Bratsigovo ( ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Southern

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 ...

. It is located in the

foothill Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

s of the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) 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 ...

, on the banks of the Umishka River in

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the centre of Pazardzhik Province and Pazardzhik Municipality. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain and in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Field, a ...

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

, and is close to the towns of

Peshtera Peshtera ( , sometimes transliterated as ''Peštera'') is a town in the Rhodope Mountains, southern Bulgaria. It is located in Pazardzhik Province near the towns of Batak and Bratsigovo. The town is the third largest in the province after Paza ...

and

Krichim Krichim ( ) is a town in Bulgaria, located in the southwestern part of Plovdiv Province close to Perushtitsa. It lies at the foot of the Rhodopes' northern slopes in the plains of Thrace, 20 km southwest of Plovdiv. The river Vacha, an imp ...

. Bratsigovo Hills on

Trinity Peninsula Trinity Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends northeastward for about 130 km (80 mi) to Cape Dubouzet from an imaginary line connecting Cape Kater on the north-west coast and Cape Longing on the sou ...

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. ...

are named after the town. Some

Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...

live in Bratsigovo.

History

Bratsigovo-church-St-John-Precursor-belfry

Archeological evidence has shown that the area was inhabited by

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, 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 betwee ...

and later

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

. Historical records show the township was established at some point in the 16th-17th century, built over the ruins of an earlier settlement. The founders of the new town were Bulgarian emigrants from the western part of

Aegean Macedonia Aegean Macedonia ('';'' ) is a term describing the region of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia in Northern Greece. It is currently mainly used in the North Macedonia, Republic of North Macedonia, including in the Irredentism, irredentist context of a ...

, from the vicinity of Kostur.Митев, Йоно. История на Априлското въстание, София 1988, т. ІІ, с. 171. The population of Bratsigovo took an active part in the

April Uprising The April Uprising () was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The rebellion was suppressed by irregular Ottoman bashi-bazouk units that engaged in indiscriminate slaughter of both rebels ...

of 1876. In 1950 Bratsigovo had a population of 3,364. (Source=Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer) Web page: http://www.bratsigovo.bg/

Balneology

The town is being developed as a balneological center. There is a cold mineral water spring (18-26 C) with the flow rate of 120 liters per minute at the distance of 500 metres west of it. There is a balneo-sanatorium built up here. The mineral water treats some skin diseases, the nervous system, kidney related diseases and others. There is a nice park and a country-houses zone around it.

Notable residents

* Boro Vukmirović

Sources

Bulgarian Coastal Properties: Bratsigovo

References

Towns in Bulgaria Cities and towns in the Rhodopes Populated places in Pazardzhik Province Spa towns in Bulgaria Aromanian settlements in Bulgaria {{Pazardzhik-geo-stub