Klisura (, , ) is a small town in the

Karlovo Municipality Karlovo ( ) is a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains. It is administratively part of Plovdiv Province and has a population of about 1 ...

of the

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

in central

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. It is situated in a valley surrounded by the Balkan Mountain range and

Sredna Gora Sredna Gora ( ) is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the river Iskar (river), Iskar to the west and the elbow of river Tundzha north of the city of Yambol to the east. ...

. As of 2005, its population was 1,478 people. It is located 105 km to the east of

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, 35 km west of

Karlovo Karlovo ( ) is a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains. It is administratively part of Plovdiv Province and has a population of about 1 ...

, and 25 km northeast of

Koprivshtitsa Koprivshtitsa (, pronounced , from the Bulgarian word , ''kopriva'', meaning "Urtica, nettle") is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, historic town in the Koprivshtitsa Municipality in Sofia Province, central Bulgaria, lying on the Topolnit ...

. The name of Klisura has traditionally been associated with the heroism of its inhabitants during the

April Uprising The April Uprising () was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The rebellion was suppressed by irregular Ottoman bashi-bazouk units that engaged in indiscriminate slaughter of both rebels ...

. The then-village was a centre of the revolution and Borimechkata ("the man who struggles a bear") who lived in the village was one of its leaders. Places of main interest are the Church of St Nicholas, the local Historical Museum, and historic homes such as Chervenakov's house, Pavurdzhiev's house, Kozinarov's house, etc. Klisura is the birthplace of Hristo G. Danov, the founder of the first Bulgarian

printing house In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. Origins of printing The history of printers in publishing in Western Europe dates back to the mid-15th century wit ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

. One and a half kilometres away from Klisura is Zli dol ("Evil glen"), the motor tourism complex of the Union of the Bulgarian Drivers. The complex includes 15 small houses with around 60 beds, a restaurant, a bar, a playground,

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

courts, an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

area, and a guarded car park. Klisura is a starting point for many itineraries to the

Central Balkan National Park The Central Balkan National Park () is a national park in the heart of Bulgaria, nestled in the central and higher portions of the Balkan Mountains. Its altitude varies from near the town of Karlovo to at Botev Peak, the highest summit in the ...

and to two peaks — Vezhen in the Balkan Mountains and Bogdan in Sredna Gora. The town is only one kilometre away from the Sub-Balkan principal highway thoroughfare Sofia-Burgas and has two railway stations. Klisura Peak on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetland Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands north of the ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

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

is named after Klisura.

References

Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Plovdiv Province {{Plovdiv-geo-stub