Sredna Gora

Location and limits Sredna Gora is situated in central Bulgaria, south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and north of the Upper Thracian Plain. It extends from the river Iskar in the west to the elbow of the river Tundzha north of the city of Yambol in the east. The main orographic ridge extends from west to east, where the mountain range reaches a total length of 285 km; its maximum width from north to south is 50 km. The total area of Sredna Gora is 5,950 km2. It covers an area of 1,370 km2 with an average elevation of 750 m, thus being the smallest in territory and the highest in average altitude of the three divisions. Sashtinska Gredna Gora spans from the valley of the Topolnitsa in the west to the river Stryama in the east. It spans a territory of 2,300 km2 and has an average elevation of 656 m. Sashtinska Sredna Gora is limited to the north by the southern reaches of the Zlatitsa–Pirdop and Karlovo valleys, and to the south by the Upper Thracian Plain. It is limited to the north by the southern reaches of the valleys of Karlovo, Kazanlak, Tvarditsa and Sliven; in the south it gradually descents to the Upper Thracian Plain. == Climate ==

Sredna Gora falls within the temperate continental climatic zone. The continental climate is prevails in the mountain zone up to 1,000 m along the northern slopes and up to 1,500 m along the southern slopes. Above this elevation the climate is Alpine. and Ihtiman (−31.8 °C). The significant climatic variation of the mountain range is also manifested by the uneven quantitative distribution of the average annual precipitation and its different regime. In those parts of Sredna Gora with temperate continental and Alpine climate the precipitation has a well-defined summer maximum and a winter minimum. The average annual precipitation in the territory with temperate continental climate varies between 600–800 mm, while in the Alpine zone it reaches 800–1,000 mm. There, together with the increase of altitude and precipitation also increases the amount of solid precipitation, with snow cover reaching an average of four to five months. In the mountain regions in the transitional climatic zone, where the influence of the Mediterranean is stronger, the precipitation is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year and is also the lowest, reaching 550–600 mm annually. == Hydrology ==

In most of Sredna Gora, the rivers originating from the mountain range have predominantly rain-snow feed == Nature ==

'') forest in Sredna Gora The vegetation of Sredna Gora is influenced not only by the geographical distribution of the soil types, but also by the nature of the climatic conditions, as well as by some features of the relief and human economic activity. The alluvial soils along the river valleys are accompanied by hydrophilous grass and forest vegetation (alders, willows, poplars), and the areas of the vertisols and a significant part of the lands of the cinnamon forest soils are arable land covered with farms and pastures, where the range of natural vegetation is significantly reduced. In the places with no arable land on the cinnamon forest soils, the vegetation is represented by oaks, while hornbeams grow on the northern slopes of the hilly and low-mountain terrain. In the higher zones, the brown forest soils support beech forest vegetation; in some areas of Sashtinska Sredna Gora there are old-growth beech forests. Of Bulgaria's 90 nature reserves and managed nature reserves, only one is situated in the mountain range, Bogdan Reserve. None of the national or nature parks in the country extends to Sredna Gora. == History ==

Sredna Gora has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years. Neolithic dwellings dating back to the 6th millennium BC have been discovered near Stara Zagora on the southeastern foothills of the mountain range. The eastern parts of Sredna Gora were the center of the Neolithic Karanovo culture that flourished between the 6th and the 4th millennium BC and has influenced the Thracian civilization. The Chalcolithic copper mines from Sredna Gora in the hamlet of Mechi Kladenets at 8 km northwest of Stara Zagora were the largest mining center in Europe in the 5th millennium BC. According to researchers' calculations it was possible to produce 1,000 tons of metal, a huge amount for that period. Copper from this deposit was used for the manufacture of Varna culture artifacts but has been discovered as far away as the middle Volga river. The capital of the Thracian Odrysian kingdom that thrived between the early 5th century BC and the 1st century BC, Seuthopolis, was situated in Kazanlak Valley on the northern foothills of the mountain range. Evidence of the wealth and power of the Thracian civilization in the region is the Panagyurishte Treasure dated from the 4th to 3rd century BC, consisting of nine vessels weighing over 6 kg of 24-karat gold. As the region was annexed by the Roman Empire by the 1st century BC, many earlier Thracian settlements saw further expansion as Roman cities, such as Beroe/Augusta Traiana (modern Stara Zagora), Diocletianopolis (Hisarya), Cabyle (near Yambol), etc. In 976 the Bulgarian army under emperor (tsar) Samuel (r. 997–1014) dealt a crushing defeat to the Byzantines under emperor Basil II in the battle of the Gates of Trajan in the homonymous mountain pass of Sredna Gora. During Ottoman rule there were many haiduts based in Sredna Gora, with the names of at least 80 voivodes known only from Sashtinska Sredna Gora from the 18th and 19th centuries. More than 30 settlements in the region rebelled and part of the decisive battles took place in Sredna Gora, at Eledzhik and Panagyuriste. The Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 left Sredna Gora in the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia, outside the borders of the reestablished Bulgarian state, the Principality of Bulgaria. On 2 September 1885 protests in Panagyurishte sparked the beginning of the Bulgarian unification, which was formally announced a few days later and successfully defended in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. The unification had a decisive impulse for the subsequent political and economic development of Bulgaria. == Settlements and transportation ==

, the largest city in Sredna Gora , an important economic, cultural and historical town in the region There are numerous settlements in Sredna Gora and on its foothills, including 13 towns and many villages. Administratively, it falls in the provinces of Sofia, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Sliven. The largest city in Sredna Gora is Stara Zagora (pop. 136,144 as of 2022), situated on the southernmost slopes of Sarnena Sredna Gora and the Upper Thracian Plain. Other towns from west to east include Dolna Banya (4,730), Almost parallel to the motorway between Hovi Han and Belovo is a 74.2 km section of the first class I-8 road Kalotina–Sofia–Plovdiv–Kapitan Andreevo. and Galabets (3,034 m). In addition, there are sections of two secondary railway lines in Sashtinska Sredna Gora, No. 81 Plovdiv–Panagyurishte and No. 82 Plovdiv–Karlovo. The planned investment is 665 million euro. == Economy and tourism ==

fields on the southern foothills of Sredna Gora The economy is based on industry, services, agriculture and tourism. Sredna Gora contains major reserves of copper ore. The largest mining company is Asarel Medet based in Panagyurishte, which annually extracts and processes over 13 million tons of copper ore and produces 200 thousand tons of copper concentrate sold worldwide, including to the Pirdop copper smelter and refinery in the Zlatitsa–Pirdop Valley just north of the mountain range. It is the largest employer in the whole of Pazardzhik Province. Other copper deposits mined in the second half of the 20th century or in the early 2000s were at Medet, Elshitsa and Tsar Asen. At the village of Gabra is situated the Chukurovo mine — the oldest coal mine in Bulgaria, active since the mid 19th century, extracting lignite. Manufacturing industry in centred in Stara Zagora and Panagyurishte. The latter is the hub of the Bulgarian optical industry with two main companies — Opticoelectron and Optix. These companies operate production facilities in Panagyurishte, Strelcha and Popintsi and manufacture a wide range of military and civilian products, such as optical sights; thermal imaging devices; night vision goggles, scopes and systems; surveillance cameras; infrared lenses, etc. Other sectors are machine building and metalworking (Stara Zagora, Ihtiman, Kostenets, Koprivshtitsa), electronics (Stara Zagora), plastics (Panagyurishte), food processing (Stara Zagora, Panagyuriste, Kostenets), The most developed resorts include Hisarya, Pavel Banya and Starozagorski bani among others. The former is the oldest regulated spa resort in Bulgaria since 1882 and is used for treatment and recreation. It has 22 springs with a total discharge of 70 L/sec and temperature of 47.8 °С. Starozagorski bani, located 15 km northwest of the region's largest city Stara Zagora, contains springs with a total discharge of 18 L/sec and temperature of 51.5 °С. The Neolithic Dwellings Museum in Stara Zagora preserves some Europe's earliest and best conserved building remains from the early Neolithic. A number of Thracian burial and cult sites have been preserved in the mountain range, such as Chetinyova Mogila and Horizont near Starosel, the former is the largest excavated Thracian tumulus, while the latter is the only Thracian tomb with columns. Other important Thracian sites include Zhaba Mogila near Strelcha, the Smilovene Sanctuary deep in the mountain between Koprivshtitsa and Strelcha and the Kozi Gramadi complex north of Starosel. Important Roman heritage is preserved in Hisarya and Stara Zagora, the former containing 2.3 km long well-preserved defensive walls. The remains of medieval fortresses are scattered along the mountain range, including Urvich, Gate of Trajan and Krasen. Another historical settlement with preserved traditional architecture is the village of Svezhen. The town of Panagyurishte was burned down by the Ottomans in 1876 and contains only a few surviving historical edifices, such as the house of Rayna Knyaginya. The Panagyurishte Museum of History exhibits at times the original Panagyurshte gold treasure along with the Plovdiv Regional Historical Museum and the National Historical Museum in Sofia. == See also ==