Smolyan Municipality
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Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous
Smolyan Province Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative ...
. The town is built along the valley of Cherna ("Black") and Byala ("White") rivers in the central
Rhodope Mountains 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 ...
which makes him the longest city in Bulgaria. It is also located at foot of the mountain's highest peak Golyam Perelik - 2191m. Smolyan is just 10-15 minutes drive from the popular ski resorts Pamporovo and Chepelare. As of June 2022 it has a population of 30 689 inhabitants.


Name

The name of the town comes from the local Slavic tribe of the Smolyani, the name of whom is probably cognate to the Slavic word ''smola'' ("resin").


History

According to archaeological evidence, the area around Smolyan was first settled in the
2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...
-1st millennium BC. In the Middle Ages it acquired its name from the Slavic tribe, the '' Smolyani'', who settled in the region in the 7th century. During the Middle Ages, it was ruled by the Part of the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. For a while during the 14th century it came under the control of the Bulgarian feudal lord Momchil, alongside the whole
Rhodope mountains 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 ...
, before eventually being subjugated by the Ottoman Empire. Smolyan remained under Ottoman rule for five centuries, a township of the Ottoman Sanjak of Gümülcine in the Adrianople Vilayet between 1867 and 1912. The area was liberated by the 21st Sredna Gora Regiment led by Vladimir Serafimov in 1912, during the First Balkan War. The modern town of Smolyan was formed by the merger of three existing villages — Ustovo, Raykovo and Ezerovo — in 1960.


Population

The population of Smolyan just after World War II was about 5,000.„pop-stat.mashke.org“
/ref> Since then, it started growing decade by decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding smaller towns, reaching its peak in the beginning of the 1990s, exceeding 34,000.
/ref>


Ethnic linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: * Bulgarians: 25,045 (97.0%) * Roma: 258 (1.0%) * Turks: 153 (0.6%) *Others: 120 (0.5%) *Indefinable: 248 (1.0%) **Undeclared: 4,818 (15.7%) Total: 30,642 In Smolyan Municipality 32708 declared as Bulgarians, 301 as Roma and 170 as Turks and 9,000 did not declare their ethnic group.


Religion

In 1912,
Aha Celebi AHA, Aha, or aha may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Aha!'' (TV program), an information and education TV program in the Philippines * a-ha, a Norwegian pop music band * ''Aha!'' (film), a 2007 Bangladeshi film * Aha (streaming se ...
said that 8,252 families already live, including 2,815 of Bulgarians Exarchists, 140 of Bulgarians Patriarchists and 5,297 of Bulgarian Muslims or Pomaks. ( Lyubomir Miletich, " The Destruction of Thracian Bulgarians in 1913") In 1912, in the town live 320 families of Bulgarians Muslims, 80 of Bulgarians Exarchists and 40 Patriarchists.По данни от „Разорението на тракийските българи през 1913 г.“ от Любомир Милетич In Ustuvo live 420 families Bulgarians Exarchists, in Raykovo - a total of 700 families of Bulgarians Exarchists, 100 of Bulgarians Patriarchists and 70 of Bulgarian Muslims. Currently, the religion of the majority in the city is christian orthodox.


Culture and sports

Due to its suitable location on top of
Mount Rozhen Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...
, the
Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen Observatory ( bg, Национална астрономическа обсерватория - Рожен, ''НАО-Рожен''; en, National Astronomical Observatory - Rozhen, ''NAO-Rozhen''), also known as the Bulgarian National Astron ...
is located nearby, with a
planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...
in operation in the town. There is one theatre, the Rhodope Drama Theatre, and a gathering of theatre practitioners and scholars known as
The Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory The Rhodopi International Theater Collective (RITC) was the original name of the Leon Katz Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory (RITL), an annual summer, month-long event for international theatre collaboration and development, which allowe ...
is held every summer. There is also a regional historical museum founded in 1935. Smolyan has an elite division football team, PFC Rodopa Smolyan, that had been playing in the A Professional Football Group between 2003-2007. The largest church in southern Bulgaria, the
Cathedral of Saint Vissarion of Smolyan The Church of Saint Vissarion of Smolyan ( bg, храм „Свети Висарион Смолянски") is an Eastern Orthodox church in Smolyan, Bulgaria, inaugurated on 2 July 2006. Some people believe that it is the 2nd largest church ...
, was inaugurated in the city in July 2006.


Municipality

Smolyan is also the seat of Smolyan municipality (part of Smolyan Province), which includes the following 79 villages: *
Aligovska Aligovska ( bg, Алиговска) is a village in Smolyan Municipality, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. It is located 174.91 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest cit ...
* Arda *
Belev dol Belev dol ( bg, Белев дол) is a village in Smolyan Municipality, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village covers an area of 3.764 km2 and is located 178.3 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, Софи ...
*
Bilyanska Bilyanska ( bg, Билянска) is a village in Smolyan Municipality, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village is located 174.093 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and la ...
*
Borikovo Borikovo ( bg, Бориково) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village covers an area of 22.267 km2 and is located 171.2 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, С ...
*
Bostina Bostina ( bg, Бостина) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village covers an area of 4.77 km2 and is located 168.3 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, Соф ...
* Bukata *
Bukatsite Bukatsite ( bg, Букаците) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village covers an area of 10.048 km2 and is located 171.46 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, ...
* Chamla * Chepleten *
Chereshkite Chereshkite ( bg, Черешките) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village is located 167.965 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capi ...
* Chereshovo *
Chereshovska Reka Chereshovska Reka ( bg, Черешовска река) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village is located from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capi ...
*
Chokmanovo The village of Chokmanovo, Bulgaria is in Municipality of Smolyan, in the Arda valley of the Rhodopi Mountain range. It is 8 km south of the town of Smolyan and 25 km from the ski resort Pamporovo. The region is very sunny, and the vill ...
*
Chuchur Chuchur ( bg, Чучур) is a hamlet in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village is located 177.9 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest c ...
* Dimovo * Dunevo * Elenska * Elyovo * Fatovo * Gabritsa * Gela * Gozdevitsa * Gorna Arda * Gorovo * Gradat * Gudevitsa * Hasovitsa * Isyovtsi * Katranitsa * Kiselichevo * Kokorkovo * Koshnitsa * Kremene * Kukuvitsa * Kutela *
Laka In Hawaiian mythology, Laka is the name of two different popular heroes from Polynesian mythology. (In other parts of Polynesia they are known as Rātā, Rata, Lata, Ata, or Lasa). In one Hawaiian legend, Laka is the son of the '' Ali'i nui'' W ...
* Levochevo * Lipets * Lyulka * Milkovo *
Mogilitsa Mogilitsa ( bg, Могилица; also ''Mogilitza'', ''Mogilica'', meaning "hillock") is a village in the Rhodope Mountains in southernmost Bulgaria, part of Smolyan municipality, Smolyan Province. As of September 2005, it has a population of 483 ...
*
Momchilovtsi Momchilovtsi ( bg, Момчиловци ) is a Bulgarian village and ski resort in the Central Rhodopes, about 15 km northeast of Smolyan. It has an ethnographic museum, an art gallery and a number of churches and chapels (24 in the village ...
* Mugla * Nadartsi * Oreshitsa *
Ostri Pazlak Urtzi (also ortzi) is an ancient Basque language term which is believed to either represent an old common noun for the sky, or to have been a name for a pre-Christian sky deity. Trask, L. ''The History of Basque'' (1997) Routledge Jose M. de Bara ...
* Petkovo *
Peshtera Peshtera ( bg, Пещера , sometimes transliterated as ''Peštera''; rup, Peshtera) is a town in the Rhodope Mountains, southern Bulgaria. It is located in Pazardzhik Province near the towns of Batak and Bratsigovo. The town is the third lar ...
* Pisanitsa * Podvis *
Polkovnik Serafimovo ''Polkovnik'' (russian: полковник, lit=regimentary; pl, pułkownik) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states and oberst in several German-speaking and Scandi ...
* Poprelka * Potoka * Rechani *
Reka Reka may refer to: Places * Řeka, a village in the Czech Republic * Reka, Cerkno, a village near Cerkno, Slovenia * Reka, Laško, a village near Laško, Slovenia * Reka (Kladovo), a village near Kladovo, Serbia * Reka, Koprivnica, a village ne ...
* Rovina * Selishte * Shiroka Laka * Sivino * Slaveyno * Smilyan * Sokolovtsi * Solishta * Sredok * Stikal * Stoykite * Sarnino * Strazha * Taran * Tikale * Trebishte * Turyan *
Uhlovitsa Uhlovitsa () is a show cave in the Blue Pools Area (Bulgarian: Mестността „Сините вирове“, or ''Mestnostta "Sinite virove"'') in the Smolyan Province of the Rhodope Mountains, southern Bulgaria. The cave is close to Mogil ...
* * Varbovo *
Vievo Vievo is a village in the Rhodope Mountains in the Smolyan Province of Bulgaria. History During the First Balkan War, the village was set on fire by the local Bulgarian militia to ethnically cleanse the Muslim population from the region. The ...
* Vlahovo * Zaevite * Zmievo


Climate

Smolyan has either a warm-summer mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification: Csb) or a dry-summer
warm-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
( Köppen climate classification: Dsb), depending on if the 0 degrees celsius or -3 degrees celsius isotherm is used.


Honour

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


Notable people

*
Valya Balkanska Valya Mladenova Balkanska ( bg, Валя Младенова Балканска; born 8 January 1942) is a Bulgarian folk music singer from the Rhodope Mountains known locally for her wide repertoire of Balkan folk songs, but in the West mainly fo ...
* Victor Houteff, founder of the Davidian branch, an offshoot of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
.
Velichko Cholakov Velichko Cholakov ( bg, Величко Чолаков, 12 January 1982 20 August 2017) was a Bulgarian weightlifter. Career He competed in the over 105 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, his first Olympics, winning an Olympi ...


Gallery

File:Смолян Райково 2713784204 3519c6e659 o.jpg File:Смолян Технически Колеж 2727441793 76680bdefa o.jpg File:Смолян Невястата 2702326413 a0331a0230 o.jpg File:Смолян Стенопис 1 2827787856 aae5a15ff2 o.jpg File:Смолян 2695825013 82452c9437 o.jpg File:Смолян 2691396959 f63b323fab o.jpg File:Смолян Райково 2724872359 21527b973c o.jpg File:Смолян Устово 2851700364 587e738628 o.jpg File:Kaptaja.jpg File:Stanevska.jpg File:Ustovo.jpg File:Historical-museum-smolian.jpg


References


External links


Smolyan municipality website

Smolyan municipality at Domino.bg

Planetarium Smolyan



Official website of village of "Kutela"
{{Authority control Cities and towns in the Rhodopes Populated places in Smolyan Province