Kotel ( ) is a town 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 ...

, part of

Sliven Province Sliven Province (, former name Sliven okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of Sliven. It has a territory of

. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Kotel Municipality. In 2016, the town had a population of 5,329.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute – towns in 2009
Kotel is known for the numerous personalities of the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian Revival (, ''Balgarsko vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and ), sometimes called the Bulgarian National Revival, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian pe ...

who are connected to the town in various ways, such as the politicians Alexander Bogoridi and

Stefan Bogoridi Prince (''Knyaz'' or ''Bey'') Stefan Bogoridi (born Стойко Цонков Стойков, ''Stoyko Tsonkov Stoykov''; ; ; ; ; 1775 or 1780 – 1 August 1859) was a high-ranking Ottoman statesman of Bulgarian origin, grandson of Sophro ...

, the enlighteners

Sophronius of Vratsa Saint Sophronius of Vratsa (or Sofroniy Vrachanski; ; 1739–1813), born Stoyko Vladislavov (), was a Bulgarian cleric and one of the leading figures of the early Bulgarian National Revival. Biography Vladislavov was born in the town of Kotel i ...

and

Petar Beron Petar Beron () (c. 1799, Kotel – 21 March 1871) was a Bulgarian educator, teacher, doctor, maecenas, and author. He created the first modern Bulgarian primer, known as the '' Fish Primer'' (Рибен буквар, ''Riben bukvar'') due to ...

, public figure

Gavril Krastevich Gavril Krastevich (; 5 April 1817 – 19 November 1898) was a Bulgarian politician and historian, and the first translator of Benjamin Franklin into Bulgarian. He was born in Kotel in 1817. He was Governor General of Eastern Rumelia between ...

, revolutionary

Georgi Rakovski Georgi Stoykov Rakovski () (1821 – 9 October 1867), known also Georgi Sava Rakovski (), born Sabi Stoykov Popovich (), was a 19th-century Bulgarian revolutionary, freemason, writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival a ...

, as well as the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

prime minister

Dobri Bozhilov Dobri Bozhilov Khadzhiyanakev () (June 13, 1884 – February 1, 1945) was Prime Minister of Bulgaria during World War II. Biography Born in Kotel, Bulgaria, Bozhilov attended the Higher Commercial School in Svishtov before starting work as a ...

. It has a well-known music school and a large

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

population who can be found playing in restaurants and orchestras all over Bulgaria. Because of its location in the mountains, Kotel is also a popular health resort for the cure of diseases such as tuberculosis. Kotel has been a centre for carpet making and there is a museum devoted to the craft.

Geography

The town is located in eastern

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs for about , first ...

Landmarks

*Zlosten protected area *Urushki skali protected area *Eagle Caves protected area

History

Kotel was settled during the beginning of the Ottoman occupation of Bulgaria, when people fled from neighboring cities and towns. The earliest information about the town is found in an Ottoman Turkish register from 1486. In 1894, much of Kotel was destroyed in a fire.

Honour

Kotel Gap Kotel Gap (Kotelska Sedlovina \'ko-tel-ska se-dlo-vi-'na\) is a saddle of elevation 660 m extending 1 km between Serdica Peak and Silistra Knoll in Levski Ridge, Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarct ...

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 Kotel.

Culture

Education

Kotel Literary School was established in the 16th century.

is a prominent representative of this school. * Filip Kutev's National School for Folk Arts *Georgi Rakovski high school

Saglasie-Napredak 1870 cultural center

The Saglasie-Napredak 1870 cultural center was founded in 1870.

Agriculture

There is a strong sheep farming tradition in the region, which includes the practice of

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or Nomad, nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and low ...

, migrating the sheep from lowland winter pastures to mountain summer pastures. This was profiled in a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

documentary.BBC Radio 4, Tuesday 14 October 2008, World on the Move, Great Animal Migrations
/ref>

Notable residents

Georgi Sava Rakovski Georgi Stoykov Rakovski () (1821 – 9 October 1867), known also Georgi Sava Rakovski (), born Sabi Stoykov Popovich (), was a 19th-century Bulgarian revolutionary, freemason, writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival ...

, revolutionary *

, scientist, philosopher and educator *

, governor General of

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia (; ; ) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) of the Ottoman Empire with a total area of , which was created in 1878 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Treaty of Berlin and ''de facto'' ...

, prince of

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

, theologian, Bulgarian nationalist

Gallery

File:Bulgaria-Kotel-01.jpg File:Bulgaria-Kotel-02.jpg File:Bulgaria-Kotel-03.jpg File:Котел, градския стадион.jpg File:Парк "Изворите".jpg,

References

External links

Kotel History
{{Authority control Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Sliven Province