Chirpan ( bg, Чирпан, ) is a town on the Tekirska River in Stara Zagora Province of south-central
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 ...
. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous
Chirpan Municipality
Chirpan ( bg, Чирпан, ) is a town on the Tekirska River in Stara Zagora Province of south-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Chirpan Municipality. As of 2021, the town had a population of 13,391 down fro ...
. As of 2021, the town had a population of 13,391 down from 15,109 in 2013.
Chirpan is located north of the
Maritsa River
Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,Sredna Gora mountains. The town is a centre for
wineries
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...
and
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...
.
History
The modern town is the successor of the
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...
settlement of Sherampol and re-emerged in the beginning of the 15th century, its current name likely being derived from the Roman one. Upon his return from the Council of Sardica, Saint Athanasius established the first Christian monastery in Europe circa 344 near modern-day Chirpan in Bulgaria.
There has been extensive archaeological excavation at the Karasura (Carasura) site. During the
Ottoman rule of Bulgaria
The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, from the conquest by the Ottoman Empire of the smaller kingdoms emerging from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire in the late 14th century, to the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. A ...
, Chirpan ( tr, Çırpan) was known for its craftsmen and agriculture. The town suffered badly from an earthquake on 18 April 1928.
Chirpan was the birthplace of
Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...
soldier
Abdülkerim Nadir Pasha
Abdülkerim Nadir Pasha (1807–1883), also known as Çırpanlı Abdi Pasha or Abdul Kerim Pasha, son of Ahmed Ağa, was an Ottoman military commander, born in Chirpan, Ottoman Bulgaria.
Career
He graduated from the military academy in Const ...
, and the Bulgarian poet
Peyo Yavorov
Peyo Yavorov ( bg, Пейо (Кр.) Яворов; born Peyo Totev Kracholov, Пейо Тотев Крачолов; 13 January 1878 – 29 October 1914) was a Bulgarian Symbolist poet. He was considered to be one of the finest poetic talents in th ...
, whose native house is now a museum. Chirpan was the home of painter George Danchov. His house in the centre of the town is an excellent example of Bulgarian National Revival architecture.
Climate
Economy
There are 18,859 (2021) people in the municipality, two thirds of whom live in the town. 53% of the land is in cultivation, with major crops from wheat, sunflowers, cotton, grapes, and fruit trees. There is a 139 hectare
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respecti ...
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...
for preservation of avian habitat along the Tekirska River.
Honour
Chirpan Peak
Chirpan Peak ( bg, връх Чирпан, vrah Chirpan, ) is an ice-covered peak forming the western extremity of Bowles Ridge on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica overlooking Perunika Glacier to the west and south. Th ...
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 ...
Peyo Yavorov
Peyo Yavorov ( bg, Пейо (Кр.) Яворов; born Peyo Totev Kracholov, Пейо Тотев Крачолов; 13 January 1878 – 29 October 1914) was a Bulgarian Symbolist poet. He was considered to be one of the finest poetic talents in th ...
* Diamante, Vincenzo (1975) ''Bulgaria: storia, vita, folclore e tutte le informazioni utili al turista'' Valmartina, Firenze OCLC 3841667 (in Italian);
* Kondarev, Nikola (1987) ''Istoriia na Chirpan i Chirpansko'' Izd-vo na Otechestveniia front, Sofia OCLC 19857260 (in Bulgarian);
::''This article is based in part on material from the
Bulgarian Wikipedia
The Bulgarian Wikipedia ( bg, Българоезичната Уикипедия) is the Bulgarian-language edition of Wikipedia. It was founded on 6 December 2003, and on 12 June 2015 it passed the 200,000 articles threshold. It is written in ...