Smolyan

Altitude - 850-950 m .The length of the city along the tributaries of the river Arda rivers Black and White is 15 km .The population of the town is 32 thousand inhabitants and 45 thousand in the Municipality of Smolyan . The distance from the capital city to Smolyan is 260 km, from Plovdiv - 100 km and from the border with Greece - 40 km .
In the Ottoman- Turkish documents from the seventeenth century mentions the name of the settlement Ezerovo which is renamed to Bashmakla. Subsequently transformed into Pashmakla and Pashmakli. In 1934 the town Pashmakli was given the name Smolyan –it comes from the famous Slav tribe of Smolyan.
The united town of Smolyan was created in 1960 through the merger of Smolyan villages Ezerovo, Raikovo and the town Ustovo . Smolyan was old administrative and economic centre , Raikovo - shopping center and Ustovo – a craft place .
The population is mixture of Bulgarian ethnic groups and communities - Muslim community of Pomaks , Muslim and Christian community professing the orthodox .
From 19th of April after decades Smolyan was erected in the center of Bishop , the head of which was appointed Bishop Anthony .
In the town of Smolyan is also located the " Regional Mufti " - Smolyan, which is a permanent regional executive " Chief Mufti " - Sofia.

The church "Sv . Duh " –It was built in 1891 on the initiative of George who escaped from Dimotika Uzun and local Christians from rough stone . On the southwest corner of the church is written the year "1891 ." The land on which the church was built was donated by Koliu Gegov .
The church is one of the smallest in the middle Rhodopes. It was erected by a semi-cylindrical apse with a narthex and gallery inside . The space is covered with three ceilings.
Size 19/11 m
Murals - made partly without a system in the side walls and the railing on the balcony. The author is unknown. The decoration of the interior is modest. The only carving is on the place above the iconostasis- two dragons at the base of the crucifix.
In the implementation of the icons is saved the tradition of the 19th century. It was painted by George Ksaf.
The one of a kind wooden tower represents a huge interest.
Revival houses - Revival in the Rhodopes started relatively late - the mid-nineteenth century economic boom amended general character of the houses its interior layout and decoration. The compositional form of the medieval house no longer meets the needs of the wealthy population. The growing trend towards symmetry and representation of the dwelling in architecture has a big contribution .
‘’Meramova Kashta’’ Smolyan - the house was built by the two sons of Kurtyu Meramova - Peter has built the western half and Dimitar - the east half of the house. Their father Kurtyu and his sons were builders and built their own house.
The building is a fine example of symmetrical house built by two brothers. The entrances are built in the middle of the south wall. The whole of the outside of the house is designed in classic proportions – indented by ten rhythmically placed windows upstairs and two large symmetrical entrance gates on the first floor .

The old tree - " Chinar"
One of the natural attractions of Smolyan is the old tree - " Old Chinar " (Plantatus orientalis – which means eastern ‘’Chinar’’) . Its crown size is about 600 square meters. The high of the tree is 22 meters and its trunk- nearly 7 meters wide. Was transferred in 1720 from the Aegean and it was planted in the "old centre" of Smolyan. The old tree is part of an unique ensemble which includes a mosque and the oldest administrative centre of Smolyan .
MOSQUE
The Muslim cult temple is located near the natural landmark of the ‘’Old tree Chinar". The year of its construction is unknown. During the period 1935 – 1937 was made a plan to build a new mosque building on the foundations of the old one, on the initiative of Smolyan Muslim religious communities. The modern building which was used for prays has two floors and it was built in 1994-1995.The height of the minaret is 18 meters. The walls of the hall are covered with murals in traditional style.
‘’The old centre’’- The " Svoboda " square is a monumental piece of art from the time of socialism and democracy. The sculpture with the shape of a deer "Sarnichki" was made by Alexander Gigov. The memorial plaque of the climber Christo Christov who died climbing the Mount Everest in 2004 was made by his friends.Bust – monument of the brother Shukerov( commander of a guerrilla squad " Koliu Shishmanov ")-made by Radi Angelov. The sculpture " Orfei I Rodopa" was made in 1970 by the great Bulgarian sculptor Lubomir Dalchev (1902-2002) on the basis of three-staged granite using wrought copper.