Smolyan

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title: "Smolyan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["smolyan", "cities-and-towns-in-the-rhodopes", "populated-places-in-smolyan-province"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolyan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement "]

FieldValue
official_nameSmolyan
image_skylineKaptaja.jpg
image_shieldSmolyan Coat of Arms.png
map_captionLocation of Smolyan
pushpin_mapBulgaria
pushpin_label_position
pushpin_map_captionLocation of Smolyan
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameBulgaria
subdivision_type1Province
(Oblast)
subdivision_name1Smolyan
leader_titleMayor
leader_nameNikolay Melemov (GERB)
area_total_km2134.59
elevation_m1002
population_total30 689
population_as_ofCensus 2021
population_density_km2auto
population_urban34465
timezoneEET
utc_offset+2
timezone_DSTEEST
utc_offset_DST+3
postal_code_typePostal Code
postal_code4700
area_code0301
website
<!--MunicipalCode
::

| official_name = Smolyan | image_skyline = Kaptaja.jpg | image_shield = Smolyan Coat of Arms.png | map_caption = Location of Smolyan | pushpin_map = Bulgaria | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Smolyan | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Bulgaria | subdivision_type1 = Province (Oblast) | subdivision_name1 = Smolyan | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Nikolay Melemov (GERB) | area_total_km2 = 134.59 | elevation_m = 1002 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 30 689 | population_as_of = Census 2021 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_urban = 34465 | timezone = EET | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = EEST | utc_offset_DST = +3 | postal_code_type = Postal Code | postal_code = 4700 | area_code = 0301 | website = | settlement_type = Town

Smolyan () is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the Smolyan Province. The town is built along the narrow valley of the Cherna ('black') and the Byala ('white') river in the central Rhodope Mountains. It is located at the foot of the mountain's highest peak Golyam Perelik (2191 m). Popular ski resorts of Pamporovo and Chepelare lie in the vicinity. As of June 2022 the town has a population of 30 689 inhabitants.

Name

The name of the town comes from the local Slavic tribe of the Smolyani, the name of whom is probably cognate to the Slavic word smola ("resin").

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Salih_Aga_Pashmakli_Residence.jpg" caption="Salih Aga Pashmakli Residence"] ::

According to archaeological evidence, the area around Smolyan was first settled in the 2nd-1st millennium BC. In the Middle Ages it acquired its name from the Slavic tribe, the Smolyani, who settled in the region in the 7th century. During the Middle Ages, it was ruled by the Part of the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. For a while during the 14th century it came under the control of the Bulgarian feudal lord Momchil, alongside the whole Rhodope mountains, before eventually being subjugated by the Ottoman Empire. During the Ottoman period the town was renamed to "Paşmaklı". It remained under Ottoman rule for five centuries, a township of the Ottoman Sanjak of Gümülcine in the Adrianople Vilayet between 1867 and 1912. It remained a Muslim-majority town with a large Christian minority until 1912.

The area was liberated by the 21st Sredna Gora Regiment led by Vladimir Serafimov in 1912, during the First Balkan War. However, the town retained its Ottoman-era name "Paşmaklı" until 1934, when it was changed to "Smolyan" by official decree. The modern town of Smolyan was formed by the merger of three existing villages — Ustovo, Raykovo and Ezerovo — in 1960.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/St-Visarion-Smolenski-Church.jpg" caption="Cathedral of Saint Vissarion]] (2006)"] ::

Population

The population of Smolyan just after World War II was about 5,000. Since then, it started growing decade by decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding smaller towns, reaching its peak in the beginning of the 1990s, exceeding 34,000. | city = Smolyan | 1887 = no data | 1910 = no data | 1934 = no data | 1946 = 5,406 | 1956 = 7,472 | 1965 = 17,448 | 1975 = 28,492 | 1985 = 31,539 | 1992 = 34,086 | 2001 = 33,153 | 2005 = 31,988 | 2007 = 31,922 | 2009 = 31,718 | 2011 = 30,642 | 2013 = 30,045 | 2021 = 26,167 | 2022 = 28,418 | highest number=34,086|highest year=1992}}

Ethnic linguistic and religious composition

According to the latest 2011 census data, the individuals who declared their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:

  • Bulgarians: 25,045 (97.0%)
  • Roma: 258 (1.0%)
  • Turks: 153 (0.6%)
  • Others: 120 (0.5%)
  • Indefinable: 248 (1.0%)
    • Undeclared: 4,818 (15.7%) Total: 30,642

In Smolyan Municipality 32708 declared as Bulgarians, 301 as Roma and 170 as Turks, and 9,000 did not declare their ethnic group.

Culture and sports

Due to its suitable location on top of Mount Rozhen, the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory is located nearby, with a planetarium in operation in the town. There is one theatre, the Rhodope Drama Theatre, and a gathering of theatre practitioners and scholars known as The Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory is held every summer. There is also a regional historical museum founded in 1935.

Smolyan has an elite division football team, PFC Rodopa Smolyan, that had been playing in the A Professional Football Group between 2003-2007.

The largest church in southern Bulgaria, the Cathedral of Saint Vissarion of Smolyan, was inaugurated in the city in July 2006.

Municipality

Smolyan is also the seat of Smolyan municipality (part of Smolyan Province), which includes the following 79 villages:

Geography

Climate

Smolyan has a dry-warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dsb), featuring warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters.

| metric first = yes | single line = yes | location = Smolyan | Jan high C = 2.7 | Feb high C = 4.5 | Mar high C = 9.2 | Apr high C = 13.6 | May high C = 18.5 | Jun high C = 22.2 | Jul high C = 25.6 | Aug high C = 25.7 | Sep high C = 21.1 | Oct high C = 16.3 | Nov high C = 10.2 | Dec high C = 4.1 | year high C = 14.6 | Jan low C = -5.2 | Feb low C = -3.4 | Mar low C = -2.1 | Apr low C = 3.9 | May low C = 7.7 | Jun low C = 10.8 | Jul low C = 12.8 | Aug low C = 12.7 | Sep low C = 8.8 | Oct low C = 4.7 | Nov low C = 1.1 | Dec low C = -3.8 | year low C = 4.0 | Jan chill = | Feb chill = | Mar chill = | Apr chill = | May chill = | Jun chill = | Jul chill = | Aug chill = | Sep chill = | Oct chill = | Nov chill = | Dec chill = | year chill = | Jan precipitation mm = 80 | Feb precipitation mm = 70 | Mar precipitation mm = 90 | Apr precipitation mm = 90 | May precipitation mm = 200 | Jun precipitation mm = 100 | Jul precipitation mm = 80 | Aug precipitation mm = 30 | Sep precipitation mm = 10 | Oct precipitation mm = 90 | Nov precipitation mm = 180 | Dec precipitation mm = 210 | year precipitation mm = 1290 | Jan humidity = 72 | Feb humidity = 74 | Mar humidity = 69 | Apr humidity = 70 | May humidity = 70 | Jun humidity = 69 | Jul humidity = 66 | Aug humidity = 57 | Sep humidity = 62 | Oct humidity = 74 | Nov humidity = 72 | Dec humidity = 77 | year humidity = 69 | source 1 =

Honour

Smolyan Point on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Smolyan.

Notable people

Gallery

File:Смолян Райково 2713784204 3519c6e659 o.jpg File:Смолян Технически Колеж 2727441793 76680bdefa o.jpg File:Смолян Невястата 2702326413 a0331a0230 o.jpg File:Смолян Стенопис 1 2827787856 aae5a15ff2 o.jpg File:Смолян 2695825013 82452c9437 o.jpg File:Смолян 2691396959 f63b323fab o.jpg File:Смолян Райково 2724872359 21527b973c o.jpg File:Смолян Устово 2851700364 587e738628 o.jpg File:Kaptaja.jpg File:Stanevska.jpg File:Ustovo.jpg File:Historical-museum-smolian.jpg

References

References

  1. "гр. Смолян". BGGLOBE.
  2. [http://pop-stat.mashke.org/bulgaria-cities.htm България / Bălgarija] pop-stat.mashke.org
  3. {{in lang. en [http://www.citypopulation.de/Bulgaria-Cities.html „WorldCityPopulation“]
  4. {{in lang. bg [http://www.nsi.bg/ORPDOCS/Census2011_1.pop_by_age.xls Population on 01.02.2011 by provinces, municipalities, settlements and age; National Statistical Institute]
  5. [http://www.nsi.bg/ORPDOCS/Census2011_4.pop_by_ethnos.xls Population by province, municipality, settlement and ethnic identification, by 01.02.2011; Bulgarian National Statistical Institute] {{in lang. bg
  6. "Weather Base". Weather Base.

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