Chirpan

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**Chirpan**

Province (oblast)	Stara Zagora
Population	19,745 (13.09.2005)
Altitude	168 m
Postal code	6200
Area code	0416
Geographic coordinates	42° 12' north, 25° 20' east
Time zone	EET (UTC +2; UTC+3 in summer)
Mayor	Vasil Donev

Chirpan (Bulgarian: Чирпан) is a town and municipality in south-central Bulgaria on the Tekirska River, in Stara Zagora Province. The town is a centre for wineries and viticulture.

Chirpan is located north of the Maritsa River on the Chirpan highlands, south of the Sredna Gora mountains. It is the eastern terminus of the major east-west highway in Bulgaria that runs east from Sofia.

The modern town is the successor of the Ancient Roman settlement of Sherampol and re-emerged in the beginning of the 15th century, its current name likely being derived from the Roman one. There has been extensive archaeological excavation at the Karasura (Carasura) site. During the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria, Chirpan (Turkish: Çırpan) was known for its craftsmen and agriculture. The town suffered badly from an earthquake on 18 April 1928.

Chirpan was the birthplace of Ottoman Turkish soldier Abdülkerim Nadir Pasha, and the Bulgarian poet Peyo Yavorov, whose native house is now a museum. Chirpan was the home of painter George Danchov. His house in the centre of the town is an excellent example of Bulgarian National Revival architecture.

There are over 30,000 people in the municipality, two thirds of whom live in the town. 53% of the land is in cultivation, with major crops from wheat, sunflowers, cotton, grapes, and fruit trees. There is a 136 hectare Natura 2000 Special Protection Area for preservation of avian habitat along the Tekirska River.^[1]

[edit] Notes

^ Natura 2000 Bulgaria Database: Текирска река

[edit] References

Diamante, Vincenzo (1975) Bulgaria: storia, vita, folclore e tutte le informazioni utili al turista Valmartina, Firenze, OCLC 3841667 (in Italian);
Kondarev, Nikola (1987) Istoriia na Chirpan i Chirpansko Izd-vo na Otechestveniia front, Sofia, OCLC 19857260 (in Bulgarian);

This article is based in part on material from the Bulgarian Wikipedia.