordanka Blagoeva Yordanka Blagoeva ( bg, Йорданка Благоева; born 19 January 1947) is a former Bulgarian high jumper. She competed at the 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympics and finished in 17th, 2nd (silver medal), 3rd (bronze medal) and 16th plac ...

(born 1947) - World champion and record holder in high jump between September 24, 1972 and August 24, 1974 *

Stiliyan Petrov Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov ( Bulgarian: Стилиян Альошев Петров, born 5 July 1979) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Petrov joined Celtic from CSKA Sofia in 1999, and won ten trophies in ...

(born 1979) - Football player in the national team of Bulgaria,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

* Stefan Savov (1896–1969) - playwright * Nelly Rangelova (born 1958) - Bulgarian pop-singer * Dragomir Asenov (1926–1981) - playwright * Rosalin Nakov (born 1965) - Composer * Elen Koleva (born 1984) - actress * Zlatko Zhivkov (born 1959) - Mayor of Montana (1999-2023)

Twin towns – sister cities

Montana is twinned with: *

Alpignano Alpignano (; pms, Alpignan ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin on the Dora Riparia in the Val di Susa plain. Twin towns – sister cities Alpignano is t ...

, Italy *

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...

, Slovakia *

Białogard Białogard (pronounced , german: Belgard, ; Pomeranian: ''Biôłogard'') is a historic town in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 23,614 inhabitants as of December 2021. The capital of Białogard County in the West Pomeranian Voivodes ...

, Poland *

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

, Romania * Dzerzhinsky, Russia * Fontaine-Vercors, France * Medijana (Niš), Serbia *

Pirot Pirot ( sr-cyr, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 38,785, while the population of the city administrative area ...

, Serbia *

Schmalkalden Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a popula ...

, Germany *

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. The municipality of Vranje has a population of 83,524 and its urban area has 60,485 inhabitants. Vranje is the economical, polit ...

, Serbia *

Yinchuan Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...

, China *

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, a ...

, Ukraine Additionally,

Montana Bluff Montana Bluff ( bg, връх Монтана, vrah Montana, ) is an ice-covered peak rising to 670 m at the end of a side ridge running south-southeast from Ticha Peak in central Bowles Ridge, Livingston Island. Surmounting Perunika Glacier to t ...

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 the city of Montana.Montana Bluff.
SCAR

Composite Antarctic Gazetteer The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about t ...

Districts

*Central *Mladost 1 and 2 - large residential district in the northwestern part of the town composed of about 40, built in the 80's, blocks of flats. *Pliska *Pastrina *Mala Kutlovitsa - suburban district composed mainly of residential houses *Izgrev *Kosharnik - rundown neighbourhood on the outskirts of the town populated mainly with

Roma Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...

. *Ogosta *Zhivovtsi *Industrial Zone *Bodur Mahala (unofficial name) *Barcelon mahala (unofficial name)

Gallery

File:Montana-Bulgaria-church-Cyril-and-Methodius-outside.jpg, Church of Sts

Cyril and Methodius Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited wit ...

File:Montana-Bulgaria-church-Cyril-and-Methodius-inside.jpg, The interior of Church of Sts

File:Montana-Bulgaria-central-bus-station.jpg, Central bus station File:Montana-Bulgaria-war-monument-closeup.jpg, Monument to the victims of the wars File:Montana-Bulgaria-lapidarium.jpg, The lapidarium File:Montana-courthouse.jpg, Montana Courthouse File:Montana-history-museum.jpg, Montana History Museum File:Montana-art-gallery.jpg, Montana Art Gallery

References

External links

*
Montana Dnes - News portal

Montana District

Historical museum in Montana
{{Authority control Populated places in Montana Province