Chelopech () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the western part of

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 the only village in the ''

Chelopech Municipality Chelopech Municipality is a municipality in Sofia Province, Bulgaria. The Chelopech Municipality includes only one village - Chelopech, which is located on the southern side of the Balkan Mountains, on the main road from the capital Sofia to Burga ...

'',

Sofia Province Sofia Province () is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains the seat of its administration. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Paz ...

Geographical outline

Chelopech is situated in the

Zlatitsa–Pirdop Valley Zlatitsa–Pirdop Valley () is situated in central western Bulgaria and is the fifth of the eleven Sub-Balkan valleys in direction west–east. It is named after the two towns that lie within, Zlatitsa and Pirdop. The valley is an important hub o ...

enclosed between the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

to the north and

Sredna Gora Sredna Gora ( ) is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the river Iskar (river), Iskar to the west and the elbow of river Tundzha north of the city of Yambol to the east. ...

to the south. The major railroad connecting Sofia and Burgas passes through the village.

History

The history of the village dates back to antiquity, which is proved by the remains, discovered on its territory - the "Ginova Mogila", "Gradishte", etc. The name of the village is first mentioned in a preserved

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

document which dates back to the year 1430. It was designated an independent municipality on 15 August 1991.Chelopech
from Visit to Bulgaria web site

Chelopech Hill Russell West Glacier () is a glacier, long and wide, which lies immediately north of Detroit Plateau and flows from Mount Canicula westward into Bone Bay, on the north side of Trinity Peninsula. This glacier together with Russell East Glacier, ...

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. ...

is named after the village.

Cultural and natural resources

The St. Nikolas the Wonderworker Church was built in 1835. The Municipality is in charge of the Murgana chalet, located at above sea level at the foot of the Mourgana Peak in the Balkan Mountains.

Demographics

According to December 2018, there are 1,526 people residing in Chelopech, most of whom ethnic

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

(95%), followed by

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

(4%). ImageSize = width:400 height:200 PlotArea = left:50 right:20 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:cobar value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8) id:cobar2 value:rgb(0.6,0.9,0.6) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:2400 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:200 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:50 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:cobar width:20 align:left bar:1934 from:0 till:1791 bar:1946 from:0 till:1705 bar:1956 from:0 till:1783 bar:1965 from:0 till:1954 bar:1975 from:0 till:2205 bar:1985 from:0 till:2216 bar:1992 from:0 till: 1779 bar:2001 from:0 till:1710 bar:2011 from:0 till:1473 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1934 at: 1791 text: 1791 shift:(-14,5) bar:1946 at: 1705 text: 1705 shift:(-14,5) bar:1956 at: 1783 text: 1783 shift:(-14,5) bar:1965 at: 1954 text: 1954 shift:(-14,5) bar:1975 at: 2205 text: 2205 shift:(-14,5) bar:1985 at: 2216 text: 2216 shift:(-14,5) bar:1992 at: 1779 text: 1779 shift:(-14,5) bar:2001 at: 1710 text: 1710 shift:(-14,5) bar:2011 at: 1473 text: 1473 shift:(-14,5)

Religion

According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following: An overwhelming majority of the population of Chelopech Municipality identify themselves as

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

. At the 2011 census, 86.2% of respondents identified as Orthodox Christians belonging to the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and t ...

Industry

Copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

mining is the main branch of the local producing structure. Chelopech is the biggest and richest copper-gold-pyrites deposit in Europe, which is one of the reasons for the stable economic situation in the region.

Gallery

Image:Chelopech-church.jpg , St Nikolay Church Image:Chelopech-church-inscription.jpg , The inscription above the church door Image:Chelopech-war-monument.jpg , A monument to the fallen in the wars Image:Chelopech-library.jpg , The ''chitalishte''.

References

External links

Official site of the Chelopech MunicipalityExtraction and processing of the copper/gold Chelopech Deposit
{{Authority control Villages in Sofia Province Mining communities in Europe