Pancharevo ( bg, Панчарево, , also transcribed as Pančarevo) is a resort village and district located on the outskirts 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 ...

close to

Vitosha Vitosha ( bg, Витоша ), the ancient ''Scomius'' or ''Scombrus'', is a mountain massif, on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Vitosha is one of the symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking, alpinism and skiing. Conveni ...

, Lozenska and Plana mountains and occupies the southeastern part of the Capital Municipality. the village has 3,433 inhabitants, but the district has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is the largest region in Sofia with a total area of . It includes the largest

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

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 ...

Lake Pancharevo Lake Pancharevo (Панчаревско езеро, ''Pancharevsko ezero'' or Язовир Панчарево, ''Pancharevo Reservoir'') is an artificial lake in western Bulgaria, at the end of the Pancharevo Gorge of the Iskar River, located at 60 ...

, also as

Iskar Reservoir The Iskar Reservoir (язовир „Искър“) is the largest reservoir in Bulgaria. It is situated on the Iskar River and provides 2/3 of the water for the capital Sofia, also being used for producing hydroelectricity. The reservoir has a t ...

and

Pasarel Reservoir The Pasarel dam and reservoir is located 20 km to the southeast of Sofia, Bulgaria at an altitude of 700 m. The dam is situated roughly halfway between the Iskar Reservoir and Lake Pancharevo near the village of Dolni Pasarel. Though built ...

, located one above the other. The districts consists of 10 villages, and

Pancharevo Pancharevo ( bg, Панчарево, , also transcribed as Pančarevo) is a resort village and district located on the outskirts of Sofia close to Vitosha, Lozenska and Plana mountains and occupies the southeastern part of the Capital Municipa ...

is the municipal seat: * Bistritsa *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Kazichene Kazichene ( bg, Казичене ) is a large village in the Pancharevo district to the east of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. As of 2007, the village officially had 4,977 inhabitants. Because of its close proximity to the Sofia ring road and th ...

Kokalyane Kokalyane ( bg, Кокаляне) is a village in the municipality of Sofia, in the district of Pancharevo in Bulgaria. As of 2007 it has 1,859 residents. The village is situated at the foothills of the Vitosha mountain, 18 km from the center of ...

* Krivina *

Lozen Lozen (c. 1840 – June 17, 1889) was a warrior and prophet of the Chihenne Chiricahua Apache. She was the sister of Victorio, a prominent chief. Born into the Chihenne band during the 1840s, Lozen was, according to legends, able to use her po ...

Pasarel The Pasarel dam and reservoir is located 20 km to the southeast of Sofia, Bulgaria at an altitude of 700 m. The dam is situated roughly halfway between the Iskar Reservoir and Lake Pancharevo near the village of Dolni Pasarel. Though built ...

* Plana * Zheleznitsa The district offers excellent conditions for relaxation and tourism for the citizens of the capital. The large dams are used for water sports, fishing, camping and boat trips. There are many historical sights from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

which include the ruins of the

Urvich fortress Urvich (also known as Kokalyane Urvich because nearest village - Kokalyane) is a medieval fortress in the territory of today's quarter Pancharevo, heir to the village of Glavishevo. It is located on the right riverside of Iskar River, in the hill ...

which was the site of a desperate and unsuccessful battle against the Turkish invaders in the late 14th century. There are many monasteries and chapels, of which some lie in ruins since the fall of the

Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...

. The village of Pancharevo is located 12 km southeast of the city center of

, along Samokovsko shosse str. It lies at 700 m. above sea level between

and Lozen mountains, and at the end of the

Pancharevo gorge Pancharevo Gorge (Pancharevo saddle) is a deep and narrow gorge in the upper stream of the Iskar River in western Bulgaria. It is sandwiched between the mountains of Vitosha and Plana to the southwest and the Lozen Mountain to the northeast. The ...

Iskar River The Iskar ( bg, Искър, ; la, Oescus) is a right tributary of the Danube. With a length of 368 km it is the longest river that runs entirely within Bulgaria.Vitoshka Bistritsa Bistritsa or Vitoshka Bistritsa ( bg, Бистрица; Витошка Бистрица; Бистришка река), is a river in western Bulgaria, tributary of Iskar River. It flows from the eastern slopes of Golyam Rezen Peak on Vitosha Mou ...

River, sloping steeply from the highest parts of the mountain, flows into

. Pancharevo has modern suburban houses for all-year living as well as gated residence areas, and has easy access to the

Sofia Ring Road The Sofia ring road ( bg, Софийски околовръстен път, ''Sofíyski okolovrásten pat''), also called in Bulgarian Okolovrástnoto shosé (''Околовръстното шосе'', The ring chaussée), often shortened to just ...

Business Park Sofia Business Park Sofia (BPS) is the largest office park in Central and Eastern Europe and the first of its kind in Bulgaria. The Project Business Park Sofia (BPS) is owned by Arco Capital Corporation Ltd. and is the largest office park in Central an ...

, Tsarigradsko shosse,

Sofia Airport Sofia Airport ( bg, Летище София, translit=Letishte Sofiya) is the main international airport of Bulgaria, located east of the centre of the capital Sofia. In 2019 the airport surpassed 7 million passengers for the first time. The ai ...

Samokov Samokov ( bg, Самоков ) is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a basin between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due to the suitable winter sports conditions, Sam ...

and

Borovets Borovets ( bg, Боровец ), known as Chamkoria ( ) until the middle of the 20th century, is a popular Bulgarian mountain resort situated in Sofia Province, on the northern slopes of Rila, at an altitude of 1350 m. Borovets is located app ...

History

The Pancharevo mineral springs were probably known of the

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. ...

, who founded a settlement named Rilyanik, meaning abundant spring. Later the name was transformed. In

Romans 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 lette ...

time - Baths Cesare / Royal /, when they were well supported by the aristocracy and the local population, and around them formed a rich

imperial estate An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...

with vineyards.

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...

called them "Baths Tsarevi", and the Turks - "Bandzharevi" and around them existed famous Kinan-Pashovs farm. Pancharevo and its environs have retained significant traces of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. Then was a mineral bath which had seven pools. There are reasons to believe that at both the springs in Sofia and at Pancharevo has practiced the cult of the physician god

Asklepios Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...

and the nymphs, as fragments of

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s of the three nymphs were found in both places. Over the bath in the area of "Gradishteto" were found the remains of Roman buildings and fortress designed to repel the barbarian invasions of the access routes from

Serdica Serdika or Serdica (Bulgarian: ) is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria. Currently, Serdika is the name of a district located in the city. It includes four neighbourhoods: "Fondovi zhilishta"; "Banishora", "Orlandovts ...

through the Iskar Gorge, in the direction of

, but unfortunately no more extensive archeological studies were performed later in the area. Pancharevo was first mentioned in the 16th-century Urvich Donation list as ПАНЧАР, ПАНЧАРЄВѠ, ПАНИЧАРЬ. Those early references allow linguists to derive its name from the noun ''pan(i)char'', "bowl maker", itself from the noun ''panitsa'' ("bowl"). ''Panitsa'' might be a geographical term referring to a concave place.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Sofia City Province Districts of Sofia Villages in Sofia City Province