Перник: История, культура и промышленность западной Болгарии.

Pernik ( ) is a town in western Bulgaria (about south west of Sofia) with a population of 70,285 as of 2021. Pernik is the most populated town in western Bulgaria after Sofia. It is the main town of Pernik Province and lies on both banks of the Struma River in the Pernik Valley between the Golo Bardo Mountain, Vitosha Mountain, Lyulin and Viskyar mountains. Pernik is the principal town of Pernik Province – a province in western Bulgaria, which is next to the Serbian border. Originally the site of a Thracian fortress founded in the 4th century BC, and later a Roman settlement, Pernik became part of the Bulgarian Empire in the early 9th century as an important fortress. The medieval town was a key Bulgarian stronghold during Bulgarian tsar Samuil's wars against the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century, when it was governed by the local noble Krakra of Pernik, withstanding Byzantine sieges a number of times. From 1396 until 1878 the town was under Ottoman rule. In the 20th century Pernik developed rapidly as a centre for coal mining and heavy industry. During the Communist rule of Bulgaria it was called Dimitrovo between 1949 and 1962 after Bulgarian Communist leader Georgi Dimitrov. The Surva International Festival of the Masquerade Games (simply called Surva) is held in the town every January. Surva is an International Kukeri Festival in Pernik, Bulgaria and is one of the biggest masquerade festival on the Balkans and Eastern Europe. It is held in the last three days of January each year. Economically Pernik is an industrial town. Industry is of vital importance for the economy of the province. Pernik is the major manufacturing centre, one of the largest in the country with the Stomana steel complex; heavy machinery (mining and industrial equipment); brown coals, building materials and textiles being the most important. Near Pernik there is an enormous plant for heavy machinery in smaller town Radomir which produces excavators and industrial equipment, but is currently not working at full capacity. Pernik has two football teams, PFC Minyor Pernik and FC Metalurg Pernik.

The name Pernik is thought to have originated from that of Slavic god of thunder and lightning Perun or from a local boyar named Perin + the Slavic placename suffix –nik (or –ik) added, and was first mentioned in the 9th century.

Pernik is the second largest town in western Bulgaria. The town is located in the Pernik Valley. part of the ethnographic region of Graovo, at an altitude between , length of and is surrounded by mountains Vitosha, Lyulin and Golo Bardo. Through the city flows the river Struma, which rises from Cherni Vrah – one of the largest rivers in the country with a total length of 2,290 over sea level. The total area is Pernik is situated southwest of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. The territory of the town has many major roads, including Pan European Corridor VIII and Pan European Corridor IV – European route E79 /with Struma motorway and Lyulin motorway/, which connects Central Europe and Greece. Pernik has five railway stations and railway stops. The town lies close to one of the oldest trade routes in the Balkans, which ran from Sofia to Dubrovnik, via Skopje, Pristina, Sarajevo and Mostar.

Pernik is in moderate continental climate zone. Climatic conditions are influenced by the relatively high altitude – 750 m, but also by the fact that Pernik is in between mountains, which creates a specific micro climate. Spring comes relatively late – in late March and early April. The average spring temperature is Summer seasonal average temperature is about The hottest month is July – an average monthly temperature The absolute maximum temperature is Autumn is warmer than spring, with seasonal average temperature of
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Pernik is a successor of a medieval town of an unknown name, falsely named Krakra (after Krakra of Pernik). In the 4th century, the Thracians built a fortress there. There is a rich collection of archaeological findings that evidence the existence of a settlement in the late Neolithic. The richest collection of pottery in the Central Balkans dates from that time. It is kept in the Historical Museum. The ancient Greek historian Thucydides wrote that in the territory of Pernik lives the Thracian tribe of Agrianes. The author mentions them in describing tells about the march of the Odrysaean King Sitalces against Macedonia in 429 BC. Other Thracian tribes in the area were granite and ileitis. Their main city is called Adeva (Adeβa), on whose ruins was built Pernik. A wonderful exhibition of reliefs and sculptures is kept there, dedicated to the health giving gods Asclepius and Hygieia, held in reverence in this region because of the presence of mineral springs. Bulgarians took advantage of the fortified spot and built one of the mightiest Bulgarian strongholds — Pernik. At the beginning of the 11th century the settlement was a fortress, impenetrable to the Byzantines. It was the seat of the legendary governor Krakra of Pernik, who played an important role in the time of the First Bulgarian Empire. In 1004, he bravely defended their fortress and several times stop the offensive of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II (popularly known as the Bulgar slayer) to Serdika. After long fighting, Krakra caused severe damage to the Byzantine army and forced them to withdraw from his area. In 1016 Basil II again try to attack Pernik. After 88 day siege and numerous losses Byzantine Emperor was forced to withdraw. The legend remains that the blood from the Byzantine warriors was so much, that the rocks at the foot of the fortress of Pernik become red. From there came the name of the place around – Bloody. In 1017 Krakra gathered a great army combined Pechenegs. Both army forces were preparing to strike at Byzantium to liberate the lands between the Danube and the Stara Planina from Byzantine invaders. The politics of Constantinople bribe Pechenegs and they break up the union with Bulgarians. After the death of Tsar Ivan Vladislav in 1018, who left no apparent heirs to the throne, Krakra successfully negotiated with the Byzantines. Today Pernik Fortress is one of the largest historic landmarks. In the time of the Ottoman occupation Pernik lost its significance as a fortress because it was located deep in the interior. In the town had not settled any other ethnic groups, except Bulgarians and the population lives relatively calm in recent centuries. Until after the Liberation of Bulgaria Pernik was a small stockbreeding village, consisting of several scattered hamlets. The beginning of Pernik's modern history is set in the 20th century with the development of the rich coal beds of the region. According to some scientists, the existence of coal was already known in the 10th and 11th centuries. Before their industrial exploitation started, the local people dug it up with picks and shovels and transported coal with carts and wheelbarrows. Pernik's rapid development is associated with the large shipments of coal to the capital city, intended for household needs and for the railroad transport. Until then, coal for the railroads and the river and sea steamboats was delivered from as far as Cardiff in the United Kingdom. As the first miners' quarters were built on the terraces of the Struma River, the beginning of the miners' settlement of Pernik was set, one kilometre to the east of the village of the same name. It is a town since 1929, and since 1958 — a regional centre. The coal output reached its apogee at that time. Pernik has been an energy centre of Bulgaria for a few decades.

According to the 2021 census, Pernik has population of 70,285 people.

The most practiced religion in Pernik and its adjacent territories is Eastern Orthodoxy. The majority of the city's residents (over 95%) declare that they are of Bulgarian origin. There are no mosques, synagogues or Catholic churches in the area. In Pernik region there are over 60 functioning and 20 inactive Orthodox churches. There is an Evangelical Pentecostal church on the territory of the town, which was founded in 1920. It has been a member of the Union of Evangelical Pentecostal Churches in Bulgaria since 1931. The church is located at 10 Aleko Konstantinov Street.

The largest documentary book depository and the main reference and local history center in the region is the Svetoslav Minkov Library. The library fund is about 292,000 library units. It was established in 1955 as a city public library. She started her activity with her transfer to the Palace of Culture in 1957. In 1983 she was awarded the Order of Cyril and Methodius I degree and named after the great Bulgarian writer Svetoslav Minkov. The library organizes exhibitions and literary meetings with publishers and authors. Since 2007, with Decree No. 80 of April 7, 2006 of the Ministry of Culture, the library has changed its status from the UNB to the Republic of Bulgaria and leaves the structure of the Municipal Complex "Palace of Culture".

The Municipal Drama Theater of Pernik was founded in 1919 and is named after the actor Boyan Danovski. It was once housed in the Palace of Culture, where it has a modern stage, a hall for 500 spectators, very good opportunities for artistic lighting and musical design. Due to a short circuit in 2004, the theater hall was destroyed by fire, but the theater continues to be visited in a smaller hall in the United Children's Complex. Subsequently, the burned hall was completely repaired and modernized. Since 2013, the theater returns to the hall of the Palace of Culture. The theater has been awarded many national prizes, including the prize of the Union of Bulgarian Artists for an overall performance. The most famous directors, artists and performers worked on his stage: Leon Daniel, Krikor Azaryan, Hristo Hristov, Zdravko Mitkov. The director of the theater in the period 1977 1990 was the famous Bulgarian actor Georgi Rusev.

The first Bulgarian private technical university was established in 2010 in Pernik. The university was founded in close cooperation with nationally established industry partners. The European Polytechnical University offers Bachelor, Masters and PhD degrees in architecture, engineering and entrepreneurship among others. The university is aiming internationally and offers all courses bilingually in Bulgarian and English languages. Now the city operates 11 elementary schools and 14 High Schools – High School for learning foreign languages, Economy high school, Mathematics High School, school sports and other.

Characteristic of the region is the folkloric dance – "Graovsko horo" and folk clothes – female costumes "Litatsi" /Women are bordered with black litatsi paieti white shirts with belts/. Over the last decade Pernik has become famous in Bulgaria. Mass culture and the popular media often interpret events and people of the city. There are many jokes, movies, literature, TV shows and songs in which the main subject is a citizen of Pernik. According to them, a typical man from Pernik is always ready to get into a fight, speeds with his car, and talks with a specific dialect. His distinguishing features are a miner's hat with a flashlight, T shirts of the local football team “Minyor” and miner bracket in the hand.

The collapse of the roof of the newly built “Lenin” metallurgy plant hours before the plant's ribbon cutting ceremony on November 5, 1953 lies behind the storyline of the novel “The Roof” by Bulgarian dissident journalist and writer Georgi Markov. This major industrial incident, one of many during Bulgaria's communist rule between 1944 and 1989, was a result of the deficiencies of the communist economic doctrine of forced industrialization where the regime cut corners during the construction and exploitation of major industrial assets, leading to the death and injuries of thousands of ordinary workers. In the book, Markov, who was murdered in London by the Bulgarian communist security services in 1978, uses the roof as a metaphor to describe the degradation of the Bulgarian communist system.

7th to 11th centuries – Pernik is economic, military and cultural center in the southwestern Bulgarian lands. Pernik town joined the First Bulgarian Empire in 816. The fame of city is associated mostly with boyar Krakra Pernik, who had determined resistance of the Byzantines in the beginning of the 11th century. 10th century – Saint John of Rila " went to Pernik and settle down in stony place near the river called Struma". In the end of the 12th century the fortress of Krakra was destroyed, but the village still exists. 19th to 20th centuries – from agricultural region Pernik town became an important center of mining, metallurgy and engineering. 1891 – Opening of the first "State Mine Pernik". 1893 – Opening of the railway line Sofia Pernik gives new opportunities to the village of Pernik. The railway station was built in 1927. 1895 – First bulb in Bulgaria lights up in Pernik. 1899 – The first power plant in Bulgaria is built in Pernik. 1903 – Announcement of St. Ivan Rilski the patron saint of miners and town of Pernik. 1906 – The First mass strike in Bulgaria. Strikers rising require an 8 hour workday, the right of association of miners in the syndicate and regular payment of wages. The strike ends with victory for the workers – their wages are increased. 1919 – Second Strike of Pernik mine workers. 7000 miners suspended from work. In the very next day management of the "Mine Pernik" sign a protocol, which obliged them to pay wages for the last two months and to pay regular wages of the workers in the future. 1932 The building of the Mining Department is complеted. 1944 – Third Strike of Pernik workers. In front of building of Mining Department thousands of workers organized a rally that quickly turns into anti government demonstration. In clashes with police 6 workers were killed, with 13 injured. The Government fell on 9 September 1944. 1934 1953 – In the Area of Pernik many factories are built. (People from all over the country are coming to town, looking for job and better future)
1953 – Opening of dam "Studena". 1953 – Completed the Post Office in the center of Pernik. 1957 – Opening of the City Palace complex of culture. 1966– The first officially conducting of the International Festival “Surva”. 1968 – Construction of a city department store, GUM. 1972 – Completed Hotel "Struma". 1978 – Completed the building of the Municipality. 1982 – Created today's center area of Pernik. 2010 – European Polytechnical University is open for the first time in Pernik. 2012 – On 22 May the 5.6 Mw Pernik earthquake shook the provincial center with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong), causing one indirect fatality.

Pernik Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica is named after the city of Pernik.