Ivaylovgrad (, "city of

Ivaylo Ivaylo (died 1281), also spelled Ivailo (), was a rebel leader who ruled briefly as tsar of Bulgaria. In 1277, he spearheaded a peasant uprising and forced the Bulgarian nobility to accept him as emperor. He reigned as emperor from 1278 to 1279, ...

", ,

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 ...

:Ortaköy, "Middle Village") is a town in

Haskovo Province Haskovo Province (; former name ''Haskovo okrug'') is a province in southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece and Turkey to the southeast, comprising parts of the Thracian valley along the river Maritsa. It is named after its administrative and i ...

in the south 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 ...

set near the river

Arda Arda or ARDA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Arda (Middle-earth), fictional world in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien * Arda (band), a Russian heavy metal band People * Arda (name) Places *Arda (Maritsa), a river in Bulgaria and Greece *A ...

in the easternmost part 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 ...

, and is the administrative centre of the homonymous

Ivaylovgrad Municipality Ivaylovgrad Municipality is a municipality in Haskovo Province, Bulgaria. The administrative centre is Ivaylovgrad Ivaylovgrad (, "city of Ivaylo", , Turkish :Ortaköy, "Middle Village") is a town in Haskovo Province in the south of Bulgaria ...

. The border with Evros, Greece is around two miles from the town centre.

History

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

eparchial lists from the time of the 9th-10th century mention a bishop's centre by the name of Lyutitsa on the site of present-day Ivaylovgrad. According to

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (; ; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as Byza ...

(1347–1354), his infantry reached the fortress in 1342–1343. The settlement was destroyed by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

during their invasion of the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

in the 14th-15th century. Information about the town during the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria is scarce, but it was the centre of a ''

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

'' under the name of ''Ortaköy'' in

Edirne Province Edirne Province () is a Turkish province located in East Thrace. Part of European Turkey, it is one of only three provinces located entirely within continental Europe. Its area is 6,145 km2, and its population is 414,714 (2022). Edirne Province ...

. Much of the Bulgarian population moved from the region due to organized robberies and internecine wars in the empire. Despite the

Liberation of Bulgaria The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishme ...

in 1878 and the

Unification Unification or unification theory may refer to: Computer science * Unification (computer science), the act of identifying two terms with a suitable substitution * Unification (graph theory), the computation of the most general graph that subs ...

in 1886, the town remained a part of the Ottoman Empire until the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

in 1912–1913 and suffered greatly from

bashi-bazouk A bashi-bazouk ( , , , roughly "leaderless" or "disorderly") was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, raised in times of war. The army primarily enlisted Albanians and sometimes Circassians as bashi-bazouks, but recruits came from all et ...

attacks.

Landmarks

Landmarks in Ivaylovgrad and the surrounding area include the

Ivaylovgrad Reservoir Ivaylovgrad Reservoir () is located on the river Arda (Maritsa tributary), Arda in the eastern Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria. It was constructed to provide electricity generation and irrigation as a major part of the Arda Hydropower Cas ...

, the 2nd-3rd century

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Villa Armira Villa Armira (), meaning "Reinforced Villa", is a 1st-century suburban Roman villa in southeastern Bulgaria, located in the proximity of Ivaylovgrad, Haskovo Province. Discovered in 1964 during reservoir construction, it is a primary historical ...

, the medieval Byzantine and Bulgarian fortress

Lyutitsa Lyutitsa () is one of the largest and best preserved castles in the easternmost part of the Eastern Rhodopes, located 3.5 hours' walk south-west of Ivaylovgrad,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, ...

sites, and 19th-century churches.

Notable people

* Angelos Pimenidis (1904–1968), Greek popular figure and historian * Ivajlo Balabanov (1945–2021), poet * Georgi Georgiev (born 1924), actor * Petia (born 1978), singer Ivaylovgrad Reservoir

References

External links

Ivaylovgrad municipality website

Ivaylovgrad Info
Towns in Bulgaria Cities and towns in the Rhodopes Populated places in Haskovo Province Bulgaria–Greece border crossings {{Haskovo-geo-stub