Central Southern Bulgaria
The town of Batak (4488 inhabitants, 1036 metres above sea level) is situated at the northern foothill of the Batak Mountain (Western Rhodopes), along the two banks of the Stara Reka River.
Introduction & History
It is situated at the distance of 36 km south of Pazardzhik, at the distance of 16 km south of Peshtera, at the distance of 26 km south-east of Velingrad, at the distance of 51 km north of Dospat, as well as at the distance of 156 km south-east of the capital Sofia. The name of this little town is sacred for every Bulgarian. It is a symbol of martyrdom and self-sacrifice in the name of freedom!
History: In spite of the ruins of ancient fortresses and towns, it cannot be stated with certainty when today’s Batak originated. Its name was mentioned for the first time in 1592 on the e stone embedded in the drinking-fountain (cheshma) at the Krichim Monastery. The settlement grew up substantially after the Bulgarians from the region of Chepin River and its mountain valley migrated escaping from the forceful conversion to Islam. During the pogroms by the kurdzhalii (Turkish brigands) it was repeatedly ruined and rebuilt again. In 1819 Priest Konstantin wrote that it was “a little timber village with 100 houses”. According to the traveller A. Vikenel, in 1847 the village numbered 1000 houses and in 1865 Zakhary Stoyanov indicated that it had “400 houses, a lot of inns, a multitude of cuttings and 1500 inhabitants”. It can be stated with certainty that as of the end of the Ottoman Rule Batak was already a big and wealthy settlement with over 9000 inhabitants. In 1813 the citizens of Batak built St. Nedelya Church, which was to enter the tragic history of Batak and Bulgaria 63 years later. The school was opened in 1835 and Nayden Ivanovich was the first teacher in it.
