Vakarel ( bg, Вакарел) is a village, away from

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 ...

, the capital of

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 ...

Population: 1984 people. It is situated in the

Sredna Gora Sredna Gora ( bg, Средна гора ) is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the Iskar to the west and the elbow of Tundzha north of Yambol to the east. Sredna Gora ...

mountains, within

Ihtiman Municipality Ihtiman ( bg, Ихтиман ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the Ihtimanska Sredna Gora mountains and lies in a valley 48 km from Sofia and 95 km from Plovdiv, close to the Trakiya motorway. Fo ...

. The village is an important transport knot along the Sofia -

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

railway route. The

Trakiya motorway The Trakia motorway (, ) or Thrace motorway, designated A1, is a motorway in Bulgaria. It connects the capital city of Sofia, the city of Plovdiv and the city of Burgas on the Black Sea coast. The motorway is named after the historical region of ...

runs near Vakarel. Vakarel is 822 meters above sea level.
About away from the village is the

Vakarel Radio Transmitter The Vakarel Transmitter was a large broadcasting facility for long- and medium wave near Vakarel, Bulgaria. The Vakarel Transmitter was inaugurated in 1937. It had one directional antenna consisting of three guyed masts and another consisting of t ...

. Near Vakarel is the Vakarelian Monastery 'Saint Petka'. The monastery is relatively new, established in the 20th century. Its yearly celebration is on 14 October.
Residential areas are also around Vakarel. Vakarel's name is of Aromanian (

Balkan Latin Common Romanian ( ro, româna comună), also known as Ancient Romanian (), or Proto-Romanian (), is a comparatively reconstructed Romance language evolved from Vulgar Latin and considered to have been spoken by the ancestors of today's Romania ...

) origin, from the word ''vacarel'', "cattleshed, cowshed" or with the Aromanian diminutive suffix ''–el'', "young cowherd", cf.

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

''văcar'', "cowboy, neatherd".

Gallery

File:St-Petka-Monastery-of-Vakarel.jpg, Vacareiian Monastery St. Petka File:Vacarelian-Monastery-Church.jpg, St. Petka Church of Vakarelian Monastery St. Petka File:Vacarelian-Monastery-Church-Interior.jpg, Interior of St. Petka Church in Vacarelian Monastery File:Radio-transmitter-antena-at-Vakarel.jpg,

Vakarel radio transmitter The Vakarel Transmitter was a large broadcasting facility for long- and medium wave near Vakarel, Bulgaria. The Vakarel Transmitter was inaugurated in 1937. It had one directional antenna consisting of three guyed masts and another consisting of t ...

File:RIF-Ltd-Vakarel.jpg, RIF Ltd. - a construction materials company, based in Vakarel

Honour

Vakarel Saddle Vakarel Saddle ( bg, Вакарелска седловина, ‘Vakarelska Sedlovina’ \va-ka-'rel-ska se-dlo-vi-'na\) is a crescent-shaped ice-covered saddle of elevation 1800 m in Imeon Range on Smith Island in the South Shetland Islands, Ant ...

on Smith Island,

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 ...

is named after Vakarel.

References

{{Ihtiman Municipality Villages in Sofia Province