Official web page

http://yambol.bg/

Geographical location

The city of Yambol is a municipal and administrative center of Yambol region. The city covers an area of 90.72 square kilometers. It’s located in the Eastern part of the Upper Thracian Valley along the middle course of Tundzha River, 93 kilometers from Black Sea and 65 kilometers from the Turkish border.

History

Due to its history which goes back more than 1700 years Yambol is considered one of the most ancient cities in Bulgaria as well as in Europe. The medieval fortress in Yambol was a strategic point at the South defensive line during the First and Second Bulgarian States. During times of Turkish dominance the town was among the biggest cities in the empire. Moreover, after its liberation the city has evolved to serve as an important economic and cultural center. Through the ages the name of the town changed several times (Dianopolis, Diospolis, Dampolis, Dabilin) until the contemporary name – Yambol - appeared.

Economic profile

Industry

Yambol has traditions in the fields of machine-building, metal processing, chemical industry as well as textile industry and furniture production. New industrial branches are also developed in Yambol including production of automobile electrical equipment and plastic waste recycling.

Agriculture

Yambol is a centre of a highly developed agricultural area with favourable soil and climatic conditions along with effective irrigation system. Here field crops such as wheat, barley, maze, sunflowers are grown as well as perennial plants – vineyards, fruit orchards.

Significant attention is being paid towards ecological and bio-crops planting. There is also an interest in breeding animals in conditions similar to their natural environment. Animal breeding is represented by milk cattle-breeding, pig-breeding, poultry-farming, bee-keeping.

Yambol region is one of the leading in the country in terms of freshwater fishing.

Yambol is the city which:

-Is currently implementing EU projects for over EUR 72 million;

-Is open to serious business initiatives;

-Offers excellent conditions for investment in the economy and infrastructure;

-Is a natural logistic centre.

Culture

The popularity of Yambol as a festival city has been increasing during the past years. Municipality of Yambol implements an active policy for preservation and development of local culture. The cultural calendar of the Municipality includes numerous activities and events that set up the unique cultural appearance of the city. Traditional events are “Kukerlandia”, National Celebration of Koledari, National Festival of Puppet Theatre “Mihail Lakatnik”, Theatre Festival “Nevena Kokanova”, Music Festival “Golden Diana”, Thracian Choir Festival, Festival of Brass Music, Biker Convention in the area of “Bakadzhik”. The Municipality is a member of the Federation of European Carnival Cities.

Mummers’ festival “Kukerlandia”

The Mummers’ Festival “Kukerlandia” is the largest festival in town. Since 2005 international participants have been featured in the festival. Yambol has hosted mummers from Ireland, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey and Macedonia. The number of related events has increased and the leading one today is a photography exhibition – a competition between photographs of mummer’s festivals. Since the beginning of 2010 “Kukerlandia” is a trade mark of Municipality of Yambol protected by patent.

National Celebration of Koledari

The National Celebration of Koledari gathers diversity of Koledari groups from all over the country in Yambol. The festival has a competitive character. It is held every year on the 25^th of December. The city of Yambol is proud of its unique Koledari who are the only ones in Bulgaria performing typical dances and songs.

Places of interest

The Bezisten

Yambol Bezisten is a unique architectural monument.Built to meet the commercial needs of town during the time of the Ottoman Empire it is peculiar both with its functionalism and beautifully-curved Oriental shapes of cupolas and arches. Today the exterior part of the Bezisten houses small shops and cafes and together with ”Eski Mosque” construction built at the same time just a few meters away impresses visitors with the beauty of the architectural ensemble in the centre of town. Today the Bezisten runs as a Tourist center.

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Church

After the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish slavery at the place of two deserted Turkish houses Russian soldiers built a chapel named “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” which was officially inaugurated on August 6, 1878. For some time the chapel was the only place for worship in town due to impossibility to hold services in the Holy Trinity and St. George the Conqueror churches. On the place of the former chapel a new church was built in the last decade of the 19^th century which up to nowadays inspires with its authentic architecture and internal décor.

The Observatory

The Planetarium in the city of Yambol is the only one in the southeast Bulgaria. It was founded in 1971 and back then was considered the third planetarium in Bulgaria. Thousands of students and residents visit the starry hall annually. Along with the educational and promotional work scientific research is done in the People’s Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium in Yambol. In 1996 a geographical complex was founded at the People’s Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium with a headline “The Man – The Earth – The Sky”. In has a collection of minerals and rocks and hosts educational meteorological platform. An exposition of sundials is available as well.

The City Park

The city park is one of the landmarks of Yambol. The vast zone located in a few minutes walking distance from the center has been offering freshness and lush vegetation for the city residents and guests for more than a century. The setting up of the city park started in 1882. Initiative for decorating the park on an island in Tundzha River was taken by the school principal Hristo Valev. Arrangement of the park was completed in 1903. There is a century-old oak with an interesting s-shape habitus in the city park that is announced to be a natural attraction.

Bakadzhik Hills

The Bakadzhik Hills are a group of hills located southeast of Yambol along the valley of Tundzha River. The main watershed of Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula dividing the basins of Black and Aegean Sea crosses the hill ridge. The air in the region is good for health. Records dating back 150 years ago testify to its beneficial influence on patients suffering from pulmonary diseases. In the area there are evident vestiges from ancient times. Beauty, rich biological diversity and historical landmarks turn the Bakadzhik Hills into an attractive place for leisure activities and tourism.

National Archeological Reserve Kabile

In the vicinity of Yambol the ruins of an ancient town of Kabile are located. It originated as a Thracian settlement around the end of the 2^nd and the beginning of the 1^st century BC. At the beginning of the 3^rd century BC during the rule of two Thracian kings, Spartok and Skostok, it became a capital city of Thracia. In the 3^rd and 2^nd centuries BC Kabile was the only town in Thracian lands that coined its own money. During the time of Roman domination the town was considered one of the most significant Roman military camps within the province of Thracia. At the end of the 6^th century it was destroyed by the Avarian tribes. During the period of 11^th – 14^th century a small medieval settlement existed there. In 1972 the territory of the town was declared to be a national archeological reservation.

“George Papazov” Art gallery

The gallery was established in 1952 as an artistic department of the Historical Museum. The Second National Exhibition for decorative arts was opened in November, 1979 in the new building of the gallery and since then the art gallery has existed as an independent cultural institute. The art gallery fund includes around 3200 works of art, over 3000 units part of the scientific-auxiliary fund and over 1000 volumes of specialized literature. The gallery has the most affluent collection of decorative art works. Three permanent expositions are displayed in the art gallery: decorative works of art, works of fine art, icons. Temporary exhibitions containing pieces of art by Bulgarian and foreign artists are organized throughout the year. The gallery features the following specialized departments: painting, drawing, sculpture, decorative art, icons, foreign art, children creative works and subsidiary fund.

Museum of Military Glory - a call from the past

Yambol Museum of Military Glory is unique in its kind in the country and is located on the ground of former barracks. Here one can see buildings, machines and weaponry presenting the history of Bulgarian army after the Liberation. In a separate exposition maps and photos, uniforms, cold steel,military crosses, medals and flags of the soldiers from 29^th Yambol regiment, 42^nd and 46^th infantry regiments that became famous with their legendary heroism are displayed.

Areas of cooperation between twin-cities

The agreement on cooperation between the commune of the city of Yambol (the Republic of Bulgaria) and the city of Izhevsk (theUdmurt Republic, the Russian Federation) was signed on June 12, 1999.

The areas of the cooperation:

- Exchange of creative teams;

- Organization of summer vacation for Izhevsk schoolchildren in Bulgaria;

- The Russian Centre functioning;

- Exchange of experiences in local self-government.