Zelenikovo is a village in

Southern Bulgaria Southern Bulgaria ( bg, Южна България, ''Yuzhna Balgariya'') is the southern half of the territory of Bulgaria, located to the south of the main ridge of the Balkan Mountains which conventionally separates the country into a northern an ...

, located in

Brezovo Brezovo ( bg, Брезово ) is a town in Southern Bulgaria. It is located in Plovdiv oblast and is close to the town of Rakovski. Populated places The following towns and villages are located inside the territory of Brezovo municipality: ...

Municipality,

Plovdiv Province Plovdiv Province ( bg, Област Пловдив: ''Oblast Plovdiv'', former name Plovdiv okrug) is a province in central southern Bulgaria. It comprises 18 municipalities (общини, ''obshtini'', sing. общинa, ''obshtina'') on a ter ...

. As of June 2020, the village has a population count of 282 people total.

Geography

Zelenikovo village is located in the southern hills of the most elevated part of the Sarnena

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 i ...

geographical area in

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 combines a mountainous and flat terrain. The climate, and the geographical location of the village make it a suitable center for the development of oil rose cultivation and the rose oil processing industry to emerge and sustain itself. The oil rose processed in the area is of high quality and as of the last 50 years, there has been an increase in plantation numbers near the village. The village offers good conditions for rural tourism. The reason for that is the presence of dams, rivers, mountains and hills nearby. The municipality's leadership has announced that the development of the tourism will be a focus in their future years. Conditions are being created to demonstrate to tourists how the distillation of rose oil happens in a traditional and interesting manner.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure of the village is intact. There is a public home edifice, for educating children deprived of parental care. The orphanage is located at the end of the village. In the village, a large monument of those killed in the wars of national unification can also be found.

History

According to documents left by the local teacher Todor Georgiev Gogovpisani around 1944, it is assumed that the Zelenikovo Village was created more than 700 years ago by

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Ivan Shishman Ivan Shishman ( bg, Иван Шишман) ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 June 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire. In the wake of the death of Ivan Alexan ...

, while relocating a large portion of the population to establish a better border control beyond the

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 betw ...

to strengthen the military positions of Bulgarian defenders. During

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

, the name of the village used to be Hamzalare, named after the Ottoman leader who governed the village.

Notable people

* Ivan Krumov – A

parachutist Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

record holder. * Petar Dimitrov – One of the first graduates of the village, principal of the school in

for over 20 years. * Tsanyo Aksiyski – Former director of " Prosveta" publishing house in

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 ...

References

{{Reflist Villages in Plovdiv Province