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

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

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 ...

and belonging to the administrative boundaries of

Burgas Province Burgas (, formerly the Burgas okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The province is named after its administrative and industrial centre, the city of Burgas, the fourth biggest town in the countr ...

. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Aytos Municipality. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 18,974 inhabitants.

History

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

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

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: 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 of all kno ...

Αετός meaning eagle), Astòs (Αστός), Eidos (Είδος), Aquilia, Tchengis, etc. During the reign of Khan Tervel, the region was incorporated in the

Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to: * First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...

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 Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

, the Avars and the

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

rs. In 1206, Aytos together with many cities in Bulgarian province of

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

was destroyed by the Crusaders, led by Henry of Flanders. 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 Byzantin ...

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 (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

under

Murad I Murad I (; ), nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'' (from – meaning "Head of state, sovereign" in this context; 29 June 1326 – 15 June 1389) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1362 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan Gazi and Nilüfer Hatun. Mura ...

. During the Russian-Turkish War (1828–1829), General

Hans Karl von Diebitsch Hans Karl Friedrich Anton Graf von Diebitsch und Narten (; 13 May 1785 – 10 June 1831) was a German-born soldier serving as Russian field marshal. Career Hans Karl was educated at the Berlin cadet school, but by the desire of his father ...

turned the town into a strategic strong point. After the Treaty of Edirne in 1829, many of the town's citizens fled to

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

to join the

Bessarabian Bulgarians The Bessarabian Bulgarians (; ; ) are a Bulgarian minority group of the historical region of Bessarabia, inhabiting parts of present-day Ukraine (Budjak region of the Odesa Oblast) and Moldova. Location and number Modern Ukraine In Ukraine, ...

. During the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian Revival (, ''Balgarsko vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and ), sometimes called the Bulgarian National Revival, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian pe ...

the population participated in the Bulgarian struggles for liberation.

Vasil Levski Vasil Levski (, spelled in Reforms of Bulgarian orthography, old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a Folk hero, national ...

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

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

. 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 sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

port.

Geography

The town is located in eastern

some 30 kilometers from the

and belonging to the administrative boundaries of

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. Most inhabitants are ethnic Bulgarians (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 football 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" ("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 Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

* St. Dimitrii Solunski Orthodox Church * Aitos Mineral Baths

Cultural landmarks

* Ethnographic Complex "Genger" — A small Etara-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"

Notable people

* Ivan Angelov — Music Idol Star * Ivan Hristov — former football player and manager * Ivana (singer) — Singer * Eva Kirilova — Singer from Tonika * Filip Kutev — Composer and founder of the Bulgarian National Ensemble & Choir * Zhivko Mutafchiev — Painter * Vladimir Nenov — Filmmaker * Panayot Panayotov — Singer * Pencho Peev — Poet * Marie George Pepper - Psychotherapist,

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of ...

* Georgi Popgeorgiev — Painter and founder of the Young Bulgarian Painters Society * Petar Stanev — Painter * Hristo Tanev — Sculptor * Sava 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 United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

* Tatyana Yotova — Poet * Rositsa Zhivkova

Honour

Aytos Point on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetland Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands north of the ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

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

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