Bistritsa, Sofia

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Bistritsa (Bulgarian: Бистрица) is a large village in the Pancharevo municipality, located at 15 km to the south of the capital Sofia. As of 2006 it has 4,004 inhabitants.

Bistritsa is among the oldest villages in the areas around Vitosha. Its name was marked in maps of the Second Bulgarian Empire as a fortress. There is a Medieval monastery which was destroyed by the Turk invaders in 1393-1396. Between 1936 and 1946 the church of the monastery was rebuilt. During these work a Medieval grave had been excavated. It had been robbed and the only finding was a copper coin from Emperor Ivan Shishman (1371-1395).

There is a chitalishte "St Emperor Boris" from 1909.

Bistritsa is home to the famous "Bistritsa Grannies" a folklore ensemble consisting of elderly women, their daughters and grand-daughters, who have classified as "living treasures" by UNESCO.