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Stara Zagora
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163 600
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13092005
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196
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6000
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042
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42° 26'
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25° 39'
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Evgeniy Zhelev
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(. It is located in
Stara Zagora Province , about 231 km from
Sofia . Its population is about 164,000. Stara Zagora is known as the city of straight streets,
Lime Tree s and
Poets .
According to the city's
Chamber Of Commerce , it is one of the oldest settlements in
Europe , being at least eight thousand years old.
Stara Zagora is located in the Bulgarian part of the historical region of
Thrace near the
Bedechka river.
The city is located in an area of transitional continental climate with a considerable
Mediterranean influence. The average yearly temperature is 12,5°C.
Stara Zagora is considered to be one of the oldest settlements in Bulgaria and
Southeastern Europe . It was founded by the
Thracians under the name ''Beroe'' (meaning "iron") about
6 -
5th Millennium BC , with the
Neolithic dwellings and the copper mine around the city being the oldest preserved ones in
Europe . The area has been a mining region since
Antiquity .
Under the
Roman Empire , the town was renamed in honor of emperor
Trajan to ''Augusta Trajana''.
At the time of the
Byzantine Empire , it took the name ''Irinipolis'' after the Byzantine empress. The fortifications around the town were reconstructed because of fear of Bulgarian attacks, but Irinopolis and the whole Zagore region were incorporated into
Bulgaria under
Tervel in
717 as a Byzantine gift in acknowledgement of the Bulgarian help to fight back the
Arabs besieging
Constantinople . The region was the first Bulgarian territorial gain south of
Stara Planina . The town acquired the name ''Boruy''.
Stara Zagora was conquered by the
Ottomans in
1371 . A class school was built in
1840 and the town's name was changed to ''Zheleznik'' (a
Slavic translation of ''Beroe'') in
1854 instead of the
Turkish ''Eskizağra'', but was renamed once again to ''Stara Zagora'' in
1870 . After the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule, it became part of autonomous
Eastern Rumelia before the two Bulgarian states finally merged in
1886 as a result of the act of
Unification Of Bulgaria .
