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Kardzhali (Turkish: Kırcaali; Greek: Κάρντζαλι) is a town in
southern Bulgaria. It is the center of Kardzhali district and
Kardzhali municipality. The population of the town of Kardzhali as
of 31.12.2018 is 43 263 people. It is located 47 km from the town of
Haskovo, 84 km from the town of Smolyan, 95 km from the town of
Plovdiv, 111 km from the town of Stara Zagora, 243 km from Sofia, 78
km from Gyumyurjina and 383 km from Istanbul.
Location
Kardzhali is located in the heart of the Eastern Rhodope Mountains,
on both banks of the Arda River. The nearest other regional town is
Haskovo at a distance of approximately 50 km, and about 15 km from
Kardzhali is the ancient rock town of Perperek (also called
Perperikon), declared a monument of immovable cultural heritage of
national importance since 1968, as follows : "Kardzhali District
.... № 4. 1. Location - S. Gorna krepost; 2. Name - Medieval
fortress" Perperek "; 3. Type - Architectural construction from
Antiquity and the Middle Ages; 4. Announced in SG No. 67 / 1968; 5.
Update of borders and regimes - letter № 6442 from 07.08.2007 /
protocol from 12.07.2007 / ". The Pan-European Transport Corridor 9
passes through Kardzhali through the Makaza Pass. The distance from
the regional center to the border with the Hellenic Republic at the
Makaza-Nymphaea border checkpoint is 54 km.
Administrative
partition
The town of Kardzhali includes the quarters Borovets,
Baikal, Studen Kladenets, Vazrozhdentsi, Veselchane, Gledka, Gorna
Gledka, the zones Industrial Zone A, Industrial Zone B, Eastern
Industrial Zone, Industrial Zone South. Nearby are the villages of
Prileptsi (№ 6 on the city plan), Rezbartsi, Petlino, Airovo,
Opalchensko, Propast, Sipei.
Climate
The climate in the
area is continental-Mediterranean, mild and humid, with many sunny
days a year. The winter is relatively mild - average temperatures
vary around 0 ° C. The summer is sunny and hot, the maximum
temperatures reach 40 - 45 ° С. The longest sunshine in Kardzhali is
observed in June, July and August.
In Kardzhali there are the following sights from
the Hundred National Tourist Sites of the Bulgarian Tourist Union:
the Regional History Museum and Perperek/Perperikon. The seal is in
the "Kardzhali" Tourist Association and in the Regional History
Museum. Accommodation options: "Borovitsa" hut, "Mlechino" hut,
"Beli Brezi" hut.
Thracian
15 km northeast of Kardzhali is
the Thracian megalithic sanctuary of Perperek/Perperikon.[30] It
rises on a rocky peak in the Eastern Rhodopes at an altitude of 470
m. At its foot is the village of Gorna Krepost. The comfortable
river valley has created magnificent living conditions since ancient
times. For this reason, it is dotted with dozens of archaeological
sites from different eras, the natural center of which is Perperek.
There is a rock tomb near the village of Tatul.
Orlovi Skali is a
Thracian sanctuary. Rock niches are cult places where the Thracians
placed the urns of their deceased brethren.
Fortresses
Medieval fortress Sixth fortress (586.7 m) above the village of
Shiroko pole - Monyak/Manyak;
Thracian fortress, on the "Stone
Harman" hill, 2 km southwest of the village of Višegrad;
Medieval
fortress, 50 m northwest of the village of Višegrad.
The Thracian
fortress above the village of Ivantsi;
Thracian fortress and rock
niches near the village of Lisitsike;
Thracian fortress, on the
"Stone Harman" hill, 2 km southwest of the village of Višegrad
Fortress "Ustra".
Temples and monasteries
The Kardjali
Monastery with the Church of Saint John the Forerunner[30] was a
medieval monastery complex fortified with a fortress wall and
towers, with a triconchal and triapsed church, with roots in the
IV-VII centuries, developed until the XIV century. It was restored
in 2000. Not only historians, restorers and archaeologists are
interested in it, but also numerous tourists from the country and
abroad.
Assumption monastery complex is a unique spiritual
center. Restored and completed by Father Boyan Sarev.
The
water mirror
The facility is an artificial canal along the Arda
River in the part passing through the city. It begins shortly after
the wall of the Kardzhali dam and ends with a dam before the
Ardinski bridge. The main function of the facility is to conduct
large amounts of water during an emergency draining of the Kardzhali
Dam without causing damage to people and buildings. In addition to
flood protection, the man-made lake will be used for water sports,
and the riverside grounds are already being converted into parks and
recreation areas, as well as used by water sports enthusiasts.
Natural
Near the city are rock formations known as Stone
Wedding and Stone Mushrooms.
On the territory of the municipality
of Kardzhali there is also the reserve of rare plants "Valchi dol",
the deposits of the unique silivryak flower or "Orpheus flower", the
snowdrop, the red peony, the tree-like blue juniper, etc. An old
legend says that a silivryak was born from the blood of the mythical
singer Orpheus.
Life-giving, according to some, miraculous water
springs once a year on the night of May 5-6 from a steep rock in the
mythical area of Dambala above the village of Gruevo, about 25 km
south of Kardjali. On the fateful night, hundreds of miracle
believers seek healing at the healing spring.
The largest natural
site of white birches on the Balkan Peninsula, 26 km from Kardzhali
on the road to Ardino.
The Womb Cave was reshaped by human hands
in the shape of a womb, with an altar where the sun's rays reach on
the day of the vernal equinox. The sacred marriage between the rock
and the sun represents the rebirth of life.
Architectural
The dam wall is the only arched wall of its kind on the Balkan
Peninsula and one of the few in the world that tower over the city
itself.
The town hall building
The Devil's Bridge is the
largest and most majestic Rhodope bridge. It is a true masterpiece
of construction from the Middle Ages, when one stands under it one
is amazed by its enormous dimensions and its extremely elegant and
symmetrical forms. The Arda River passes below it, which forms an
extremely beautiful canyon with large meanders. In the spring, when
the snow melts, the level of the river rises by 5-6 m, and its flow
rate reaches over 2600 m³/s. However, the Devil's Bridge has
withstood the elements of water for over 300 years.
In the Middle Ages, the Eastern Rhodopes were called
the Ahrida region. At that time, the local Kardjali monastery - an early
Christian complex fortified with a fortress wall and towers and the
church of Saint John the Forerunner - was the center of an important
medieval Christian diocese. It is on the list of 100 national tourist
sites. The ensemble dates back to the 6th - 7th centuries. An extensive
necropolis was developed at this site even earlier. A burial sacral
building was built on the hill closest to the Arda River. Subsequently,
both churches and other buildings with a domestic and public purpose
were built on this terrain, as shown by the excavations made by the
scientists. A strong fortress wall with rectangular towers was erected.
A large church, a chapel, a public building on the bank of the river, a
representative building, a monastery refectory, a monk's bath and others
were built. In the center of the monastery complex, unique wall
paintings were found in the church. They reach nearly 4 m in height.
Nowadays, however, very few of the buildings of the large monastery
complex remain. One of the five tombs discovered at this site turns out
to be that of a senior Christian cleric from the 12th-13th century. It
was tightly closed. When the researchers opened it, they found the
relics of this clergyman, who cannot be ruled out to be even Patriarch
Euthymius of Turnovsky, but this is only one possible hypothesis. The
entire monastery complex with the large church have been declared
cultural monuments of national importance.
The temple "St. Georgi
Pobedonoset" was erected at the beginning of the 20th century, it is
located in the center of the city. It is a three-nave, cross-domed
church that has a built-in bell tower. The building is a cultural
monument of local importance.
The Orthodox spiritual center
"Assumption of the Virgin Mary" was built on the initiative of Father
Boyan Sarev. (Father Boyan Sarev tells about a dream he received from
the Mother of God - she instructed him to build an Orthodox spiritual
center in this place (Gledka quarter) in connection with the two
thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ). Thus, on August
17, 2000, preparations began for the construction of the future
spiritual center, which was solemnly consecrated in 2003 by Metropolitan
Arsenius. It stores fragments of the Holy Cross of the Lord, which were
found in one of the reliquary crosses from the discovered old
archbishopric center in Perperek (also called Perperikon). Agiasmoto
"Living Source" was built in the courtyard of the temple. It is believed
that the Mother of God told him that many people would find healing
there.
Of the Christian denominations, the Bulgarian Orthodox
Church dominates. Other representatives of Christianity are the
Protestant Evangelical Pentecostal Church and the Bulgarian Church of
God. The citizens who claimed to be Turks in the city, the Muslim
Bulgarians, as well as some of the Gypsies professed Islam. There was
also a Jewish community in the past.
In the entire area of the
census in 2011, 66.15% claimed to be Turks, 30.22% Bulgarians, 2.01%
unspecified and 0.99% Gypsies. About 8% of people do not define
themselves as tied to any religion.
Bulgarian Christians in the
district are about 2/3 of all Bulgarians in it.
For the
municipality consisting of the city, where 64.87% of the population is,
and another 117 settlements, the data are: for the Turks, 55.5% are
declared, Bulgarians are 40.5%, not determined - 1.92%, gypsies are
1.69% and others 0.38%. However, in the city of Kardzhali itself,
Bulgarians are 61.02%, those who claim to be Turks are 34.9%, they do
not define themselves - 2.17%, Gypsies are 1.33% and others 0.56%.
Theaters
Drama and Puppet Theater "Dimitar Dimov"
with stage "Kadrie Lyatifova"
The Regional History Museum in Kardzhali is one of the
largest and most remarkable museums in Bulgaria. Its designer is one of
the most prominent Russian architects of the era - Prof. Alexander
Pomerantsev, rector of the Art Academy in St. Petersburg, a member of
the Russian Academy of Arts and the Russian Scientific Archaeological
Society, he also worked in Constantinople and was the creator of the
most remarkable a monument to Bulgaria freed from Ottoman rule - the
cathedral-monument temple "St. Alexander Nevsky" in Sofia, on the
secession complex on Red Square in Moscow "Verhnie torgovye ryady",
later known as GUM, at the stations on the Moscow Ring Railway, the city
word of Rostov-on-Don, churches and other notable buildings. Like most
museum buildings in Bulgaria, the original design was different for this
one, in 1921 the municipality had an idea to build a secular Turkish
language high school there, and so it was recorded in the town planning
plan from 1922, but the building never fulfilled such a function . Arch.
Pomerantsev, is a master of the architectural styles of romanticism and
eclecticism combined with the principles of the then most current in
Europe modern style, which his works reflect, on the one hand –
compositional opulence with abundance and polishing of the decor, on the
other – grandiosity and scope, development of new constructions and new
types of layout, attraction to large sizes and close-up scale, from the
third - a magnificent knowledge and combination of classical and various
exotic styles. Under the influence of the original idea and his creative
visions, he designed the building with atypical for our lands, with
non-Secession at first glance, romantic plastic architectural solutions,
the architect interpreted many elements of the Moroccan, Arab and his
well-known Central Asian architectural art, then modern in Europe of the
Moorish columns that he placed in the interior of the church of St.
designed by him. Dimitar Solunski in the village of Beryozovka, Lipetsk
region, in Kardzhali, the Moroccan arches and details reminiscent of the
architecture, not of the Balkans and Turkey, but of Central Asia and the
distant Arab world, dominate the facade of the museum. The construction
of the museum building was financed by the local municipality, it was
carried out in the period 1922-1930 mainly by craftsmen from the city
and the surrounding area.
Due to its unique architecture, the
building has been declared a cultural monument of national importance.
The museum was opened in 1965. It houses the finds from Perperikon and
Tatul, the early Neolithic settlements in Kardzhali and Krumovgrad (5900
- 5700 BC) with probably the earliest "paved street" - paved with river
and rubble stones, one of the most impressive finds from these
settlements - a small swastika, exquisitely made of green jade, unique
and due to the fact that there are no deposits of such jade in the
Balkans and it is possible that even its raw material was imported from
China, remarkable are bronze axes (15th – 13th century BC), bronze
sculpture (statues of a Thracian horseman, 3rd century), silver and gold
ornaments, glass, bronze and ceramic vessels from the Roman era; rich
collections of luxury ceramics, pectoral and liturgical crosses, various
monuments, weapons and gold, silver and copper coins, from the Middle
Ages and many others. etc. The ethnic diversity of the region is shown
through traditional clothing, fabrics, ornaments; the artistic
processing of metal, wood, clay; the holidays with their rites and
symbols.. The exposition of the museum presents the unique history of
this Bulgarian region - the Eastern Rhodopes from 5900 BC. to modern
times, after a major renovation of the building, it was opened in 1987,
is located on 1,800 square meters and is divided into three sections -
the Department of Archeology and History, the Department of Ethnography
and the Department of Mineralogy and Nature presented in 30 halls and an
extensive outdoor lapidarium. There is one floor for each department -
the first for the archaeological-historical, the second for the
geological and the third for the ethnographic collections. The main fund
contains about 40,000 exhibits. 179 archaeological sites are registered
with the museum, of which 19 are prehistoric, 122 are ancient and 37 are
medieval. There are thirty registered cultural monuments of national
importance.
The art gallery in the city stores hundreds of
paintings, sculptors and sculptures by Bulgarian and foreign classics
and contemporaries. The oldest preserved icon in Kardzhali dates back to
the 13th century.
Libraries and community centers
"N.Y.
Vaptsarov" Regional Library
Yumer Lutfi Community Center
Community
Center "Unification"
Community center "Rhodopski Far" - Gledka
quarter
The city holiday is October 21. On this date in 1912, Kardzhali was annexed to the territory of Bulgaria (until then it was within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire). It is believed that the city was annexed at exactly 12 noon, and for this reason the city clock plays "Great is our soldier" before it strikes 12 times (every round hour it plays Bulgarian revival songs).
"St. John the Forerunner" has an impressively representative location - elevation of approximately 230.0 m on the high right bank of the Arda River in Kardzhali, Veselchane. From the Kardzhali Monastery there is a direct view to the Medieval fortress above the village of Visegrad (306.4 m), to the Thracian fortress (392 m) to the village of Lisitsite, also on the right bank of the river Arda and to the Sixth fortress (586.7 m) above the village of Shiroko Pole - on the left bank of the river Arda. The monastery reveals a view of the entire plain, on which the central quarters of the town of Kardzhali are located. The wide perimeter of the terrain adjacent to the ensemble borders on the west with the overgrown for hydro-ameliorative reasons Kyoch Dere / Kyosh Dere, which underground continues to flow in a controlled manner into the water mirror between Kardzhali Dam and Studen Kladenets Dam. From the north, the natural border is the inaccessible high edge of the abyss on the right above the Arda (today - a water mirror). From the east, the wide perimeter of the ensemble enters the terrain of the car farm in an unidentified way. From the south, the boundaries of the wide perimeter are also undefined, but it is still known that they include "... the road to Madan and .... the experimental school of Veselchani ....". The fortress wall with the towers encloses from the east, south and west a spacious yard with a large church, situated in the southern part of the fortified space. From the north the yard ends in an earthen-rock edge above the river Arda (today - a water mirror).
According to linguist Boris Simeonov, the name of the city can be derived from the Old Bulgarian word "karchag" - jug, clay/ceramic container for liquids made on a potter's wheel - and related to the words "pot" and "pot". This is how the toponym Karchag-li (Kurchag-lii) was formed with the meaning: Potters, Pottery. A later folk etymology connects the name of the city with the idea of a field, level - ker. In the dictionary of Stefan Mladenov, Kardzhali is derived from the established in the XVIII-XIX centuries "Kardzhalii" - "Polenci", people from the field (lowland). This is probably how the difference was emphasized between the population of the upper, high right bank of the river and the population of the later town located in the lowlands, near the low left bank.
It is believed that the first inhabitants of these places were the ancestors of the Thracians. Here there were settlements inhabited by Thracians, ancient Greeks, Romans; Slavs/Slavs, Proto-Bulgarians, Roma, Latins and Ottoman Turks. Not far away is the remarkable ancient rock sanctuary city of Perperek (Perperikon). In the Middle Ages, on the site of today's Kardjali, there was a town in the Ahrida region (Eastern Rhodopes), which is believed to be an episcopal Christian center. Its foundations date back to the 4th - 1st centuries BC.
In the 6th century, Slavs and Bulgarians settled along the middle reaches of the Arda River. Today there are traces of the past - of the Thracians, of the Eastern Roman Empire, of the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdoms. Settlers in the IV-VI century established their traditions, language and way of life, borrowing the culture of the local population they found. When the Bulgarian state was formed, this region still remained within the limits of the Eastern Roman Empire. During the time of Khan Presiyan, in 847, it entered the boundaries of the Bulgarian state. The prototype of Kardjali is considered to be the settlement that existed in the 9th - 14th centuries on the territory of the present-day city of Visegrad and the fortress of Visegrad (also called the Upper Fortress) next to the Gorna vysda district above the "Studen Kladenets" dam, which have common features with the material culture of the old Bulgarian cities of Pliska . The well-protected citadel with observational, defensive and residential functions may also have been used by the governor of the medieval region of Ahrida. Today, its preserved walls are up to 8 m high. It is in direct visual connection with the nearby Sixth Fortress on the hill opposite, high above the left bank of Arda (586.7 m). In turn, it is sometimes identified with the Moniac fortress known from historical sources, where Henry of Flanders, brother of Baldwin I, regent of Romagna - Latin Empire, had a camp. Probably as early as in the fortress of Manjak/Monjak in August 1206, due to the confirmed death of Baldwin I in Tarnovo, Henry was named to succeed Baldwin I on the throne and become the second emperor of the Latin Empire. Further upstream, on the right bank of Arda, stands out the remarkable early Christian monastery of Saint John the Forerunner, founded in Late Antiquity and developed in the 9th-14th centuries, when the monastery fortress may have also become an episcopal center. The extensive medieval cemetery within the monastery and beyond may have predated the construction of the Kardzhali monastery. By its nature, it is a common urban cemetery of many generations and ages of different social status, and probably served a late antique and medieval city with even more ancient roots on the high right bank of the Arda, near the church complex. Due to its important strategic and economic importance, the Eastern Rhodopes were constantly subjected to enemy invasions. In 1199, King Kaloyan freed the area from Roman rule and it became one of the starting areas in the Bulgarian campaigns against the Latin military forces that captured Constantinople. At the end of the 12th century, the entire region of the Arda River was within the boundaries of the Bulgarian state and under the control of Tsar Kaloyan. The exact echo of the battles of the knights of the Fourth Crusade, as well as of the actions of the rulers and barons of Romagna - the Latin Empire, has not been established. According to Geoffroy de Villardouin's spare account, on September 4, 1207, the Latin king of Thessaloniki, Boniface of Montferrat, on the recommendation of the local Greeks from the vicinity of Mossinople (now Gyumurjina), entered with a small cavalry a full day's journey into the mountains from the south above the city. The local Bulgarian defenders ambushed and defeated the Latin knights on their way back, and Boniface's head was sent to Tsar Kaloyan. After the assassination of King Kaloyan under the walls of Thessaloniki (October 1207), the area was ruled by the despot Slav, and under Tsar Ivan Asen II it was again centrally subordinated. After 1246, when King Kaliman I Assen died, Byzantium established short-term control, but in 1254 King Michael Assen rejected the Romans. The chronicler Georgi Acropolitus wrote: "The inhabitants, who were Bulgarians, got rid of the yoke of the foreign-speaking people and moved to their own." Then the Romans returned again, under King Konstatin Asen-Tikh the region was again in Bulgaria, then again Roman, finally Tsar Ivan Alexander restored his control in the area in 1343. In the 14th century, the defender of the local population from the constantly warring Bulgarian and Roman feudal lords was the popularly praised Momchil voivode, who ruled the lands from the White Sea to here. His name is also associated with the first resistance of the Bulgarians-Rhodopians against the invasion of the Turkish hordes invading from Asia Minor.
In 1370 – 1371, the people of Rhodope fought to stop the conquering raids of the Ottoman Turks of Murad I. The Bulgarian fortresses in the region fell under the pressure of the Ottoman invasion. The presence of a settlement here next to the old Višegrad fortress was mentioned for the first time during the rulership in 1607 in an Ottoman-Turkish register, according to which it was divided between two rulers in two timaras. Two and a half centuries later, in 1847, Auguste Vikenel, a French explorer and traveler who explored the Eastern Rhodopes, noted: “Kardzhali. A small village with a mosque, inhabited by Bulgarian Christians and Mohammedans". There are no accurate documents about the events of the period 1813 – 1878 for the settlement. It is not possible that the name of the then small village was due to the gangs of Polish robbers "Kardzalia" whose mass raids were particularly widespread about 50 years before at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire, which had already declined and fell into de facto powerlessness at the time. The legendary version spread among the Muslims in today's city under the medieval fortress of Visegrad that it owes its name to a mythical Ottoman general who conquered these places in the 14th century, called Kurja Ali of Bukhara, who after years of military exploits became a preacher and after his death at the beginning of 15th century his followers restored one of the destroyed settlements near his grave is disproved not only by historical documents, but also by the detailed Ottoman tax registers, which after the depopulation of Visegrad in the 14th century for 230 years do not mention any settlement here after the invasion, but the fiction of the oriental tale was rejected in an indisputable way after the researches done, when the grave was opened by learned archaeologists in the 1920s and it turned out to be an empty, fake grave without a burial.
On January 3, 1878, this region was liberated by the
detachment of the Russian Major General Grigoriy Fedorovich Chernozubov.
The troops of the liberators spend the night on the northern side of the
Arda River, where the market is now located, and the next day they cross
the river, establish control on the southern side as well, and with a
quick march without firing a single shot, they also liberate
Momchilgrad, where the general receives the message about the armistice
signed in Edirne . With the San Stefano Treaty, Kardzhali is within the
borders of Bulgaria. The Berlin Treaty places the city within the
boundaries of the autonomous Bulgarian region of Eastern Rumelia. In
1886, with the Tophanen Act, it fell into the Gyumurjina sanjak under
the direct authority of the Ottoman Sultan as compensation for the Union
between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia. During the
Balkan War, after the victory of the Bulgarian army in the battle near
Kardjali on October 21 (October 8, old style) 1912, the city was
liberated by the Haskovo detachment and finally remained in Bulgaria. A
monument to the liberators was erected in the center in memory of the
heroes who died for the city's accession to Bulgaria, opened in 1939.
The wife and son of Gen. Vasil Delov – the liberator of Kardzhali,
managed to keep the city unaffected by military actions. A monument was
also erected to the general in the city. Kardzhali was declared a city
at the beginning of the 20th century. Since the time of the Ottoman
rule, the tobacco trade has been a major industry for the city.
In 1934, the town of Kardzhali was declared a district municipal center.
With the new administrative division implemented by
Todor Zhivkov's regime in 1959, the city became the district center.
Light industry, machine building and non-ferrous metallurgy developed
with the structure-defining Lead-Zinc Combine, opened in 1955. Built and
equipped according to the design of the Soviet company Giprotsvetmet,
the combine produced zinc, lead and sulfuric acid and marked the
beginning of non-ferrous metallurgy in Bulgaria. In 1957, the extraction
of silver and gold in the form of "dore" metal began. In May 1958, the
first kilograms of bismuth with a purity of over 90 percent were mined.
Over the years, production expanded with zinc sulfate, bismuth, cadmium,
sodium bisulfite, zinc alloys, processing of amortized batteries,
lead-antimony alloys, selenium and calcium alloys for the battery
industry. There is also a bentonite plant.
The city becomes a
cultural center, here are located DKT "Dimitar Dimov", Regional History
Museum, House of Culture, etc. The Stanka Dimitrova Art Gallery -
Kardzhali was founded in 1961, but became an independent gallery in
1967. It has one of the richest and most interesting collections in
Bulgaria - valuable collections of icons and Renaissance prints,
paintings, graphics and sculpture. The works of: Vladimir Dimitrov –
Master, Svetlin Rusev, Dechko Uzunov, V. Decheva, Kiril Tsonev and many
others are presented. In 1987, the districts were closed and the city
passed to Haskovo district.
Since 1999, Kardzhali has been a regional town. It is
the largest administrative, industrial, commercial and cultural center
of the Eastern Rhodopes. In 2012, the Lead-Zinc Combine was closed due
to debts - the metallurgical enterprise was previously sold to
"Intertrust Holding" and due to heavy debts to creditor banks, in 2012
it came to a public sale. "Gorubso-Kardjali" and some enterprises in the
city take on a small part of the laid-off workers.
Today,
Kardzhali hosts the International Arts Festival "Perperikon", the
National Competition for Children's Literature "Petya Karakoleva", a
cultural week dedicated to the celebration of the city of Kardzhali is
held annually, etc.
On 29.10.2003, an impressive 6-meter monument
to Vasil Levski with remarkable expressiveness and artistic value was
unveiled in the city's central square in front of the municipality. The
author of the idea for the monument is Prof. Konstantin Denev. Five-ton
stone blocks were used for the construction, which was completed in less
than a month.
Cape Kardjali on Livingston Island, South Shetland
Islands was named after the town of Kardjali on 23 November 2009.
Characteristic
Kardzhali is the most economically
developed town in the Eastern Rhodopes. The Kardzhali Dam and the
Kardzhali HPP are located near it. In 2007, hypermarkets from the
Technomarket Europe, Lidl, Billa Bulgaria and Technopolis chains were
opened in the city. The construction of the new and modern producers'
market, located on an area of 23 decares, has been completed. The total
value of the investment on the market is BGN 8,590,790 (without VAT)
Transportation
The internal and international connections of the
region are carried out by highways and roads, by railway lines. There is
also an equipped airport.
Media
Journalistic
New life
24
Rhodopes
Arda News
Kardjali Haber
Kardzhali BG Vesti
Kardzhali Press
Kardzhali News Archive of the original from
2015-03-21 at the Wayback Machine.
Kardzhali Info
Darik Kardjali
Kardzhali EU Archive of the original from 2015-08-01 at the Wayback
Machine.
Radio
On May 9, 2016, the ninth regional radio
station of the BNR Radio "Kardzhali - The Voice of the Rhodopes" was
opened, with headquarters in Kardjali at 74 "Bulgaria" Blvd., 3rd floor.
Universities
Branch - Kardzhali of Moscow State
University "St. Ivan Rilski", Sofia
"Lyuben Karavelov" branch of PU
"Paisiy Hilendarski"
Association "Academy BG" at the "Agricultural
College" University, Plovdiv
Schools
"Hristo Botev" Language
High School
SU "Father Paisius"
PGI "Aleko Konstantinov"
SU
"Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora"
SU "St. Kliment Ohridski"
SU "P. R.
Slaveikov"
SU "Yordan Yovkov"
PG in Tourism "Prof. Dr. Asen
Zlatarov"
PG in Clothing and Design "Euridika"
PG in Electrical
Engineering and Electronics "Cap. Petko voivoda"
PG in Construction
"Hristo Smirnenski"
PG "Vasil Levski"
Elementary School "St. St.
Cyril and Methodius"
"Vasil Levski" Elementary School
Observatories
"Slavey Zlatev" Astronomical Observatory
"Dr. Atanas Dafovski" multispecialty hospital for
active treatment, Kardzhali
The medical facility was established in
1932. The first executive director is Dr. Dimo Cholakov.
Kardzhali is a city with good traditions in sports.
For many years, all sports have been united in a common sports
association - DFS Arda Kardjali. Both collective (football, basketball,
volleyball, water polo) and individual (wrestling, boxing,
weightlifting, badminton) are well developed here. Kardzhali also has a
well-maintained motorcycle range, mainly suitable for motocross
competitions. The location of Kardzhali determines the development of
water and water motor sports. The rowing facility at Kardzhali Dam is
among the best in the country and is used for training by the national
teams.
Currently, Kardzhali is best represented in the sports of
volleyball and football. The representative teams are VK Arda Kardjali
and FC Arda Kardjali, which are the successors of the former clubs that
made up DFS Arda Kardjali. In recent years, there has been a resurgence
of interest in other, traditional sports for the region, such as boxing,
water polo, and basketball. Canoeing is one of the sports with constant
success at the national and international level. Since 1974, Hristo
Chrfteev started training and soon the successes began. Yanko Mandajiev,
participant of world championships and multiple state champion. Manol
Manolov, Plamen Petkov, Rumen Mandajiev, all participants and champions.
Next generation Dimitar Ivanov multiple state champion, participant of
world championships with the best result 6th place in K2 1000 m. In 2001
Participant of two Olympiads in 1996 in Atlanta (reserve) and 2000 in
Sydney in K2 1000 m With another Kardzhal resident, Marian Dimitrov,
they ranked 16th.
The main sports facilities are:
Druzhba
Stadium
Gorubso Stadium
Arpezos Sports Hall
Arpezos Swimming
Complex
Motopoligon near the village of Sipei
Spartak Arena (The
Sports Ground)
Rowing base of the Kardzhali dam
Born in Kardzhali
Ekaterina Vankova (1915 – 1976),
singer of old city songs
Vasya Popova (b. 1989), singer
Georgi
Georgiev (1930 – 1980), sailor
Tanya Gogova (b. 1950), volleyball
player
Marijan Dimitrov (b. 1972), rower
Muyun Cashmer (b. 1962),
former footballer and manager
David Ovadia (1923 – 1995), poet
Ivo
Papazov (b. 1952), musician
Zdravko Zhelyazkov from the Riton duo,
pop singer, (b. 1953)
Maria Boyadzhieva – Luizova, prominent
Bulgarian musicologist, chief assistant. and teacher of History of
Bulgarian musical culture at the Academy of Music and Dance Art -
Plovdiv
Shibil Peychev (b. 1965), football player
Todor Simeonov
(b. 1976), football player
Paraskeva Simova (b. 1920), physicist
Mehmed Talat Pasha (1872 – 1921), Ottoman politician, Young Turk
Ivan
Tonchev (b. 1973), football player
Tahsin Özgüç (1916 – 2005),
Turkish archaeologist
Prof. Hikmet Mehmedov (born 1950),
choreographer-balletist
Nikolay Tashev (b.1974) sailing - multiple
republican champion in various classes as well as a participant in world
and European championships.
Alexander Grebenarov – Bulgarian
historian, chairman of the Macedonian Scientific Institute.
Dimitar
Ivanov – canoe-kayak athlete, Olympian (1975)
Died in Kardzhali
Dimitar Madzharov (1882 – 1949), Bulgarian revolutionary
Ilko
Dimitrov (1889 – 1988), Bulgarian revolutionary and ethnographer
Mara
Mihailova (1901 – 1989), Bulgarian journalist
Pando Sidov (1878 –
1933), Bulgarian revolutionary
Nikola Popovski (c. 1876 – 1922),
Bulgarian entrepreneur
Others
Valentin Ivanov (b. 1967),
astronomer, graduated from high school in 1985
Mladen Kiselov (1943 –
2012), director, worked in the city in 1968 – 1970
Boyan Sarev (b.
1956), priest, has been working in the city since the 1990s
Georgi
Tanev (b. 1943), politician, first secretary of the Central Committee of
the BKP in 1981 – 1987
Nikolay Pavlov, writer, poet and playwright