Srednogorovo
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Srednogorovo
Средногорово | |
|---|---|
  Srednogorovo Location of Srednogorovo in Bulgaria | |
| Coordinates: 42°32′N 25°20′E / 42.53°N 25.33°E | |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Province (Oblast) | Stara Zagora |
| Municipality | Kazanlak |
| Founded | 1719 |
| Population | |
• Total | 222 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 6166 |
| Area code | 0431 |
Srednogorovo (Средногорово) is a village in southern Bulgaria, part of Kazanlak Municipality in Stara Zagora Province. It lies in the southernmost part of the municipality, in the foothills of the Sarnena Sredna Gora mountain, about 12 km south of the town of Kazanlak and 27 km north of Stara Zagora.[1][2]
Srednogorovo lies in the heart of the Sredna Gora, in the southernmost part of Kazanlak Municipality. [3] The village's lands cover an area of about 65,000 decares, among the largest in the municipality, and are made up of cultivated land, meadows and mixed pine and broadleaf forests. [3] Climate is moderately continental, with a mild winter and cool summer.[2]
The village stands on the Tundzha tributary Gyurlya river, which rises in the Sarnena Sredna Gora and runs through Srednogorovo before flowing into the Koprinka Reservoir. [4] Local rose plantations and raspberry orchards line both banks of the river. [3] The artificial Sinyata reka ("Blue River") micro-reservoir lies near the village; it is stocked with carp, pike, mullet, perch and roach, and is a popular fishing destination.[5]
The village's altitude lies in the range of 300 to 499 m above sea level. [1] It is registered under EKATTE code 68446 and uses the postal code 6166. [1] According to local sources, its population is 222 inhabitants, the second smallest of any settlement in Kazanlak Municipality.[3]
Name
The original name of the settlement was Chardak köy (Чардак кьой, "shed village"), reflecting the first dwellings built around a well in the area; the village was later renamed Kazăl agach dere or Kazăl ach dere (Турското "Елшова гора", "alder forest"). [6] The present name Srednogorovo (named after the Sredna Gora mountain in which the village is situated) was given by Royal Decree No. 462, published in the State Gazette on 13 December 1906. [6]
History
According to the village school's chronicle, Srednogorovo was founded in 1719 in the locality "Tserov dol" (Цером dol), near a Thracian settlement, by shepherds and settlers who established the first sheds and dwellings around a well dug by a certain "grandfather Balcho" at the confluence of three small streams. [6][7]
A cell school existed in the village from 1834, and a separate school building was raised in 1869. [6] The Bulgarian residents of Srednogorovo organised a secret revolutionary committee in the summer of 1870, in support of the national liberation cause; according to local accounts, Vasil Levski visited the village while travelling through the Rose Valley and helped to establish the committee. [6]
The first electric light was switched on in the village on 31 December 1949; a public bath and a forest-climatic school were opened in 1967, two concrete bridges were built in 1973, and a radio network was installed in 1974. [6] A new combined building of the village hall and chitalishte, with a large hall, was opened in 1995, and a pensioners' club in 2009. [8]
In 2019, Srednogorovo celebrated 300 years since its founding and 140 years since the restoration of its church, with a book about the village's history published the same year; in 2024, the village marked 305 years.[6][7]
Administration
Srednogorovo is an independent kmetstvo (mayoralty) within Kazanlak Municipality, comprising only the village itself. [1] The mayor's office is registered in the Bulgarian administrative register as a town hall under Kazanlak Municipality, headed by mayor Iliyan Yordanov Iliev. [9]
Religion
The village's church, dedicated to St. George the Victorious, dates from 1843. [3] The building was completely restored and reconsecrated on 30 September 1879, the year after the Liberation of Bulgaria; the church ceiling is decorated with frescoes by the Kazanlak master-painter Petyo Ganin, a contemporary of Vasil Levski. [6] In recent years, fundraising and restoration work for the church has been led by the former deputy mayor and current treasurer of the church board Kosta Merazchiev together with mayor Iliyan Iliev.[6]
Culture
The community cultural centre (chitalishte) was founded in 1881 under the name Zanimanie ("Occupation"); its current name is Prosveta ("Enlightenment"). [3] Active reading-room activities at the chitalishte are documented from the period 1881–1900. [6]
The village holds two main festivities: its temple feast on 6 May (St. George's Day / Gergyovden), and its annual village fair (sbor) on 19 October, the day of St. Ivan Rilski. [7] The fair traditionally begins with a Divine Liturgy at the church, followed by the consecration of a kurban for health and prosperity, a communal lunch in the chitalishte and performances by amateur singing and dance groups.[7]
In the summer of 2025, the youth association Mladezhki tsentar za razvitie "Vzaimopomosht" organised an "Eco Academy" two-week programme for children from several Kazanlak Municipality schools at an ecological centre in Srednogorovo, supported by an Erasmus+ grant and the European Solidarity Corps. [10]
Sights
The lands of Srednogorovo are known for groups of megaliths, large stone slabs set vertically into the ground and scattered in irregular clusters across a wide area, identified by local sources as Thracian cult monuments. [5] The Sinyata Reka micro-reservoir, located between Srednogorovo and Buzovgrad, is a natural and recreational landmark, with a tourist complex of the same name on its shores.[5]
Notable people
- Paun Genov (1915–1999), writer and journalist.[8]
- Stoyno Chernogorski, deputy commander (pomoshtnik-voyvoda) in the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation band of Nikola Dechev.[8]
- Stoyan Koev, IMARO revolutionary, chetnik in the band of Luka Ivanov.[8]
