Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) is a town and ski resort in the south 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 Macedo ...

near the border with

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous

Smolyan Province Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative ...

. The town is built along the valley of Cherna ("Black") and Byala ("White") rivers in the central

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

which makes him the longest city in Bulgaria. It is also located at foot of the mountain's highest peak

Golyam Perelik Golyam Perelik ( bg, Голям Перелик ) is the highest peak in the Rhodope Mountains, situated 19 km to the west of Smolyan. It makes the Rhodopes the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain range after Rila, Pirin, Stara Planina, Vitosh ...

- 2191m. Smolyan is just 10-15 minutes drive from the popular

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

resorts

Pamporovo Pamporovo ( bg, Пампорово, ''pronunciation'': /pam'porovo/) is a popular ski resort in Smolyan Province, southern Bulgaria. It is set amongst Norway spruce forests and is primarily visited during the winter for skiing and snowboarding. It ...

and

Chepelare Chepelare ( bg, Чепеларе ) is the principal town in Chepelare Municipality, part of Smolyan Province in Southern Bulgaria. It is situated in the central part of the Rhodopes, on the banks of Chepelare River. Chepelare is a popular wint ...

. As of June 2022 it has a population of 30 689 inhabitants.

Name

The name of the town comes from the local Slavic tribe of the

Smolyani The Smolyani ( bg, смоляни; in Byzantine sources ''Smolenoi'' or ''Smoleanoi'') were a medieval Slavic tribe that settled in the Rhodope Mountains, the valley of the Mesta River and the region around Blagoevgrad Province, possibly in the 7 ...

, the name of whom is probably cognate to the Slavic word ''smola'' ("resin").

History

According to archaeological evidence, the area around Smolyan was first settled in the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

-1st millennium BC. In the Middle Ages it acquired its name from the Slavic tribe, the ''

'', who settled in the region in the 7th century. During 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 ...

, it was ruled by the Part of the

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 ...

and Bulgarian Empires. For a while during the 14th century it came under the control of the Bulgarian feudal lord

Momchil Momchil ( bg, Момчил, el, Μομ ��ζίλος or Μομιτζίλας, sr, Момчило / Momčilo; – 7 July 1345) was a 14th-century Bulgarian brigand and local ruler. Initially a member of a bandit gang in the borderlands ...

, alongside the whole

Rhodope mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

, before eventually being subjugated by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. Smolyan remained under

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 ...

for five centuries, a township of the Ottoman Sanjak of Gümülcine in the

Adrianople Vilayet The Vilayet of Adrianople or Vilayet of Edirne ( ota, ولايت ادرنه; ''Vilâyet-i Edirne'') was a first-level administrative division ( vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire. This vilayet was split between Turkey and Greece in 1923, culminating ...

between 1867 and 1912. The area was liberated by the 21st

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 ...

Regiment led by Vladimir Serafimov in 1912, during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

. The modern town of Smolyan was formed by the merger of three existing villages — Ustovo, Raykovo and Ezerovo — in 1960.

Population

The population of Smolyan just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

was about 5,000.„pop-stat.mashke.org“
/ref> Since then, it started growing decade by decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding smaller towns, reaching its peak in the beginning of the 1990s, exceeding 34,000.
/ref>

Ethnic linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows: *

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 underst ...

: 25,045 (97.0%) *

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

: 258 (1.0%) *

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

: 153 (0.6%) *Others: 120 (0.5%) *Indefinable: 248 (1.0%) **Undeclared: 4,818 (15.7%) Total: 30,642 In Smolyan Municipality 32708 declared as Bulgarians, 301 as Roma and 170 as Turks and 9,000 did not declare their ethnic group.

Religion

In 1912, Aha Celebi said that 8,252 families already live, including 2,815 of

Exarchists, 140 of Bulgarians Patriarchists and 5,297 of

Bulgarian Muslims The Bulgarian Muslims or Muslim Bulgarians ( bg, Българи-мохамедани, ''Bǎlgari-mohamedani'', as of recently also Българи-мюсюлмани, ''Bǎlgari-mjusjulmani'', locally called ''Pomak'', ''ahryan'', ''poganets'', '' ...

Pomaks Pomaks ( bg, Помаци, Pomatsi; el, Πομάκοι, Pomáki; tr, Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is ...

. (

Lyubomir Miletich Lyubomir Miletich ( bg, Любомир Милетич) (14 January 1863 – 1 June 1937) was a leading Bulgarian linguist, ethnographer, dialectologist and historian, as well as the chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1926 to ...

, "

The Destruction of Thracian Bulgarians in 1913 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

") In 1912, in the town live 320 families of Bulgarians Muslims, 80 of Bulgarians Exarchists and 40 Patriarchists.По данни от „Разорението на тракийските българи през 1913 г.“ от Любомир Милетич In Ustuvo live 420 families Bulgarians Exarchists, in Raykovo - a total of 700 families of Bulgarians Exarchists, 100 of Bulgarians Patriarchists and 70 of Bulgarian Muslims. Currently, the religion of the majority in the city is christian orthodox.

Culture and sports

Due to its suitable location on top of

Mount Rozhen Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Co ...

, the

Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen Observatory ( bg, Национална астрономическа обсерватория - Рожен, ''НАО-Рожен''; en, National Astronomical Observatory - Rozhen, ''NAO-Rozhen''), also known as the Bulgarian National Astron ...

is located nearby, with a

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a Theater (structure), theatre built primarily for presenting educational entertainment, educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navi ...

in operation in the town. There is one theatre, the Rhodope Drama Theatre, and a gathering of theatre practitioners and scholars known as The Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory is held every summer. There is also a regional historical museum founded in 1935. Smolyan has an elite division football team,

PFC Rodopa Smolyan FC Rodopa (ФК Родопа) is a Bulgarian football club based in Smolyan, which currently plays in the South-East Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football league system. The team was named after the Rhodope Mountains and plays its ...

, that had been playing in the

A Professional Football Group The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

between 2003-2007. The largest church in southern Bulgaria, the Cathedral of Saint Vissarion of Smolyan, was inaugurated in the city in July 2006.

Municipality

Smolyan is also the seat of Smolyan municipality (part of Smolyan Province), which includes the following 79 villages: * Aligovska *

Arda Arda or ARDA may refer to: Places *Arda (Maritsa), a river in Bulgaria and Greece * Arda (Italy), a river in Italy * Arda (Douro), a river in Portugal *Arda, Bulgaria, a village in southern Bulgaria * Arda, County Fermanagh, a townland in County ...

* Belev dol * Bilyanska *

Borikovo Borikovo ( bg, Бориково) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village covers an area of 22.267 km2 and is located 171.2 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, С ...

Bostina Bostina ( bg, Бостина) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village covers an area of 4.77 km2 and is located 168.3 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, Соф� ...

* Bukata * Bukatsite *

Chamla Chamla ( bg, Чамла) is an abandoned village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village is located 150.9 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital ...

Chepleten Chepleten ( bg, Чеплетен) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village covers an area of 6.76 km2 and is located 179.63 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, С� ...

Chereshkite Chereshkite ( bg, Черешките) is a village in the municipality of Smolyan, located in the Smolyan Province of southern Bulgaria. The village is located 167.965 km from Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capi ...

* Chereshovo * Chereshovska Reka * Chokmanovo * Chuchur * Dimovo * Dunevo * Elenska * Elyovo * Fatovo * Gabritsa *

Gela Gela (Sicilian and ; grc, Γέλα) is a city and (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province of Ca ...

* Gozdevitsa * Gorna Arda * Gorovo * Gradat * Gudevitsa * Hasovitsa * Isyovtsi * Katranitsa * Kiselichevo * Kokorkovo * Koshnitsa * Kremene * Kukuvitsa * Kutela *

Laka In Hawaiian mythology, Laka is the name of two different popular heroes from Polynesian mythology. (In other parts of Polynesia they are known as Rātā, Rata, Lata, Ata, or Lasa). In one Hawaiian legend, Laka is the son of the '' Ali'i nui'' ...

* Levochevo * Lipets * Lyulka * Milkovo * Mogilitsa * Momchilovtsi * Mugla * Nadartsi * Oreshitsa * Ostri Pazlak * Petkovo *

Peshtera Peshtera ( bg, Пещера , sometimes transliterated as ''Peštera''; rup, Peshtera) is a town in the Rhodope Mountains, southern Bulgaria. It is located in Pazardzhik Province near the towns of Batak and Bratsigovo. The town is the third la ...

* Pisanitsa * Podvis * Polkovnik Serafimovo * Poprelka * Potoka * Rechani * Reka * Rovina * Selishte *

Shiroka Laka Shiroka Laka ( bg, Широка лъка ) is a village in the very south of Bulgaria, located in Smolyan municipality, Smolyan Province. It is a proclaimed architectural and folklore reserve and lies in the central Rhodope Mountains, 23 km (14 mi ...

* Sivino * Slaveyno * Smilyan * Sokolovtsi * Solishta * Sredok * Stikal * Stoykite * Sarnino * Strazha * Taran * Tikale * Trebishte * Turyan * Uhlovitsa * * Varbovo * Vievo * Vlahovo * Zaevite * Zmievo

Climate

Smolyan has either a

warm-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

: Csb) or a dry-summer warm-summer humid continental climate (

: Dsb), depending on if the 0 degrees celsius or -3 degrees celsius isotherm is used.

Honour

Smolyan Point on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in the

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 1 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

is named after Smolyan.

Notable people

Valya Balkanska Valya Mladenova Balkanska ( bg, Валя Младенова Балканска; born 8 January 1942) is a Bulgarian folk music singer from the Rhodope Mountains known locally for her wide repertoire of Balkan folk songs, but in the West mainly fo ...

Victor Houteff Victor Tasho Houteff ( Bulgarian; Виктор Ташо Хутев ; March 2, 1885 – February 5, 1955) was the founder of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist organization, known as The Shepherd's Rod. Early life Houteff was born in Raicovo, Eas ...

, founder of the Davidian branch, an offshoot of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

Velichko Cholakov Velichko Cholakov ( bg, Величко Чолаков, 12 January 1982 20 August 2017) was a Bulgarian weightlifter. Career He competed in the over 105 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, his first Olympics, winning an Olympi ...

Gallery

File:Смолян Райково 2713784204 3519c6e659 o.jpg File:Смолян Технически Колеж 2727441793 76680bdefa o.jpg File:Смолян Невястата 2702326413 a0331a0230 o.jpg File:Смолян Стенопис 1 2827787856 aae5a15ff2 o.jpg File:Смолян 2695825013 82452c9437 o.jpg File:Смолян 2691396959 f63b323fab o.jpg File:Смолян Райково 2724872359 21527b973c o.jpg File:Смолян Устово 2851700364 587e738628 o.jpg File:Kaptaja.jpg File:Stanevska.jpg File:Ustovo.jpg File:Historical-museum-smolian.jpg

References

External links

Smolyan municipality website

Smolyan municipality at Domino.bg

Planetarium Smolyan

Official website of village of "Kutela"
{{Authority control Cities and towns in the Rhodopes Populated places in Smolyan Province