Simeonovgrad ( bg, Симеоновград ) is a town in the

Haskovo Province Haskovo Province ( bg, Област Хасково - ''Oblast Haskovo'', former name ''Haskovo okrug'') is a province in southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece and Turkey to the southeast, comprising parts of the Thracian valley along the river ...

of southern

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 ...

, located on both banks of the Maritsa River. Three bridges connect the town's two parts. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Simeonovgrad Municipality.

Landmarks

Near Simeonovgrad lie the ruins of the

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

fortress of ''Constantia'' from the

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...

(4th century AD), which developed into one of the large towns of

Northern Thrace Northern Thrace or North Thrace ( bg, Северна Тракия, as opposed to Western Thrace and East Thrace to the south; tr, Kuzey Trakya; el, Βόρεια Θράκη), also called Bulgarian Thrace, constitutes the northern and largest pa ...

until the beginning of the 13th century.

Religion

The dominant religion is

Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

. The town has two churches, the Church of the Most Holy

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' ( Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or '' Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations ar ...

in the town centre and the Church of

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Dem ...

the Thaumaturge in the Zlati dol quarter.

Etymology

The town's historical names were Seymen and later, during 1872–1929, Tarnovo–Seymen ( bg, Търново-Сеймен) – named after the Ottoman-era

seymen Seymen ( Turkish: ''seymen'' or ''seğmen'', Persian: ''segban'', similar to the Ottoman Turkish rank ''sekban'') was a rank in the Seljuk military, introduced at the time of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. After the Seljuk triumph in Manziker ...

paramilitary units. For most of the Socialist period, between 1946–1981, the town was named Maritza ( bg, Марица), after the river. The present name ''Simeonovgrad'' literally means "town of Simeon", a reference to the 10th-century Bulgarian king.

Municipality

Simeonovgrad is also the seat of Simeonovgrad municipality (part of Haskovo Province), which includes the following 8 villages:

References

External links

Simeonovgrad municipality website
Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Haskovo Province {{Haskovo-geo-stub