Samokov

Samokov
Samokov; Самоков
	Samokov Historical Museum with the statue of Zahari Zograf
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Samokov Location of Samokov
	Coordinates: 42°20′N 23°33′E / 42.333°N 23.55°ECoordinates: 42°20′N 23°33′E / 42.333°N 23.55°E
Country	Bulgaria
Province; (Oblast)	Sofia
	Government
• Mayor	Angel Nikolov
Elevation	960 m (3,150 ft)
	Population (2008)[1]
• Total	28,150
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	2000
Area code(s)	0722

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Samokov (Bulgarian: Самоков) is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a kettle between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due to the suitable winter sports conditions, Samokov, together with the nearby resort Borovets, is a major tourist centre.

In the past, Samokov was a centre of handicrafts and art, with notable figures like Zahari Zograf, Hristo Dimitrov and Nikola Obrazopisov. The town's name is a compound word of "samo" and "kov", respectively meaning "self" and the root of the verb "forge, hammer", and comes from the samokov, a mechanical forge powered by water, since the town of Samokov was a major iron producing centre during the Middle Ages.

[edit] History

It is thought that Samokov was founded in the 14th century as a mining settlement with the assistance of "Saxon" miners. It was first mentioned in 1455 and in Ottoman registers of 1477 as Vlaychov Samokov. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it grew into the greatest iron extraction centre in the region, with western travellers describing it as 'a fairly large city'. In 1565-1566, Samokov had to produce and deliver to Belgrade 20,000 horseshoes and 30,000 nails. Samokov also produced anchors and other materials for the shipyards of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, particularly Pomorie. As the logging industry was also well developed, in 1573 the people of Samokov had to deliver 300 beams as far as Mecca.[2].~

[edit] Sports

Bulgaria's only ski jumping hill is located in Samokov. It's a fairly small hill, K-40 metres where you can jump down to 45 metres. The hill is very old and needs to be renovated. A large modern sports arena was opened on 8 March 2008. Basketball, volleyball, boxing, wrestling and judo. It cost 16 million lev. There is also a skiing centre in Samokov for Cross Country skiing, a small alpine hill and a snowboard park.