Благоевград қаласы: тарихы мен мәдениеті

Blagoevgrad ( ) is а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultural centre of Southwestern Bulgaria. It is located in the valley of the Struma River at the foot of the Rila Mountains, south of Sofia, close to the border with North Macedonia. Blagoevgrad features a pedestrian downtown, with preserved 19th century architecture and numerous restaurants, cafés, coffee shops, and boutiques. It is home to two universities, the South West University "Neofit Rilski" and the American University in Bulgaria. The town also hosts the "Sts. Cyril and Methodius National Humanitarian High School". The former Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki moved from Thessaloniki to Blagoevgrad (then Gorna Dzhumaya) in 1913.

In Ottoman times the town was known as Yukarı Cuma in Turkish or Gorna Dzhumaya in Bulgarian (a partial translation of the Ottoman name). The name Gorna Dzhumaya (Горна Джума; "Upper Dzhumaya") distinguished the town from Dolna Dzhumaya (Долна Джумая; "Lower Dzhumaya", "Cuma i Zir" in Turkish) to the south. The second is called today Irakleia, and is in Greece. The Aromanian language still uses this name to refer to the city, as it is known in the language as Giumaia di Nsus. In comparison, Irakleia ("Lower Dzhumaya") is known as Giumaia di Nghios. The town was renamed Blagoevgrad in 1950, after the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party founder Dimitar Blagoev, who was an immigrant from Ottoman Macedonia.

A Hellenistic settlement called Scaptopara (market town in Thracian, Σκαπτοπάρα in Greek) emerged on the site of ancient Thracian settlement around 300 BC and was later incorporated into the Roman Empire with the rest of Thrace in 48 AD. The settlement was known for its hot springs supplying thermae. During the Crisis of the Third Century, the Scaptoparans wrote a petition to the emperor Gordian III, whose Latin and Koine Greek text is preserved in an inscription discovered there in 1868, and dated 238 AD. The petition complained about the conduct of soldiers and visitors to the baths and that appeals to the governor of the province of Thrace had failed; the emperor's reply, also inscribed, disclaimed responsibility and again referred the citizens to the governor for redress. The inscription has since been lost. A Bulgarian quarter called Varosha was formed during the Bulgarian National Revival, with many of its typical houses and the Church of the Presentation of the Mother of God from 1844 being preserved to this day. In the 1830s, the French geologist Ami Boué passed by here and described Dzhumaya as a town of 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants, where a hereditary voivode lived. The mosques prove that there were many Turks and Pomaks along with the Bulgarians. The streets are paved and very irregular. According to him, the Bulgarians call the town Shuma (from "shuma" forest). Victor Grigorovich visited the town in 1845. A chitalishte was founded in 1866. Bulgarian scholar Georgi Strezov visited the town in 1891. According to him, there were 1200 houses.

The town is very attractive to investors, both foreign and native. It is no coincidence that Blagoevgrad is the third largest town by number of building permits. Blagoevgrad is growing and the small bordering villages of Elenovo and Strumsko are now considered part of it. Recently there was a major overhaul of the town park and a new bridge was built.

Currently the town has seven hypermarkets: Metro, Technopolis, Technomarket Europe, Mr. Bricolage, Billa, Kaufland, and Lidl. Since 2015, the largest shopping mall in Southwest Bulgaria "Largo" has been operating in the city.

The town is situated on the European road E 79 and the Republican road I 1. Blagoevgrad is 31 km away from North Macedonia, 83 km away from Greece, 88 km away from Serbia. The distance to Sofia is 96 km, to Plovdiv it is 193 km and to Skopje (the capital of North Macedonia) 183 km. The town is a main crossroad for tourists who want to visit the mountains and their ski resorts such as Bansko, Dobrinishte, Sandanski.

In Blagoevgrad is located one of the four regional centers of BNT RTVC Blagoevgrad, broadcasting its own production since 1975 and its Channel Pirin, distributed over the air throughout Southwestern Bulgaria. Here is also the headquarters of the regional channel OKO, which is distributed by cable in the settlements of Blagoevgrad region. There are 2 cable TV channels Telecom Group and Pirin TV. Of the radio stations of regional importance, Radio Blagoevgrad, a division of BNR, stands out, which for 35 years has been on the air from Sofia to Kulata, Eastern North Macedonia and Northern Greece. The private radio networks Focus Pirin and Darik Blagoevgrad also have their own local programmes. The Blagoevgrad student radio Aura, the regional Ultra and Vega Plus, as well as numerous radios with national coverage complement the airwaves of Blagoevgrad. Two daily newspapers are published in Blagoevgrad "Struma" and "Vyara", distributed throughout Southwest Bulgaria. In addition, "Pirin Trud" and "Local 24 Hours" are published and distributed in the city and the region.

According to the 2021 census, Blagoevgrad has population of 67,810 people.

Generally, sports are well developed, but the town's traditionally strong sports, handball and basketball, have been in financial crisis and without representation in the national leagues in years past (only supporting children and youth ensembles). The crisis in basketball and handball provides others with the opportunity to pick up pace. Taekwon Do, in the form of "Falcon" club has given Blagoevgrad and Bulgaria multiple European and World Championship medals, including a European Championship in 2004 (Todor Kozladerov). Baseball is a little known sport in Bulgaria but it thrives in Blagoevgrad. The local team's name is the "Buffaloes" and its manager is Yassen Nedelchev, who also serves as the Bulgarian Baseball Federation's president. In 2010, the "Blagoevgrad Buffaloes" won their 17th National title (in 18 attempts). The town has two multi purpose sports halls, the second was opened in 2007, it has a capacity of over 1000 seats and meets all requirements of the International Federation of handball, basketball and volleyball, a game area may be used for competitions Rhythmic gymnastics and martial arts. The town has three well maintained complexes for tennis, a football stadium, six small playgrounds for football, an Olympic size swimming pool, a go cart track and one of the best games of baseball in the Balkans. In 2008 construction began on a new sports complex at the South West University "Neofit Rilski" for the needs of its students. Despite the well developed infrastructure for the sports facilities, Blagoevgrad citizens often use the public space of Bachinovo park in order to jog, commit to sports activities, such as football, rugby, and frisbee and develop the community sports environment, typical for post Soviet culture of Bulgaria. The new facility of AUBG, the ABF center serves as occasional facilitator of the national volleyball training and competitions.

Blagoevgrad Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica is named after the city, and Skaptopara Cove in Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after its ancient ancestor Skaptopara.