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Chepino Valley
The Chepino Valley (), or Chepino ( bg, Чепино, link=no), is the largest valley in the Rhodope Mountains in southern Bulgaria. It is situated along the course of the Chepino River near the Batak Mountains in the northwestern part of the Rhodopes. Located at around 750 m above sea level, it is between 4 and 7 km wide and 18 km long. The bottom of the Chepino Valley is comparatively flat, although hills can also be found. The valley's fault structure is the reason for the frequent earthquakes in the area, as well as for the high number of mineral springs, numbering more than 80 and making the Chepino Valley an important tourist destination in the Rhodopes. Due to its geographic location, the valley has a considerably milder climate than that in other parts of Bulgaria. The slopes that surround the valley are covered with venerable coniferous forests, mainly of spruce. The second highest peak of the Rhodopes, Golyama Syutkya, is located nearby, and an important city ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorkovo
Dorkovo ( bg, Дорково; rup, Dorcova) is a village in the Rakitovo municipality, Pazardzhik Province, western Bulgaria. The population of the village is 2,955. Aromanians live in the village. Geography Dorkovo is situated in the western Rhodope Mountains on the two banks of the river Matnitsa in the north-eastern parts of the Chepino Valley. It is located at the southern foothills of the Karkariya ridge which is part of the Batak Mountain. The closest settlement is the small town of Kostandovo at only 3 km to the south. Further in southern direction is situated the municipal centre Rakitovo, while Velingrad the largest town in the area is at 14 km to the south-west. Demographics Members of the small Aromanian minority of Bulgaria live in Dorkovo, with this village being one of the few places in the country with an Aromanian community. Public institutions Chitalishte The ''chitalishte'' of the village is called ''St St Cyril and Methodius'' and was establishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valleys Of Bulgaria
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a very long period. Some valleys are formed through erosion by glacial ice. These glaciers may remain present in valleys in high mountains or polar areas. At lower latitudes and altitudes, these glacially formed valleys may have been created or enlarged during ice ages but now are ice-free and occupied by streams or rivers. In desert areas, valleys may be entirely dry or carry a watercourse only rarely. In areas of limestone bedrock, dry valleys may also result from drainage now taking place underground rather than at the surface. Rift valleys arise principally from earth movements, rather than erosion. Many different types of valleys are described by geographers, using terms that may be global in use or else applied only locally. Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pomaks
Pomaks ( bg, Помаци, Pomatsi; el, Πομάκοι, Pomáki; tr, Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is recognized officially as Bulgarian Muslims by the government. The term has also been used as a wider designation, including also the Slavic Muslim populations of North Macedonia and Albania. Most Pomaks today live in Turkey where they have settled as muhacirs as a result of escaping previous ethnic cleansing in Bulgaria. Bulgaria recognizes their language as a Bulgarian dialect whereas in Greece and Turkey they self-declare their language as the Pomak language. The community in Greece is commonly fluent in Greek, and in Turkey, Turkish, while the communities in these two countries, especially in Turkey, are increasingly adopting Turkish as their first language as a result of education and family links with the Turkish people. They ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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) // CITED: p. 36 (PDF p. 38/338) also known as the Turkish Empire, was an empire that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, Northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt (modern-day Bilecik Province) by the Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe and, with the Ottoman wars in Europe, conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman Anatolian beyliks, beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the Fall of Constantinople, conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed the Conqueror. Under the reign of Sule ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurred over the course of many centuries since the spread of Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula through the early Muslim conquests, with notable shifts occurring in the Levant, Iran, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, South Asia (in Afghanistan, Maldives, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), Southeast Asia (in Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia), Southeastern Europe (in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, among others), Eastern Europe (in the Caucasus, Crimea, and the Volga), and Southern Europe (in Spain, Portugal, and Sicily prior to re-Christianizations). In contemporary usage, it may refer to the perceived imposition of an Islamist social and political system on a society with an indige ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavs, 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 understood and difficult to trace back earlier than the 4th century AD, but it is possibly derived from the Proto-Turkic word ''*bulģha'' ("to mix", "shake", "stir") and its derivative ''*bulgak'' ("revolt", "disorder"). Alternative etymologies include derivation from a compound of Proto-Turkic (Oghuric languages, Oghuric) ''*bel'' ("five") and ''*gur'' ("arrow" in the sense of "Turkic tribal confederations, tribe"), a proposed division within the Utigurs or Onogurs ("ten tribes"). Citizenship According to the Art.25 (1) of Constitution of Bulgaria, a Bulgarian citizen shall be anyone born to at least one parent holding a Bulgarian citizenship, or born on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, should they not be entitled to any oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical") Eastern Orthodox Church is organised into autocephalous churches independent from each other. In the 21st century, the number of mainstream autocephalous churches is seventeen; there also exist autocephalous churches unrecognized by those mainstream ones. Autocephalous churches choose their own primate. Autocephalous churches can have jurisdiction (authority) over other churches, some of which have the status of " autonomous" which means they have more autonomy than simple eparchies. Many of these jurisdictions correspond to the territories of one or more modern states; the Patriarchate of Moscow, for example, corresponds to Russia and some of the other post-Soviet states. They can also include metropolises, bishoprics, pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexius Slav
Alexius Slav ( bg, Алексий Слав, el, ; 1208–28) was a Bulgarian nobleman (''bolyarin''), a member of the Asen dynasty, and a nephew of the first three Asen brothers. He was first probably the governor of the Rhodopes domain of the Second Bulgarian Empire, and then an autocrat in these lands. He was first mentioned as one of the nobles disputing Tsar Boril's ascension to the Bulgarian throne. He married the daughter of Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders in November 1208, leaving the Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo and establishing himself as an independent ruler over the largest part of the Rhodope Mountains. Alexius Slav became a vassal of Henry after the Bulgarian defeat near Plovdiv. Henry promised to support his aspirations for the Bulgarian throne and awarded Alexius Slav the title of despot. In 1211, he fought against Boril together with the Despotate of Epirus, extending the territory of his state and capturing the fortress of Melnik, where he moved hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak at . The mountain range gives its name to the terrestrial ecoregion Rodope montane mixed forests that belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome and the Palearctic realm. The region is particularly notable for its karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms, such as the Trigrad Gorge. A significant part of Bulgaria's hydropower resources are located in the western areas of the range. There are a number of hydro-cascades and dams used for electricity production, irrigation, and as tourist destinations. In Greece, there are also the hydroelectric power plants of Thisavros and Platanovrysi. The Rhodopes have a rich cultural heritage includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsepina
Tsepina ( bg, Цепина) or Tzepaina ( el, Τζέπαινα) was a castle and town in the western Rhodope mountains, southern Bulgaria, now in ruins. It is from the Dorkovo village in the north-eastern part of the Chepino Valley. Tsepina is above sea level. The town was built on a steep height at above sea level. Its outer walls closed an area of 25 decares and was dominated by a citadel at the top of the cliff. The foundations of three churches have been excavated as well as four large water storage tanks up to deep. History The site was already settled in prehistoric times. Remnants of pottery from the 4th–6th century and houses and a large three-aisled church in the area of the citadel point to a settlement during early Byzantine times. The Bulgarians took the castle in the 9th century but with the end of the First Bulgarian Empire in the beginning of the 11th century the Byzantines conquered it. The other buildings and pottery found on the site date to the 12 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velingrad
Velingrad ( bg, Велинград ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, located at the western end of Chepino Valley, part of the Rhodope Mountains. It is the administrative center of the homonymous Velingrad Municipality and one of the most popular Bulgarian balneological resorts. The town has a population of 22,602 inhabitants according to the 2011 census of Velingrad. History The region was inhabited by the Slavs. According to Bulgarian academics, the Dragovichi tribe lived there. The Dragovichi accepted many Thracian customs, but gave them typical Slavic characteristics. Soon after the Bulgar invasion of the Balkans, the whole region was annexed to the First Bulgarian Empire by Malamir. Velingrad was founded in 1948 after the unification between the villages–Chepino, Ladzhene and Kamenitsa, renamed after Vela Peeva, a Bulgarian communist revolutionary who gave up her life during World War II. Chepino and Kamenitsa are older settlements, but Lad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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