Aytos ( bg, Айтос ), sometimes written Aitos and Ajtos, is a town located in eastern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

some 30 kilometers from the

Bulgarian Black Sea Coast The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (), also known as the Bulgarian Riviera, covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coast ...

and belonging to the administrative boundaries of

Burgas Province Burgas Province ( bg, Област Бургас, translit=Oblast Burgas, formerly the Burgas okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, including the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The province is named after its administrative and ind ...

. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Aytos Municipality. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 18974 inhabitants.

History

Aytos has a rich and long history dating back to antiquity. Founded by

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

tribes, archaeological finds near the town testify that its existence dates back to the 5th century BC. Throughout the centuries, the town has been known under different names including Aetòs (in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Αετός meaning eagle), Astòs (Αστός), Eidos (Είδος), Aquilia, Tchengis, etc. During the reign of Khan

Tervel Khan Tervel ( bg, Тервел) also called ''Tarvel'', or ''Terval'', or ''Terbelis'' in some Byzantine sources, was the khan of Bulgaria during the First Bulgarian Empire at the beginning of the 8th century. In 705 Emperor Justinian II named ...

, the region was incorporated in the Bulgarian Empire for the first time. The fortress ''Aetos'' took an important part in the defensive system of the Bulgarian lands against the sudden attacks of the

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

, the Avars and the Crusaders. In 1206, Aytos together with many cities in Bulgarian province of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

was destroyed by the Crusaders, led by

Henry of Flanders Henry (c.1178 – 11 June 1216) was Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1205 until his death in 1216. He was one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in which the Byzantine Empire was conquered and Latin Empire formed. Life Henry was born i ...

. Henry of Flanders was a brother of Baldwin I, emperor of

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzant ...

of Constantinople. A fortified city was rebuilt at 1488. In 1378 the town was conquered by the armies of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

under

Murad I Murad I ( ota, مراد اول; tr, I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'', from fa, خداوندگار, translit=Khodāvandgār, lit=the devotee of God – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 Jun ...

. During the

Russian-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histor ...

(1828–1829), General Hans Karl von Diebitsch turned the town into a strategic strong point. After the Treaty of Edirne in 1829, many of the town's citizens fled to Bessarabia to join the

Bessarabian Bulgarians The Bessarabian Bulgarians ( bg, бесарабски българи, ''besarabski bǎlgari'', ro, bulgari basarabeni, uk, бесарабські болгари, ''bessarabski bolháry'') are a Bulgarian minority group of the historical region ...

. During the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

the population participated in the Bulgarian struggles for liberation.

Vasil Levski Vasil Levski ( bg, Васил Левски, spelled in old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed t ...

organized a revolutionary committee in the town. After the Liberation, Aytos became a commercial center, reputedly more important than

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a pop ...

. The first girls' agricultural school in the country was established in Aytos during the period.

Transport

The geographic location determines the special significance of the municipality as a transport junction, where the road networks between Northern Bulgaria and Southern Bulgaria in this part of the country join. Important highways and the railway from Sofia to Burgas pass through it. Its good transport characteristics are also determined by the fact that it is only 28 km from Burgas, a key

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

port.

Climate

Culture

The town hosts the annual folk festival and competition Slaveevi Noshti, which takes place every Spring during the months of May and June. The festival is held at the "Slaveeva Reka" Recreational Park and it celebrates traditional dance and folk music from across Bulgaria.

Demography

The town of Aytos has 18,974 inhabitants as of December 2021.https://nsi.bg/bg/content/2975/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%BF%D0%BE-%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8-%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%89%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D0%B8-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB Most inhabitants are ethnic

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...

(68%), followed by large Turkish (17%) and Roma minorities (14%).

Sports

Established in the early '50s, the famous Aytos Sports Academy “Vihar” has produced many national and international gymnastics champions including three-time international champion Silviya Kostova. The Academy has a soccer team as well -- "Vihar Aytos".

Recreation and tourism

Natural landmarks

* Recreation Park " Slaveeva Reka" ("Nightingale's River") — Few towns in Bulgaria can boast parks as big as "Slaveeva Reka" park. The park also hosts the Aytos Animal Zoo. * Rock Formation "

Trite Bratya ''Trite'' is a genus (biology), genus of Salticidae, jumping spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1885. Most of the 18 described species occur in Australia and New Zealand, with several spread over islands of Oceania, one species even reac ...

" ("The Three Brothers") * Natural Reserve " Kazanite" * Natural Reserve "Hisarya" * State Forest " Koriata"

Historical landmarks

* Ancient Fortress "Aetos" * Aitoski Historical Pass — Connecting the ancient lands of

and Moesia * St. Dimitrii Solunski Orthodox Church * Aitos Mineral Baths

Cultural landmarks

* Ethnographic Complex "Genger" — A small

Etara The Open Air Ethnographic Museum «Etar» ( bg, Етнографски музей на открито „Етър“, usually referred to as Етъра, Etara) is an open-air museum and a neighbourhood of Gabrovo (8 km south of its center) in ...

-like ethnographic center built in the traditional local architectural style. The complex has a variety of different traditional Bulgarian arts and crafts shops as well as a traditional hotel, taverns, cafes and restaurants. * Museum of "Peter Stanev" * Theater "Vasil Levski"

Famous citizens

Ivana (singer) Vanya Todorova Kaludova ( bg, Ваня Тодорова Калудова; born 31 January 1969), known professionally as Ivana (), is a popular Bulgarian singer. She is one of the most prolific performers in the pop-folk music genre in Bulgaria ...

— Singer * Vladimir Nenov — Filmmaker * Eva Kirilova — Singer from Tonika *

Filip Kutev Filip Kutev ( bg, Филип Кутев), often anglicized Philip Koutev (13 June 1903 – 27 November 1982), was a Bulgarian composer, arranger and founder, with his wife Maria Kuteva, in 1951, of Bulgaria's first professional, state supported ense ...

— Composer and founder of the Bulgarian National Ensemble & Choir * Zhivko Mutafchiev — Painter * Panayot Panayotov — Singer * Pencho Peev — Poet *

Marie George Pepper Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tro ...

- Psychotherapist,

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge became ...

Georgi Popgeorgiev Georgi may refer to: * Georgi (given name) * Georgi (surname) See also * Georgy (disambiguation) *Georgii (disambiguation) Georgii may refer to: ;Given name * Georgii Zantaraia (born 1987), Ukrainian judoka of Georgian origin * Georgii Karpechenko ...

— Painter and founder of the Young Bulgarian Painters Society * Petar Stanev — Painter * Hristo Tanev — Sculptor * Yovi Tenev — Federal Prosecutor for the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

* Sava Tanev — Sculptor * Tatyana Yotova — Poet *

Rositsa Zhivkova Rositsa may refer to: * Rositsa (Belarus), a village in the Vitebsk Region (Belarus) Bulgaria * Rositsa (river), a Bulgarian river * Rositsa, Dobrich Province * Rositsa, Targovishte Province * Rositsa, Veliko Tarnovo Province Given name * Ro ...

Ivan Angelov Ivan Angelov ( bg, Иван Ангелов; born 21 January 1979) is a Bulgarian former swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events. He is a single-time Olympian (2000), and a former Bulgarian record holder in 50, 100, and 200 m backstroke. Dur ...

— Music Idol Star

Honour

Aytos Point on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

is named for Aytos.

References

External links

Official Site of Aitos Municipality

EcoTrail Aitos - Official Tourism Site
{{Authority control Populated places established in the 5th century BC Populated places in Burgas Province Towns in Bulgaria