Kyustendil

Coordinates: 42°17′N 22°41′E / 42.283°N 22.683°E / 42.283; 22.683
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Kyustendil
Кюстендил
Town
KH

Kyustendil (Bulgarian: Кюстендил [kʲustenˈdiɫ]) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see.

The town is situated in the southern part of the

Thracian settlement was located within the town, later known as Roman in the 1st century AD. In the Middle Ages, the town switched hands between the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria and Serbia, prior to Ottoman
annexation in 1395. After centuries of Ottoman rule, the town became part of an independent Bulgarian state in 1878.

Names

The modern name is derived from Kösten, the Turkified name of the 14th-century Serbian magnate

Constantine Dragaš, from Latin constans, "steadfast" + the Turkish il "shire, county" or "bath/spa".[1][2] The town was known as Pautalia (Greek: Παυταλία) in Antiquity and as Velbazhd (Latin Velebusdus, Medieval Greek
: Belebousda) in the Middle Ages.

Eponymy

Kyustendil Ridge in Graham Land, Antarctica is named after the city,[3] and Pautalia Glacier on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Pautalia (its Thracian ancestor settlement).[4]

History

Main article: History of Kyustendil

Prehistory and Roman era

A

asclepion
, a shrine dedicated to medicine god Asclepius.

Under the name Pautalia (

Serdica added Ulpia to the name of their town, probably in consequence of some benefit received from that emperor. Stephanus of Byzantium has a district called Paetalia (Παιταλία), which he assigns to Thrace, probably a false reading.[6]

Plan of the fortress Velbazhd

In the 1st century AD, it was administratively part of Macedonia. Later the city was part of the province of Dacia Mediterranea and the third largest city in the province.

The Roman fortress of Pautalia of the 2nd to 4th century had an area of over 29 hectares (appr. 72 acres). The fortress wall was built mainly of granite blocks and unusually its façade was supported with pillars and arches behind. The wall was 2.5m wide allowing small catapults to be mounted atop.

A second, smaller fortress of area 2 hectares was built in the town in the 4th century (known by its later Ottoman name Hisarlaka).

Many Thracian and Roman objects are exhibited in the town's Regional History Museum, most notably an impressive numismatic collection.

Recent excavations have revealed an early Christian, late Roman monumental bishop's palace.[7]

Middle Ages

The town was mentioned under the

Kaloyan
conquered the area between 1201 and 1203.

Battle of Velbazhd, a frescoe in the Visoki Dečani

In 1282, Serbian king Stefan Milutin defeated the Byzantine Empire and conquered Velbazhd.

In 1330,

Konstantin (d. 1395). The Dejanović brothers ruled a spacious province in eastern Macedonia,[11] in the southern lands of the Empire, and remained loyal to Uroš V,[12] until 1373, when Orhan Gazi's Ottoman army compelled Jovan to recognize Ottoman vassalage.[13]

Ottoman era

Main article: Sanjak of Kyustendil
Pyrgos Tower [bg] 1908 (by Joseph Oberbauer

The city was a

Danube Province until the creation of the Principality of Bulgaria
in 1878.

Modern

The residents of Kyustendil took an active part in the

Ottoman rule
on 29 January 1878.

Demographics

According to the 2021 census, the population of Kyustendil is 37,799 people.[14]

Ethnic linguistic and religious composition

According to the 2011 census data, people who chose to declare their ethnic identity were distributed as follows:[15][16]

  • Bulgarians: 36,732 (82.5%)
  • Roma
    : 5,179 (11.6%)
  • Turks
    : 2 (0.0%)
  • Others: 143 (0.3%)
  • Indefinable: 296 (0.7%)
    • Undeclared: 2,161 (4.9%)

Total: 44,513

Roma people are mainly concentrated within the town limits. In the meantime, about a fourth of Bulgarians live in the surrounding villages, also part of the Municipality of Kyustendil.

Religion

Kyustendil today belongs to the Sofia diocese in regards of Orthodox church-administrative structure. The city is the center of the vicarage and the Kyustendil Eparchy; in the past, Kyustendil was the seat of the diocese, that latter was closed in 1884. The majority of the urban population profess the Orthodox faith today.

There are several Christian denominations associated with Protestantism and a small Jewish community. During Ottoman rule Kyustendil had a population mostly professing Islam, but of the many mosques of the time, now only two remain. Today the city has only Christian churches operating.

In Antiquity, Pautalia was a bishopric in the

Patriarchate of Constantinople
. Its only recorded residential bishop was

During the brief Late Medieval period, when the Bulgarian Church entered in full communion with Rome (instead of Orthodox Constantinople), one of its three 'Uniate Catholic' (equivalent to modern

Eastern Catholic) sees was Velebusdus, which was even raised to a Metropolitan Latin Archbishopric as Pope Innocent III sent its incumbent Athanasius the archiepiscopal pallium
on 25 February 1204.

Latin Titular see

The archdiocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin Metropolitan

Titular archbishopric
of Velebusdus (Latin) / Velebusdo (Curiate Italian) / Velesdien(sis) (Latin adjective).

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Metropolitan (highest; perhaps some merely of intermediary Archiepiscopal) rank :

Economy

The city is the center of light and manufacturing industry: logging, footwear, knitwear, ready-made clothes, toys, packaging, alcohol producers, bakery, printing and canning industries. There are companies for the production of condensers, power transformers, household and kitchen furniture and joinery. Hotels and tourism have evolved in recent years. The region has traditions in fruit growing and trade in fresh and dried fruits.

Kyustendil is a center of an agricultural area with centuries-old traditions in the field of fruit growing, which is why the town and its surroundings are known as the "Orchard Garden of Bulgaria".[citation needed]

Geography

Kyustendil is a national

gynecological
and other kinds of diseases. The resort region includes several baths, balneological complexes and others.

Kyustendil is located at the foot of the

balneology and fruit growing. The town is 90 kilometres southwest of Sofia, 69 km northwest of Blagoevgrad and 22 km from the border with North Macedonia and Serbia. The fortress was built by the Romans. Thermae, basilicas, floor mosaics have been uncovered.[8]

Climate

Kyustendil has a temperate climate with mediterranean and continental influence (because of the Struma river). The average annual temperature is around 13 °C (55 °F). The highest average temperatures are in July and August at 22 to 23 °C (72–73 °F) and lowest in January at 1 to 2 °C (34–36 °F). The annual temperature range is 23 °C (41 °F).Summers are hot and long, winters are short and cool, spring comes early and stays steady after the first days of March and the autumn is long, warm and sunny while maintaining stable until the end of November. Rainfall is moderate – average 604 mm (23.8 in), and there is snow on average 10–12 days in winter, although it may vary significantly. Due to moderately severe cloudy and hazy low (average 20 days per year) duration of sunshine is significant – about 2,300 hours per year. The second half of the summer and early autumn in the town are the sunniest of the year, and the cloud cover is mostly in the winter months. Humidity is moderate. It varies between 65 and 70%, and is relatively low in the summer months (especially in August). Kyustendil valley is characterized by low windiness, spring being the most windy season and autumn the most quiet. The average annual wind speed is 1.4 m/s (4.6 ft/s). During the winter and spring months in the city appears warm and gusty wind "foehn", which causes sudden warming of time. The temperature regime is characterized by some special features. Winter temperature inversions occur, and in the summer as a result of overheating of the daily maximum air temperatures rise to 35 to 38 °C (95–100 °F). Summer nights are mild or warm with temperatures in the range of 18 to 23 °C (64–73 °F), although temperatures tend to drop below 19 °C (66 °F) in the early mornings for about two hours. The lowest temperature in the city is measured on 20 January 1967 at −22.4 °C (−8.3 °F), and the highest 43.2 °C (110 °F) reached both in July and August, most recently on 24 July 2007.

Climate data for Kyustendil, Bulgaria (2010–2022)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 6.2
(43.2) 		8.7
(47.7) 		13.5
(56.3) 		18.9
(66.0) 		24.0
(75.2) 		28.1
(82.6) 		31.8
(89.2) 		31.5
(88.7) 		26.2
(79.2) 		20.1
(68.2) 		13.5
(56.3) 		7.5
(45.5) 		19.2
(66.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 1.5
(34.7) 		2.5
(36.5) 		7.5
(45.5) 		12.4
(54.3) 		17.6
(63.7) 		21.2
(70.2) 		24.0
(75.2) 		23.5
(74.3) 		19.0
(66.2) 		13.4
(56.1) 		7.8
(46.0) 		2.0
(35.6) 		13.0
(55.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −3.3
(26.1) 		−2.3
(27.9) 		2.5
(36.5) 		7.0
(44.6) 		10.5
(50.9) 		14.1
(57.4) 		15.8
(60.4) 		15.5
(59.9) 		12.1
(53.8) 		7.5
(45.5) 		2.8
(37.0) 		−1.4
(29.5) 		7.1
(44.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 48
(1.9) 		45
(1.8) 		42
(1.7) 		52
(2.0) 		68
(2.7) 		65
(2.6) 		54
(2.1) 		36
(1.4) 		38
(1.5) 		59
(2.3) 		62
(2.4) 		55
(2.2) 		624
(24.6)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 10 9 8 8 9 8 4 4 6 7 8 11 92
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 cm) 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 12
Mean monthly sunshine hours 85 117 168 214 261 314 323 312 223 151 106 75 2,349
Source: Stringmeteo.com[17]
Kyustendil
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
48
 
 
6
−4
 
 
45
 
 
9
−3
 
 
42
 
 
14
3
 
 
52
 
 
20
7
 
 
68
 
 
24
11
 
 
65
 
 
28
14
 
 
34
 
 
32
16
 
 
36
 
 
32
16
 
 
38
 
 
26
12
 
 
59
 
 
20
8
 
 
62
 
 
14
3
 
 
65
 
 
7
−2
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm
Source: [18]
Imperial conversion
JFMAMJJASOND
 
 
1.9
 
 
43
25
 
 
1.8
 
 
48
27
 
 
1.7
 
 
57
37
 
 
2
 
 
68
45
 
 
2.7
 
 
75
51
 
 
2.6
 
 
82
56
 
 
1.3
 
 
89
60
 
 
1.4
 
 
89
60
 
 
1.5
 
 
78
54
 
 
2.3
 
 
67
46
 
 
2.4
 
 
57
37
 
 
2.6
 
 
44
28
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches

Notable people

Gallery

  • The municipality hall (architect Friedrich Grünanger)
    The municipality hall (architect Friedrich Grünanger)
  • The municipality hall
    The municipality hall
  • 10th-11th-century Church of St George in the Kolusha neighbourhood
    10th-11th-century Church of St George in the Kolusha neighbourhood
  • Timber-framed tower
    Timber-framed
    tower
  • Fatih Mehmet Mosque (15th century)
    Fatih Mehmet Mosque (15th century)
  • Cifte Spa Bath
    Cifte Spa Bath
  • The 15th-16th-century Pyrgos Tower
    The 15th-16th-century Pyrgos Tower
  • The Hisarlaka medieval fortress lying atop a hill overlooking the town
    The Hisarlaka medieval fortress lying atop a hill overlooking the town
  • The Church of Saint Menas, built in 1859, situated in the west part of Kystendil.
    The Church of Saint Menas, built in 1859, situated in the west part of Kystendil.
  • Building in Kyustendil
    Building in Kyustendil

See also

References

  1. ^ Ćorović 2001, ch. 3, XIII. Boj na Kosovu
  2. ^ Матанов, Христо (1986). "Феодални княжества и владетели през последните десетилетия на XIV век". Югозападните български земи през XIV век (in Bulgarian). София: Наука и изкуство. p. 126.
  3. Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
    .
  4. Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
    .
  5. ^ Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrina numorum veterum, vol. ii. p. 38
  6. ^ Public Domain Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Pautalia". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
  7. ^ "Archaeologists Discover Residence of Early Christian Bishop of Ancient Roman City Pautalia in Bulgaria's Kyustendil". 28 April 2018. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-7864-2248-3
    McFarland & Company (2005)
  9. ^ Mihaljčić 1989, pp. 79-81
  10. ^ Fajfric, 42
  11. ^ Samardzic 1892 p. 22:

    Синови деспота Дејана заједнички су управљали пространом облашћу у источној Македонији, мада је исправе чешће потписивао старији, Јован Драгаш. Као и његов отац, Јован Драгаш је носио знаке деспотског достојанства. Иако се као деспот помиње први пут 1373, сасвим је извесно да је Јован Драгаш ову титулу добио од цара Уроша. Високо достојанство убрајало се, како је …
  12. ^ Fine 1994, p. 358
  13. ^ Edition de l'Académie bulgare des sciences, 1986, "Balkan studies, Vol. 22", p. 38
  14. ^ "Население по градове и пол | Национален статистически институт". nsi.bg. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Population by age". Archived from the original on 8 September 2013.
  16. ^ "Population by ethnos". Archived from the original on 21 May 2013.
  17. ^ Stringmeteo.com Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  18. ^ "Фактически данни » начало". www.stringmeteo.com. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

Sources and external links

Bibliography - ecclesiastical history
  • Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, pp. 417 e 432
  • Daniele Farlati-Jacopo Coleti, Illyricum Sacrum, vol. VIII, Venece 1817, p. 77 e p. 246
  • Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 1, p. 130
  • Jacques Zeiller, Les origines chrétiennes dans les provinces danubiennes de l'empire romain, Paris 1918, p. 160

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Pautalia". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

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