Stara Zagora

Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province.

Name

The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieval region of Zagore ("beyond the alkanmountains" in Slavic)

The original name was Beroe, which was changed to Ulpia Augusta Traiana by the Romans. From the 6th century the city was called Vereja and, from 784, Irenopolis ( Greek: Ειρηνούπολις) in honour of the Byzantine empress Irene of Athens. In the Middle Ages it was called Boruj by the Bulgarians and later, Železnik. The Turks called it Eski Hisar (old fort) and Eski Zagra, from which its current name derives, assigned in 1871.

History

The original Thracian settlement dates from the 5-4th century BC when it was called Beroe or Beroia.

The city was founded by Philip II of Macedon in 342 BC.

Under the Roman Empire, the city was renamed ''Ulpia Augusta Traiana'' in honour of emperor Trajan.
The city grew to its largest extent under Marcus Aurelius (161-180) and became the second most important city in the Roman province of Thrace after Philippopolis (Trimontium). Its status and importance is evidenced by the visits of several emperors including Septimius Severus (193-211), Caracalla (211-217), and Diocletian (294-305).

The Battle of Beroe was fought near the city in 250 resulting in a Gothic Victory. It was probably after this event that the city walls were doubled like other cities in the region (e.g. Diocletianopolis, Serdica).

In the 2nd-3rd century the city had its own coin mint showing its importance.

In 377, in the Gothic War (376-382), the Goths marched on Beroe to attack the Roman general Frigiderus but his scouts detected the invaders and he promptly withdrew to Illyria. The city was destroyed but rebuilt by Justinian.

John's Byzantine army, and many of the captives, were settled as foederati within the Byzantine frontier.

In 1208 the Bulgarians defeated the Latin Empire in the battle of Boruy, also fought nearby.

The Ottomans conquered Stara Zagora in 1371. A grade school was built in 1840 and the city's name was changed to ''Zheleznik'' (; a Slavic translation of ''Beroe'') in 1854 instead of the Turkish (Also called Zağra-i Atik), but was renamed once again to ''Stara Zagora'' in 1870. It was an administrative centre in Edirne Vilayet before 1878 as "Zağra-i Atik". After the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in 1878, it became part of autonomous Eastern Rumelia as a department centre before the two Bulgarian states finally merged in 1886 as a result of the Unification of Bulgaria.

Ancient monuments

Many of the monuments from the Roman city have been excavated and are visible ''in situ'' today and include:

* City walls
* The "Antique" Forum
* Roman city streets and buildings
* The Roman Baths
* 4th-6th c. public building with mosaics
* 4th c. private house with mosaics of Silenus with Bacchantes and of Dionysus's Procession
* South city gate
* Thracian Tomb

Overlooking the "antique" forum is an unusual building in the form of a monumental auditorium in the shape of a theatre.

Geography and climate

Stara Zagora is the administrative centre of its municipality and the Stara Zagora Province. It is about from Sofia, near the Bedechka river in the historic region of Thrace.

The city is in an area of a Mediterranean climate that is near humid subtropical climate. The average yearly temperature is about .

Population

Stara Zagora was possibly the biggest city in today's Bulgarian territory before liberation from Ottoman rule. But the city was burned and destroyed by Turkish army during the Liberation war in 1877–1878. During the first decade after the liberation of Bulgaria, in the 1880s the population of Stara Zagora decreased and numbered about 16,000. Since then it started growing decade by decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding smaller towns, reaching its peak in the period 1989-1991 exceeding 160,000. After this time, the population has started decreasing mostly because of the migration to the capital city of Sofia or abroad.

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Ethnic linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, individuals who declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:
*Bulgarians: 117,963 (93.2%)
*Romani: 5,430 (4.3%)
* Turks: 1,965 (1.6%)
*Others: 579 (0.5%)
*Indefinable: 617 (0.5%)
*Undeclared: 11,718 (8.5%)
Total: 138,272

Sports

PFC Beroe Stara Zagora is a football club in Stara Zagora. It was established in 1916 and plays at Beroe Stadium. The team is a member of the First Professional Football League. Beroe has won the Bulgarian Cup two times (2009-2010 and 2012-2013).

Education

The foundations of higher education in Stara Zagora were laid on October 30, 1974. Today in the western part of the city is located the Thracian University. Its structure includes the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Pedagogy and the Faculty of Agriculture. A Student City was built for the needs of the students.

Main sights

* Regional Historical Museum
* The Antique Forum
* Thracian Tomb
* The Roman Baths
* Roman mosaics of “Silenus with Bacchantes" (4th century) and of Dionysus's Procession
* The Samarsko Zname Monument
* Ayazmoto Park
* Defenders of Stara Zagora Memorial Complex
* Memorial House of Geo Milev
* The South Gate of Augusta Trajana
* The Opera House, built in 1925
* Stara Zagora Transmitter with one of the few Blaw-Knox Towers in Europe
* Neolithic Dwellings Museum

Districts

* Bedechka - Gradinski (''Бедечка - Градински'', named at river Bedechka)
* Central City Part (includes Supercentre, Chayka & Zagorka) (''Централна градска част (Суперцентър, Чайка и Загорка)'' - Chayka - Sea-gull, Zagorka - named after Zagorka brewery)
* Makedonski (''Македонски'' - Macedonian) know also as Chumleka (''Чумлека'')
* Dabrava (''Дъбрава'' - former village of Dabrava)
* Eastern Industrial Zone (''Източна индустриална зона'')
* Geo Milev (''Гео Милев'' - named after the Bulgarian poet)
* Golesh (''Голеш'')
* Industrial Zone (''Индустриална Зона'')
* Kazanski (''Казански'')
* Kolyo Ganchev (''Кольо Ганчев'' - named after the famous Bulgarian revolutionary)
* Lozenets (''Лозенец'' - from ''лозе'' - vineyard)
* Mitropolit Metodiy Kusev (''Митрополит Методий Кусев'' - named after a famous Starozagorian bishop)
* Opalchenski (''Опълченски'' - Volunteer's district named after Bulgarian voluntary army units) also known as Chaika (''Чайка'' - Sea-Gull)
* Samara 1, 2 & 3 - (''Самара 1, 2 и 3'' - named after the sister city of Samara, Russia)
* Slaveykov (''Славейков'' - named after the famous Bulgarian poet Petko Slaveykov)
* Studentski grad - (''Студентски град'' - Student town)
* Tri Chuchura north, centre & south - (''Три чучура север, център и юг'' - "Three spouts")
* Vasil Levski - (''Васил Левски'' - named after the famous Bulgarian revolutionary)
* Vazrazhdane - (''Възраждане'' - Renaissance)
* Zheleznik (small & big) (''Железник'' - like one of the former names of the city)
* Zora (''Зора'' - Dawn)

Future districts :
* Atyuren (''Атюрен'' - future district of the city)
* Bogomilovo (''Богомилово'' - village of Bogomilovo)
* Hrishteni (''Хрищени'' - village of Hrishteni)
* Malka Vereya (''Малка Верея'' - Vereya - old name of the city, Malka - small, village of Malka Vereya)

Notable people

* Anna Tomowa-Sintow, dramatic soprano opera singer
* Vesselina Kasarova, coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer
* Edith Schönert-Geiß, numismatist who was awarded Freedom of the City
* Vesselin Stoykov, bass-bariton opera singer
* Stefan Kisyov, writer
* Stefan Slivkov, revolutionary, mayor of Stara Zagora (1885-1886) and Bulgarian National Assemblyman
* Lenko Latkov, Serial Killer

Other

* Beroe Hill on Livingston Island, West Antarctica is named after this city, in its previous incarnation as Beroe.
* One of the two lighting factories Svetlina is situated here.

Twin towns and sister cities

Stara Zagora is twinned with:

* Barreiro, Portugal
* Kruševac, Serbia
* Radom, Poland
* Larissa, Greece
* Samara, Russia
* Yueyang, China

Stara Zagora official day

Every year October 5 is celebrated as the official day of Stara Zagora with multiple events, concerts, activities for kids and a fair.

See also

* Stara Zagora Airport
* Coat of arms of Stara Zagora
* Kalvacha Airport
* Trolleybuses in Stara Zagora
* Stara Zagora street ( Samara)

References

External links

Stara Zagora Regional museum of history

Stara Zagora Tourist Information Centre

Stara Zagora Economic Development Agency

Maps, Population, Info & Facts about cities and villages in Stara Zagora municipality

Programata Stara Zagora — the free cultural guide of Stara Zagora

Information and links about Stara Zagora

Information from Visit Bulgaria



Real Photos from Stara Zagora

News and videos from Stara Zagora

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Stara Zagora,
Populated places in Stara Zagora Province
Roman towns and cities in Bulgaria
340s BC establishments
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Bulgaria