Dospat ( bg, Доспат) is a town in the very south of

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 Mac ...

, part of

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 ...

, situated in 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 i ...

, close to Dospat Dam. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Dospat Municipality. As of December 2010, the town has a population of 2,425 inhabitantshttp://www.grao.bg/tna/tadr-2010.txt who are mainly

Bulgarian Muslims The Bulgarian Muslims or Muslim Bulgarians ( bg, Българи-мохамедани, ''Bǎlgari-mohamedani'', as of recently also Българи-мюсюлмани, ''Bǎlgari-mjusjulmani'', locally called ''Pomak'', ''ahryan'', ''poganets'', '' ...

. The town was probably founded by Despot Alexius Slav in the 12th or 13th century, from whose title ('' despot'') its name is very likely derived. Dospat Dam is the highest dam in Bulgaria by altitude and, with its 22 km² of water area, the second largest in capacity. It is fed by the River Dospat. At the bottom of the lake is a former German military airport from the Second World War.

Honour

Dospat Peak Dospat Peak ( bg, връх Доспат, vrah Dospat, ; el, κορυφή Δοσπάτης, koryfí Dospátis, ) is a mountain peak in the Vidin Heights on Varna Peninsula, Livingston Island, part of the South Shetland Islands off the coast of A ...

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 195 ...

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 co ...

is named after Dospat.

References

External links

Official website of Dospat Municipality

Towns in Bulgaria Cities and towns in the Rhodopes Populated places in Smolyan Province Chech {{Smolyan-geo-stub