Kyustendil is also known in military history for the Battle of Velbazhd. In Ottoman times the city was the Ottoman military capital in Europe,[2] and during the First World War—the Bulgarian military capital.
Rila Monastery is located on the territory of the Kyustendil Province. The city, especially because of its historical significance, was specially visited by the first person to take off in space—Yuri Gagarin.
Thracian tribes inhabiting the area around the city were participants in the Trojan War on the side of Troy. A Thracian settlement was founded at the location of the modern town in the 5th-4th centuries BC and was known for its asclepion, a shrine dedicated to the god of medicine Asclepius (the second largest in the Balkans, after the one in Epidaurus).
In 55 BC in the famous speech of Cicero before the Roman Senate against Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (consul 58 BC), who is still governor of Macedonia (57–55 BC), criticized the Roman governor of Macedonia, saying his unwise policy made the Dentheletae of Rome's most loyal subjects into its most eminent enemies.
In the reign of Hadrian, the people both of Pautalia and Serdica added Ulpia to the name of their town, probably in consequence of some benefit received from that emperor. Stephanus of Byzantium has a district called Paetalia (Παιταλία), which he assigns to Thrace, probably a false reading.[3]
In the 1st century AD, it was administratively part of Macedonia. Later the city was part of the province of Dacia Mediterranea and the third largest city in the province.
From the end of the 2nd century to the beginning of the 3rd century Pautalia cut his bronze coins (more than 900 species have been found so far) with testimonials on them and on the emperors Septimius Severus with Julia Domna and Caracalla.[4]
The Roman fortress of Pautalia of the 2nd to 4th century had an area of over 29 hectares (appr. 72 acres). The fortress wall was built mainly of granite blocks and unusually its façade was supported with pillars and arches behind. The wall was 2.5m wide allowing small catapults to be mounted atop.
A second, smaller fortress of area 2 hectares was built in the town in the 4th century (known by its later Ottoman name Hisarlaka). Recent excavations have revealed an early Christian, late Roman monumental bishop's palace.[5]
The town was mentioned under the Slavic name of Velbazhd in a 1019 charter by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. It became a major religious and administrative centre of the Byzantine Empire, and subsequently the Second Bulgarian Empire after Kaloyan conquered the area between 1201 and 1203.
In 1282, king Stefan Milutin defeated the Byzantine Empire and conquered Velbazhd.
Ottoman era
Kyustendil, 1690. Earliest known image. Three centuries earlier, the city had not seen a hostile army. Last year, Skopje was set on fire and the city was attacked by the Hajduks of Strahil voivode.
In 1561 and in 1655 the city was struck by the plague. In 1585 and in 1641 the city was destroyed by two major earthquakes.
Modern
By the 20th century the town extended south of the Banska River. He had four gates called kapı – Palanechka /to Kriva Palanka/ to the west; Niška to the north /to Niš/; Stambolska to the east /to Istanbul/ and Granitska to the south /to the Granitsa, Kyustendil Province/.
The city is the military capital of Bulgaria during the two world wars. In 1916, Kyustendil was visited by Field Marshal August von Mackensen and Gustav Stresemann.
Adolf Hitler was also in Kyustendil during the First World War. He was treated between October 1916 and March 1917 at a military hospital in the city during his service on the Macedonian front, to which the 11th Army, composed mainly of Bavarians, was deployed.[7]
Since 1966, every year on 21 March, the city celebrates its holiday called "Kyustendil Spring". On 11 June 1966, Yuri Gagarin visited the city, symbolically planting a tree.
In 1977 the city centre was declared an Architectural and archeological reserve "Pautalia – Velbazhd".
In 1988 the first Bulgarian regional encyclopedia dedicated to Kyustendil and its region was published.
↑ Edirne was symbolic and the place where the Ottoman military campaigns began in Europe. Sofia was the administrative center of Beylerbeylik of Rumeli, and Skopje was the largest Ottoman city in Europe and a place for Uch (Ottoman military corridor) to conquer Serbian and Greek lands. However, the Sanjak of Kyustendil (the former Province of the Dejanović family) remained with the largest contingent in the Ottoman army at all times.
