Smolyan
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Please expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in the Bulgarian Wikipedia. (December 2008) After translating, {{Translated}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. Translation instructions · Translate via Google |
| Smolyan | |
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  Smolyan
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| Coordinates: 41°35′N 24°42′E / 41.583°N 24.7°E | |
| Country |  Bulgaria |
| Province (Oblast) |
Smolyan |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Dora Yankova (BSP) |
| Elevation | 999 m (3,278 ft) |
| Population (2005-09-13) | |
| - Total | 32 813 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal Code | 4700 |
| Area code(s) | 0301 |
Smolyan (Bulgarian: Смолян) is a town and ski resort in the very south of Bulgaria, the administrative center of Smolyan Province. It is situated in the valley of the Cherna ("Black") and the Byala ("White") Rivers in the central Rhodopes at the foot of the mountains' highest part south of the popular ski resorts Pamporovo and Chepelare.
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[edit] History
According to archaeological evidence, the area around Smolyan was first settled in the 2nd-1st millennium BC. In the Middle Ages it acquired its name from the Slavic tribe, the Smolyani, who settled in the region in the 7th century. During the Middle Ages, it was ruled by the Part of the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. For a while during the 14th-century it came under the control of the Bulgarian feudal lord Momchil, alongside the whole Rhodope mountains, before eventually being subjugated by the Ottoman Empire. Smolyan remained under Ottoman rule for five centuries, a township of the Ottoman Gümülcine sanjak in Edirne vilayet between 1867 and 1912. It was known in Ottoman Turkish as Paşmaklı or Ahiçelebi.
The area was liberated by the 21st Sredna Gora Regiment led by Vladimir Serafimov in 1912, during the First Balkan War. The modern town of Smolyan was formed by the merger of three existing villages — Ustovo, Raykovo and Ezerovo — in 1960.
[edit] Culture and sports
Due to its suitable location on top of Mount Rozhen, the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory is located nearby, with a planetarium in operation in the town. There is one theatre, the Rhodope Drama Theatre, and a gathering of theatre practitioners and scholars known as the The Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory is held every summer. There is also a regional historical museum founded in 1935.
Smolyan has an elite division football team, PFC Rodopa Smolyan, that had been playing in the A Professional Football Group between 2003-2007.
The largest church in southern Bulgaria, the Cathedral of Saint Vissarion of Smolyan, was inaugurated in the city in July 2006.
[edit] Municipality
Smolyan is also the seat of Smolyan municipality (part of Smolyan Province), which includes the following 79 villages:
[edit] Honour
Smolyan Point on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Smolyan.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Smolyan |
[edit] Official websites
- Smolyan municipality website
- Smolyan municipality at Domino.bg
- Planetarium Smolyan
- National Astronomical Observatory "Rozhen"
[edit] Tourism websites
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Peshtera | Asenovgrad | Haskovo | |
| Gotse Delchev |  |
Kardjali | ||
 Smolyan  |
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| Greece | Greece | Greece |
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