- Sopot, Bulgaria
Infobox Settlement
official_name = PAGENAME
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = BUL
subdivision_type1 = Provinces
(Oblast)
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3
map_caption = Location of Sopot, Bulgaria
pushpin_
pushpin_label_position =
pushpin_map_caption =Location of Sopot, Bulgaria
pushpin_mapsize =
leader_title =Mayor
postal_code_type =Postal Code
|subdivision_name1=Plovdiv
population_total=10601|population_footnotes=
population_as_of=2005-09-13
elevation_m=417
postal_code=4330
area_code=03134
latd=42|latm=39|lats=|latNS=N|longd=24|longm=45|longs=|longEW=E|leader_name=Veselin Lichev (NMSII)Sopot ( _bg. Сопот) is a
Bulgaria n town situated in the fertile sub-Balkan mountain valley ofKarlovo (which is the western part of the famous Rose Valley), immediately below the steep southern slopes of the Troyan Balkan Mountain (Central Stara Planina). Sopot is part ofPlovdiv Province and is the administrative centre of a municipality.It lies 5 km west of
Karlovo , 136 km east ofSofia , 63 km north ofPlovdiv and 61 km south ofTroyan . It is the birthplace of arguably the best known and most renowned Bulgarian novelist,Ivan Vazov . Sopot is also a machine building centre.According to
Konstantin Jireček , the toponym is ofProto-Slavic origin, as indicated by the large number of identical placenames all around the Slavic world. There is information about the locality dating back to the Ottoman rule. During theBulgarian National Revival (18th-19th century) it was called "Golden Sopot" because of its flourishing development in the crafts and trade. The citizens of Sopot manufactured homespun, braids, fur and leather of high quality and traded predominantly round the Ottoman Empire.During the struggle for liberation in 1877 the town was largely destroyed by fire and its population was slaughtered or expelled. The town was named "Vazovgrad" between 1950 and 1965 after which it obtained its present name again.
The pioneering Bulgarian educator
Nedelya Petkova (1826 - 1894) began her career a student at the monastery school of the “Holy presentation of the Blessed Virgin” convent in Sopot.The population is almost exclusively Christian, mostly Eastern Orthodox but with some Evangelical and Roman Catholic families.
Honour
Sopot Ice Piedmont onLivingston Island in theSouth Shetland Islands ,Antarctica is named after Sopot.External links
* [http://sopot-bg.com Sopot site]
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