Pavel Banya

Pavel Banya (Bulgarian: Павел Баня) is a small town in Stara Zagora Province, South-central Bulgaria, located between the towns of Kalofer and Kazanlak. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Pavel Banya Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 2,918 inhabitants. The place is famous for its mineral springs.

Pavel Banya is located 24 kilometers west of Kazanlak, neighboring Koprinka Reservoir. The town is situated in the central part of Bulgaria, between the Balkan Mountains and the Sredna Gora in the Rose Valley, near the Tundzha River. It is 22 km west of Kazanlak and 185 km east of Sofia. Some archeological finds include the tomb of the Thracian king Sevt III in the Golyama Kosmata and the tomb of the Thracian king Ostrusha.

Since it is 400 meters above sea level, the small town of Pavel Banya has a continental mediterranean climate. Pavel Banya enjoys warm summers, with an average of 22 degrees (72 degrees Fahrenheit) Celsius in July, and colder winters, with an average of 1 degree Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) in January.

Pavel Banya is a relatively new community. It was founded after Bulgaria was freed from Ottoman rule in 1878. The remains of early Orthodox Christian churches have been discovered, along with Roman baths. It was named after St. Pavel (Paul) and Prince Pavel, the Russian Tsar-Liberator's brother.

People of different religions live in Pavel Banya. The various religious holidays are respected by the populace. There is a Bulgarian Orthodox church in the town. Although there is no mosque in Pavel Banya itself in the municipality, several of the surrounding villages, some of which are entirely or almost entirely ethnically Turkish, do have mosques. Many inhabitants of Pavel Banya are Turkish, and are therefore Muslim. They speak Bulgarian as well as Turkish, and are respected. They come to and live in Pavel Banya so they can enjoy the natural mineral water for purposes including drinking and bathing.

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Wikipedia