Zlatograd ( bg, Златоград, , ) is a town in

Smolyan Province Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative ...

, southern-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 Zlatograd Municipality. In December 2009, the town had a population of 7,110.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - towns in 2009
It is located 60 km from the province centre of

Smolyan Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province. The town is built ...

. The

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 ...

border is 5 km from the town. The cross-border Zlatograd - Thermes (Greece) road was inaugurated on 15 January 2010.

History

During the rule 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 ...

, the area was a township of the Ottoman Sanjak of Gümülcine in Adrianople Vilayet between 1867 and 1912 known as Darıdere. The town still retains its characteristic Ottoman-era architecture, with numerous old buildings as well as two 19th-century Orthodox churches and a mosque.

Geography

Zlatograd is located in a valley between the eastern and central massif of the

Rhodope mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

. The municipality's climate is included in the transient-Mediterranean climate region. Mineral resources include

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

ore. The territory of the municipality is crossed by Varbitza river which is 98.1 km long and its catchment basin is 1202.8 km. Nedelinska and Kushlenska rivers are tributaries of Varbitza. There is a dam lake called "Zlatograd" with water capacity of 4,4.106 m . and a micro dam lake called "Hasidere" (0,4.106 m). Forest covers an area of 144.60 km². Species including beech,

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam ...

, oak, birch and cornel-tree are mostly spread among the broad-leaved forests. Prevailing coniferous trees are spruce, fir-tree, white and black pine. Agriculture covers 25 km² and the arable land is 12 km². The cultures grown in the municipality are tobacco, potatoes, vegetables and strawberries (representatives of perennial plants). There is a tailings pond called "Erma Reka" which is 8 km away from the town of Zlatograd and 5 km away from the village of Erma Reka. The municipality is rich in underground resources. In the surroundings of Erma Reka there is a geothermal deposit of hot mineral water. Soils are maroon forest leached (97.59 km²); brown forest-dark (12 km²); brown forest-transient (83.37 km²); brown forest light (117.59 km²); alluvial-delluvial (0.59 km²); humus-carbonate (11.07 km²).

Demographics

The rate of unemployment is 32.64%, which is the highest since 1990. The active population is 8,063 of whom 50,97% are employed in the public sector and 49.03% in the private sector.

Honour

Zlatograd Rock 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 after Zlatograd.

Gallery

Image:20100213_Zlatograd_Bulgaria_1.jpg , Traditional architecture - Zlatograd. Image:20100213_Zlatograd_Bulgaria_3.jpg , River - old town - Zlatograd. Image:20100213_Zlatograd_Orthodox_Church.jpg , Orthodox church "

Saint George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

" - Zlatograd. Image:20100214_Zlatograd_Mosque.jpg , Mosque - Zlatograd. Image:20100214_Zlatograd_Ethnological_Complex_1.jpg , Ethnological complex - Zlatograd. Image:20100214_Zlatograd_Ethnological_Complex_2.jpg , Ethnological complex - Zlatograd. Image:20100214_Zlatograd_Ethnological_Complex_3.jpg , Ethnological complex - Zlatograd.

References

External links

Zlatograd.com

Ethnographic Area Complex Zlatograd

New Site Ethnographic Area Complex Zlatograd

Zlatograd Municipality Website

15 January 2010: Thermes-Zlatograd Road Inaugurated

Zlatograd and the new Border road into Thermes and Xanthi Northern Greece
{{Smolyan Province Towns in Bulgaria Cities and towns in the Rhodopes Populated places in Smolyan Province Bulgaria–Greece border crossings