Knezha ( bg, Кнежа, ) is a town in

Pleven Province Pleven Province ( bg, Област Плевен or Плевенска Област) is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It i ...

, Northern

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 Macedo ...

. It is the administrative center of the homonymous Knezha Municipality.

History

The town's name is most probably derived from the Slavic word '' knyaz'' ("prince, duke"), most likely after a local ruler that defended the population in the area during the

Ottoman rule of Bulgaria The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, from the conquest by the Ottoman Empire of the smaller kingdoms emerging from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire in the late 14th century, to the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. A ...

. Knezha is the third-largest town in the province, after Pleven and

Cherven Bryag Cherven bryag ( bg, Червен бряг, also translated , ) is a town in northern Bulgaria, a capital of the Cherven Bryag municipality, Pleven Province. It is situated on the right shore of the Zlatna Panega in river Iskar, 137 km n ...

, and is the administrative centre of a municipality. The town was located in Vratsa province until 2001, when a boundary change shifted the town into Pleven province. A local landmark is the steel Christian cross constructed on a hill overlooking the town. The cross' construction was financed entirely by donations. It has

luminescent Luminescence is spontaneous emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat; or "cold light". It is thus a form of cold-body radiation. It can be caused by chemical reactions, electrical energy, subatomic motions or stress on a crystal ...

lighting bodies attached to it and is illuminated in blue at night. The cross is similar to the larger

Millennium Cross The Millennium Cross ( mk, Милениумски крст, ''Mileniumski krst'') is a 66-metre (217 ft) tall Christian cross, cross situated on the top of Vodno Mountain in the North Macedonia, Republic of North Macedonia above the capital ...

above

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

. Knezha also has a historical museum and an amateur

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

performing in the local community centre (''

chitalishte A ''chitalishte'' (, . Derives from the verb "чета" - "to read" or "читател" - "reader") is a typical Bulgarian public institution and building that fulfills several functions at once, such as a community centre, library, and a theat ...

''). The Institute on Maize of the Agricultural Academy is based in Knezha; it was founded in 1924.

Notable people

Notable natives include weightlifter and

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medalist

Galabin Boevski Galabin Boevski ( bg, Гълъбин Боевски, born 19 December 1974) is a Bulgarian weightlifter. He was born in Knezha, and was both world and Olympic champion. He was later suspended for eight years after failing drug tests. Boevski was ...

(b. 1974), Bulgaria international footballer Valentin Iliev (b. 1980) and

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were establishe ...

general and long-time

Chairman of the National Assembly of Bulgaria The Chairman of the National Assembly (Bulgaria), National Assembly of the Bulgaria, Republic of Bulgaria (Председател на Народното събрание на Република България, transliterated as ''Predsedatel n ...

Ferdinand Kozovski (1892–1965).

Gallery

File:Knezha2TB.jpg File:Knezha3TB.jpg File:Knezha4TB.jpg

Climate

Knezha has a continental climate (

Dfb DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...

) with hot summers and cold winters, and relatively large temperature variations.

References

External links

Knezha municipality website

Website of the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Knezha

Website of the Evangelical Church “Christians” in Knezha
{{Authority control Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Pleven Province