Perushtitsa

Peroushtitsa (also: Perushtitsa; Bulgarian: Перущица ) is a city and administrative center of a municipality of the same name in the Oblast Plovdiv in central Bulgaria. The town with 5,565 inhabitants, is located in the Thracian plain at the foot of the Rhodope Mountains, about 24 km southwest of Plovdiv, 12 km south of Stambolijski and 7 km east of Krichim. It lies on the road No. 8602, which runs from Krichim to Plovdiv.

History

The name of the present town and its predecessors is derived from the name of the Slavic god Perun. Near the town are the remains of the medieval Bulgarian fortress Perestiza, which was part of the southern fortifications of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.

In 1873 to 1875, when the railway line Istanbul - Belovo was built, founded settlers from Peroushtitsa and Brestowiza together with the railway workers from Peschtera north of the railway line, a village from which the present town Stambolijski arose.

In preparation of the Bulgarian April Uprising in 1876 existed in Peroushtitsa a revolutionary committee of the Internal Revolutionary Organization. During the uprising, the city of the Ottoman-Turkish irregulars Basi Bozuk and Circassians were shown as a fire and killed or expelled the population. A monument commemorating the uprising is located south of the city on the hill Wlassowez.

Attractions

• Historical Museum Peroushtitsa ( = # 42 in 100 national tourist objects # 100 list of national objects of Bulgaria )
• About 2 km south of Peroushtitsa is the Red Church. It connects the ancient Greek Neo-Byzantine style with the. The remains of this church date from the Middle Ages (5th to 7th century). The Red Church is a landmark of the city Peroushtitsa and represents a cultural monument of national importance