Mezdra ( bg, Мездра ) is a town 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 ...
, part of
Vratsa Province
Vratsa Province ( bg, Област Враца ''Oblast Vraca'', former name Vraca okrug) is a Bulgarian province located in the northwestern part of the country, between Danube river in the north and Stara Planina mountain in the south. It is ...
. It is located on the left bank of the
Iskar River
The Iskar ( bg, Искър, ; la, Oescus) is a right tributary of the Danube. With a length of 368 km it is the longest river that runs entirely within Bulgaria.[Balkan Mountains
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 be ...]
.
History
Although the area around it has been inhabited continuously since
prehistoric
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
times, Mezdra remained a small village of 86 residents (1881 census) and continued to decline (76 residents in 1888) until 1893, when the construction of the
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ...
-
Varna railway began, with workers from all around the country arriving to update the infrastructure. As the village became an important railway junction with the opening of the railway on 20 February 1897, its population grew substantially. Mezdra had a population of 311 in 1900 and 1,015 in 1920.
Although it formally remained a village until proclaimed a town on 31 August 1950, Mezdra acquired the appearance of a small town through the work of architects who studied in
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
and established the Western European style in the village.
Today, Mezdra is a town of approximately 10,896 residents
[Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian towns in 2009]
and serves as a vital rail link between Sofia and northern/western regions of Bulgaria (including the Sofia-Varna route, linking the capital with Bulgaria's 3rd largest city and popular Black Sea destination). Industries include stone cutting, brickmaking and beer production.
Mezdra Point on
Snow Island 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 cont ...
is named after Mezdra.
Geography
Municipality
Mezdra is also the seat of Mezdra municipality (part of Vratsa Province), which includes the following 27 villages:
*
Bodenets
*
Brusen
*
Darmantsi
*
Dolna Kremena
*
Eliseyna
*
Gorna Beshovitsa
*
Gorna Kremena
*
Ignatitsa
*
Kalen
*
Krapets
*
Kreta
*
Lik
*
Lyutibrod
*
Lyutidol
*
Moravitsa
*
Oselna
*
Oslen Krivodol
*
Ochindol
*
Rebarkovo
*
Ruska Bela
*
Staro Selo
*
Tipchenitsa
*
Tsakonitsa
*
Tsarevets
*
Varbeshnitsa
*
Zlidol
*
Zverino
Twin towns – sister cities
*
Mammola
Mammola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria.
Mammola borders the following municipalities: A ...
, Italy
Gallery
File:Mezdra-church-St-George-1.jpg, Church of St George
File:Mezdra-fortress-1.jpg, Ruins of the ancient and medieval Mezdra Fortress
File:Mezdra-war-memorial-1.jpg, War memorial
File:Mezdra-Railway-station.jpg, Railway station
References
External links
Mezdra municipality website
Populated places in Vratsa Province
{{Vratsa-geo-stub