Stob (village)
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Stob
Стоб | |
|---|---|
 Overview of Stob | |
  Stob Stob | |
| Coordinates: 42°05′43″N 23°06′16″E / 42.09528°N 23.10444°E | |
| Country |  Bulgaria |
| Province (Oblast) | Kyustendil |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Georgi Stavrev (independent) |
| Area | |
• Total | 20,323 km2 (7,847 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 449−505 m (1,473−1,657 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Total | 633 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal Code | 2638 |
| Area code | 07058 |
Stob (Bulgarian: Стоб) is a village in southwest Bulgaria, administratively part of Kocherinovo Municipality, Kyustendil Province. Located at the foot of the Rila mountain range and not far from the Rila Monastery, Stob was first mentioned in the 7th century and has been in continuous or near-continuous existence since then. The village is notable for the Stob Pyramids, a natural rock phenomenon in the vicinity of the village.
The village's name first appears in sources in a 7th-century Medieval Greek text as Στοβων (Stovon). It was also mentioned in a charter of Byzantine Emperor Basil II from 1019 after the conquest of the First Bulgarian Empire. The first reference in Old Bulgarian dates to 1378, when it appears in the Rila Charter of Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Shishman as the "town of Stob" (ГРАДЪ СТѠБЪ).[2] The charter emphasizes the Rila Monastery's independence from nearby Stob, among other privileges, and notes that the monastery's lands and properties bordered the town.[3]
A hagiography of Saint John of Rila from the 15th century refers to the village uniquely as Stog (СТОГЬ). However, a chronicle of Serbian monarchs from the 15th–16th century reiterates the name Stob, as does an Ottoman source from 1570. An Ottoman document from 1576 spells the name as Istob and Istub.[2]
The name Stob is thought to derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *sto-bh-:*stei- ("to stand"), as retained in the Bulgarian word стобор stobor ("fence") and akin to words meaning "pole, pillar" in other Slavic languages (cf. Bulgarian стълб stalb). The etymology may reflect the features of the surrounding terrain. The erroneous listing Stog is possibly explained by a false etymology linking the name to the presumably more popular term стог stog ("haystack"), from the related Proto-Indo-European *stogh-.[2]
