: ''Sredets is also a medieval name of

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 ha ...

. For the district in Sofia, see Sredets, Sofia.'' Sredets ( bg, Средец ) is a town in

Burgas Province Burgas Province ( bg, Област Бургас, translit=Oblast Burgas, formerly the Burgas okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, including the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The province is named after its administrative and indus ...

in southeastern

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 located near

Lake Mandrensko Lake Mandrensko or Lake Mandra ( bg, Мандренско езеро, ''Mandrensko ezero'') is the southernmost of the Burgas Lakes, located in the immediate proximity of the Black Sea and close to Burgas. Being 8 km long and 1.3 km wide at maxim ...

and the northern slopes of

Strandzha Strandzha ( bg, Странджа, also transliterated as ''Strandja'', ; tr, Istranca , or ) is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey. It is in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of T ...

. Sredets is the administrative centre of Sredets Municipality.

Sredets Point Sredets Point ( bg, нос Средец, ‘Nos Sredets’ \'nos sre-'dets\) is the ice-covered point on the southeast coast of Smith Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, projecting 400 m into Osmar Strait and separating the glacier ...

on Smith Island,

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 town.

History

The

Roman 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 letter ...

fortress of Kaleto, located 2 km southwest of Sredets, was constructed at the end of the fifth and beginning of sixth century AD. Under 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 ...

, the fortress became known as Potamukastel ( bg, Потамукастел). Potamukastel was destroyed in the 11th century, but later rebuilt in the 12th century AD. The fortress was abandoned during Ottoman rule of Bulgaria, and the population of Potamukastel resettled at the location of the modern town and founded the village of Karabunar ( bg, Карабунар) ("black well" in Turkish). Karabunar is first mentioned in 1595, and is later found in Ottoman tax registers from 1676–1731. King

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...

is known to have stayed overnight in the village in 1713 en route to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

and St.

Sophronius of Vratsa Saint Sophronius of Vratsa (or Sofroniy Vrachanski; bg, Софроний Врачански; 1739–1813), born Stoyko Vladislavov ( bg, Стойко Владиславов), was a Bulgarian cleric and one of the leading figures of the early Bu ...

worked as a teacher in Karabunar in 1792–1793.

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

data from 1827 mentions it as a purely Bulgarian village and it was visited by

Vasil Levski Vasil Levski ( bg, Васил Левски, spelled in old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed t ...

in 1868. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the area was occupied by the Russian 93rd Irkutsk Infantry Regiment on 16 February 1878. Karabunar became part of the autonomous province of

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia ( bg, Източна Румелия, Iztochna Rumeliya; ota, , Rumeli-i Şarkî; el, Ανατολική Ρωμυλία, Anatoliki Romylia) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) in the Otto ...

after the war and was annexed by the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria ( bg, Княжество България, Knyazhestvo Balgariya) was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ende ...

in 1885. The village was renamed ''Sredets'' on 14 August 1934. Under

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

rule, the village was renamed ''Grudovo'' on 1 June 1950 in honour of Todor Grudov, a leader of the

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 ...

of 1923 and former mayor of the village. Grudovo was granted the status of town on 6 February 1960 and, following the fall of Communism in Bulgaria, on 23 January 1993, the town was renamed Sredets.

Municipality

Sredets is also the seat of Sredets municipality (part of Burgas Province), which in addition to the town also includes the following 31 villages:

References

Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Burgas Province {{Burgas-geo-stub