Zelenikovo is a village in

Southern Bulgaria Southern Bulgaria (, ''Yuzhna Balgariya'') is the southern half of the territory of Bulgaria, located to the south of the main ridge of the Balkan Mountains which conventionally separates the country into a northern and a southern part. Besides th ...

, located in

Brezovo Brezovo ( ) is a town in Southern Bulgaria. It is located in Plovdiv oblast and is close to the town of Rakovski. Populated places The following towns and villages are located inside the territory of Brezovo municipality: * Babek * Borets * ...

Municipality,

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 ...

. As of June 2020, the village has a population count of 282 people total.

Geography

Zelenikovo village is located in the southern hills of the most elevated part of the Sarnena

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. ...

geographical area in

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 combines a mountainous and flat terrain. The climate, and the geographical location of the village make it a suitable center for the development of oil rose cultivation and the rose oil processing industry to emerge and sustain itself. The oil rose processed in the area is of high quality and as of the last 50 years, there has been an increase in plantation numbers near the village. The village offers good conditions for rural tourism. The reason for that is the presence of dams, rivers, mountains and hills nearby. The municipality's leadership has announced that the development of the tourism will be a focus in their future years. Conditions are being created to demonstrate to tourists how the distillation of rose oil happens in a traditional and interesting manner.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure of the village is intact. There is a public home edifice, for educating children deprived of parental care. The orphanage is located at the end of the village. In the village, a large monument of those killed in the wars of national unification can also be found.

History

According to documents left by the local teacher Todor Georgiev Gogovpisani around 1944, it is assumed that the Zelenikovo Village was created more than 700 years ago by

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Ivan Shishman Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria () ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 June 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire. In the wake of the death of Ivan Alexander of Bulgari ...

, while relocating a large portion of the population to establish a better border control beyond the

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

to strengthen the military positions of Bulgarian defenders. During Ottoman rule, the name of the village used to be Hamzalare, named after the Ottoman leader who governed the village.

Notable people

* Ivan Krumov – A

parachutist Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

record holder. * Petar Dimitrov – One of the first graduates of the village, principal of the school in

for over 20 years. * Tsanyo Aksiyski – Former director of " Prosveta" publishing house in

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 ...

References

{{Reflist Villages in Plovdiv Province