Slavovitsa () is a village located in the

Septemvri Municipality Septemvri Municipality () is a municipality in the Pazardzhik Province of Bulgaria. Demography At the 2011 census, the population of Septemvri was 25,794. Most of the inhabitants (76.5%) were Bulgarians, and there were significant minorities of ...

Pazardzhik Province Pazardzhik Province ( ''Oblast Pazardzhik'', former name Pazardzhik okrug) is a province in Southern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre: the city of Pazardzhik. The territory is that is divided into 12 municipaliti ...

, Bulgaria. It is the birthplace of former Bulgarian prime minister

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stoimenov Stamboliyski (; 1 March 1879 – 14 June 1923) was a Bulgarian politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Prime Minister of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a memb ...

. As of 2024 its population is 324.

Geography

The village is situated at an altitude of about 600 m in the southeastern foothills of the Vetren Ridge of the

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. ...

mountain range, facing the westernmost reaches the

Upper Thracian Plain The Upper Thracian Plain (, ''Gornotrakiyska nizina'') constitutes the northern part of the historical region of Thrace. It is located in southern Bulgaria, between Sredna Gora mountains to the north and west, a secondary mountain chain parallel ...

. Slavovitsa falls within the transitional continental climatic zone with mild winter and warm summer with frequent droughts. The predominant winds are northwestern. The soils are

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

and cinnamon forest soils. Administratively, Slavovitsa is part of

, located in the central part of

. It has a territory of 26.984 km². It is located some 31 km northwest of the provincial center

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the centre of Pazardzhik Province and Pazardzhik Municipality. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain and in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Field, a ...

, and 15 km north of the municipal seat, the town of

Septemvri Septemvri (, , ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, southern Bulgaria. It is the administrative center of homonymous Septemvri Municipality. As of 2024 the town had a population of 8,071. Geography The town is situated at an altitude of about ...

. The nearest settlements are the villages of Tserovo to the north,

Lesichovo Lesichovo () is a village in the Pazardzhik Province, Bulgaria. As of 2005 it has 982 inhabitants. The village is a centre of the Lesichovo Municipality. It hosts an annual Kukeri Kukeri (; singular: kuker, кукер) are elaborately costume ...

to the northeast, Vinogradets to the southeast, the town of Vetren to the south, and Gorno Varshilo to the northwest. It is situated close to a junction of the

Trakiya motorway The Trakia motorway (, ) or Thrace motorway, designated A1, is a motorway in Bulgaria. It connects the capital city of Sofia, the city of Plovdiv and the city of Burgas on the Black Sea coast. The motorway is named after the historical region of ...

History and culture

There are archaeological traces from the ancient

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

. There were medieval settlements and fortresses in the vicinity of the village, which were destroyed during the

Bulgarian–Ottoman wars The Bulgarian–Ottoman wars were fought between the kingdoms remaining from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, in the second half of the 14th century. The wars resulted in the collapse and subordination of the ...

of the 14th century. The modern village was founded in 17th century. It participated in the preparation of the anti-Ottoman

April Uprising of 1876 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 military, irregular Ottoman bashi-bazouk units that engaged in indiscriminate slaught ...

and had a representative at the assembly in the Oborishte locality, which took the decision to begin the revolt, and was burnt down in the aftermath of its suppression. Slavovitsa was the birthplace of

, who served as

Prime Minister of Bulgaria The Prime Minister of Bulgaria () is the head of government of Bulgaria. They are oftentimes the leader of a political coalition in the Bulgarian parliament, known as the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unica ...

in 1919–1923. After Stamboliyski was ousted during the

1923 Bulgarian coup d'état Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, he retreated to the village, where he attempted to raise a rebellion against the new government. He was eventually captured and brutally murdered in Slavovitsa by members

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...

, who blamed him for renouncing the Bulgarian national interests in Macedonia. A few weeks after the murder, the village participated in the Communist

September Uprising The September Uprising (, ''Septemvriysko vastanie''), also called the September Riots (Септемврийски бунтове),Голяма енциклопедия България, том 10, Главен редактор акад. Вас ...

. The local church dedicated to the Prophet Elijah was rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Ottomans in 1876. The school of Slavovitsa was founded in 1850, initially as a monastery school to the church. The local cultural center, known in Bulgarian as a ''

chitalishte A ''chitalishte'' (, ) is a traditional Bulgarian public institution and building that fulfills several functions at once, such as a community centre, public library, and a theatre. It is also used as an educational institution, where people o ...

'', was established in 1921 and named after Aleksandar Stamboliyski. His birth house and his villa are monuments of culture.

Economy

Slavovitsa lies in a fertile area and has well-developed agriculture. The main crops include cherries, sour cherries and grapes. The local vineyards grow the old Bulgarian grape variety

Pamid Pamid is an old grape variety used for red wine. It has been cultivated in Bulgaria since the times of the ancient Thracians. In the past, it was the most widely spread Bulgarian variety, but today its plantations are highly limited. Pamid is also ...

. Livestock breeding is also developed, mainly sheep.

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria, 1980 , title = Географски речник на България , trans-title = Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria , last1 = Мичев (Michev) , first1 = Николай (Nikolay) , last2 = Михайлов (Mihaylov) , first2 = Цветко (Tsvetko) , last3 = Вапцаров (Vaptsarov) , first3 = Иван (Ivan) , last4 = Кираджиев (Kiradzhiev) , first4 = Светлин (Svetlin) , chapter = , year = 1980 , language = Bulgarian , publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura) , location = София (Sofia) , isbn = Villages in Pazardzhik Province