ABOUT THE TOWN OF KOSTENETS
The town of Kostenets (population: 10 400 inhabitants) is situated at the foot of
Rila Mountain, about 75 km southeast of
Sofia. The town is an administrative centre. The climate is Temperate Continental. The average monthly and annual air temperature at daylight varies from minus 4.2оС (January) to 16.1оС (July). The abundance of mineral springs is one of the special characteristics of the region.
The favourable climatic factors, the unique combination of the thermal mineral water resources with the immediate proximity to the resort of
Borovets and the country's capital, and the natural and historical sights provide a potential for all-the-year-round tourism, recreation and sport.
HISTORY
The region was populated as early as the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. It was inhabited by the Thracian tribe Besse during the first millennium BC. At the end of the 1 st century and the beginning of the 2nd century AD, the territory of the present-day Kostenets municipality was part of the Serdica Province of the Roman Empire.
The settling into the present-day town of Kostenets started in 1884 with the building of the Belovo - Vakarel railway as a part of the Sofia - Istanbul route. The new settlements' expansion hastened with the building of a factory for safety matches in 1901 and of a paper mill in 1907. In 1964, three settlements - Kostenets Banya, Momin Prohod and Momina Banya - were merged into the town of Kostenets.
LANDMARKS
In the town of Kostenets there are many Christian temples and chapels of historical and cultural value: the church of
“St. Georgi”, and the chapels
“St. Illia”,
“St. Petka”,
“St. Pantaleimon”.
The spa resort of
Momin Prohod is proved specialized centre for rehabilitation and recreation and attracts many visitors.
SURROUNDING AREAS
There are 36 preserved burial mounds, 20 mound necropolises, remains of 11 antique settlements and settlements of the Bronze Age and the early and late Iron Age, 6 Roman settlements and 8 late medieval settlements in the region of Kostenets.
The
Trayanovi Vrata Fortress is a valuable monument of the Roman age, and of the First and the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. There in 986 the Bulgarian king Samuil defeated the Byzantine emperor Vasilius II.
The spa resorts
Villas Kostenets,
Pchelinski bani, and the village of
Kostenets are near the town.
Very beautiful is the
Kostenski Waterfall, located near the village of
Kostenets and depicted by the eminent Bulgarian writer Ivan Vazov.
Only 28 km west of the town of Kostenets is situated the winter resort of
Borovets.
Description
