: ''Sredets is also a medieval name of
Sofia. For the district in Sofia, see
Sredets, Sofia
Sredets ( bg, Средец ) is a district located in the very centre of the capital Sofia. it has 41,000 inhabitants. The district has an area of around 300 hectares or 3 km2.
Its borders follow Sitnyakovo Boulevard, Yavorov Alley to the ea ...
.''
Sredets ( bg, Средец ) is a town in
Burgas Province in southeastern
Bulgaria. It is located near
Lake Mandrensko 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 Municipality (Bulgarian: Община Средец, ''Obshtina Sredets'') is a municipality in Burgas Province, Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Sout ...
.
on
Smith Island,
Antarctica is named after the town.
History
The
Roman 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
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 ...
).
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 and St.
Sophronius of Vratsa 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 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 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
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 ...
September Uprising 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