Batak, Bulgaria
| Batak, Bulgaria | ||
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 Batak, Bulgaria
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| Coordinates: 41°57′N 24°13′E / 41.950°N 24.217°ECoordinates: 41°57′N 24°13′E / 41.950°N 24.217°E | ||
| Country | Bulgaria | |
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Provinces (Oblast) |
Pazardzhik | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Petar Paunov | |
| Elevation | 1,036 m (3,399 ft) | |
| Population (31.12.2009) | ||
| • Total | 3,498 | |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | |
| Postal Code | 4580 | |
| Area code(s) | 03553 | |
Batak (Bulgarian: Батак) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, not far from the town of Peshtera. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Batak Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 3,498 inhabitants.
Batak is situated in the northwestern slopes of the Rhodope Mountains, at 1036 m above sea level. It is surrounded by many peaks, clad with century-old pine and spruce forests. The climate is temperate continental with a characteristic southern warm wind. Batak was pronounced town in 1964 and has a population of 4,019 people. Batak is a centre of one of Bulgaria's largest municipalities by terms of territory - 667 km2 or 15% of the Pazardzhik Province area - as well as one of the most sparsely populated ones including only the town itself and two villages - Fotinovo and Nova Mahala. Ninety percent of the municipal area is covered with thick forests.
Batak is situated at 15 km to the south of Peshtera and 33 km to the south of the regional centre Pazardzhik. The nearest railway station is in Peshtera.
There are numerous archaeological monuments of most ancient times in the region of Batak. A find of the Old Stone Age was discovered in 1958. Tools, objects, ceramic vessels, ornaments as well as bones of rhinoceros were found which proves that the climate was warmer in the Quaternary. Twenty Thracian, Thraco-Roman, Byzantine and Slavic fortresses, churches and monasteries, as well as Thracian mounds, Roman bridges, mines, mills and other archaeological sites were registered.
The exact origin of Batak is unknown, since there is a lack of historical data. The earlier view that the settlement was founded by Bulgarians who escaped from the forced mass conversion into Islam in the valley of Chepino in 16th century today is rejected because it is believed that the settlement is much older. This is justified by an inscription on the fountain of Virgin Mary Monastery of Krichim built by the people of Batak in 1592, a writ of the feudal possessions of Sultan Suleiman I (1520–1566), in which the village of Batak is also mentioned, as well as the remnants of many churches and monasteries burnt down by the Ottomans during the conversion into Islam in this region. The origin of the name of Batak is not certain, too. In the old legends it is related to the Tsepina chieftain Batoy, while the history professors Yordan Ivanov and Vasil Mikov suppose that Batak was Potok, a settlement of Cuman origin existing between the 11th and the 13th century. It is, however, certain that the name of the village is Bulgarian, not Turkish as some authors assert.
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Wikipedia