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Sapareva Banya
Sapareva Banya; Сапарева баня
	— Town —
	Sapareva Banya with the geyser
	; Sapareva Banya Location of Sapareva Banya
	Coordinates: 42°17′N 23°16′E / 42.283°N 23.267°E
Country	Bulgaria
Province (Oblast)	Kyustendil
Municipality	Sapareva Banya
	Government
- Mayor	Sasho Ivanov
Elevation	983 m (3,225 ft)
	Population (13.09.2005)
- Total	4,425
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	2650
Area code(s)	0707
License Plate	KH
Website	www.saparevabanya.bg

Sapareva Banya (Bulgarian: Сапарева баня, transliterated Sapareva banya) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Kyustendil Province. It is located at the north foot of the Rila mountain 15 km east of Dupnitsa. The town is known for its hot mineral (103 °C (217 °F))^[1] and clear mountain water, as well as the geyser in the town centre that sprang forth in 1957.

[edit] History

The medieval St Nicholas Church in Separeva Banya

The 12th-13th-century St Nicholas Church, the 18th-century St George's Church from the Bulgarian National Revival and the St Forty Martyrs Church from 1859 are located in Sapareva Banya.

The former Byzantine town of Germane or Germania once stood at the location of modern Sapareva Banya. It was the birthplace of the great Byzantine general Belisarius and was first mentioned in the 6th century as Γερμανία, Γερμανός, Γέρμεννε. In an 11th-century charter of Basil II, it was listed as Γερμάνεια. The modern name first appears as Bane in 1576. Later on, it was disambiguated by adding the name of the nearby village of Saparevo: the area is rich in mineral springs and many localities have similar names. Saparevo's name, first attested in 1570, is probably derived from the noun tsapar ("woodchopper"), from the dialectal verb tsaparim (цапарим), "to chop, to cut". Some authors suggest an etymology from the Thracian *Sapara.^[2]

[edit] Municipality

Sapareva Banya is also the seat of Sapareva Banya municipality (part of Kyustendil Province), which includes the following 3 villages:

[edit] Honour

Saparevo Glacier on Smith Island, South Shetland Islands is named after Saparevo / Sapareva Banya.
Flavius Belisarius, the famous Roman general, was born in the town which preceded Sapareva Banya.

[edit] References

^ Gergov, Spas (1974). Bulgaria. University of Michigan: Naouka i izkoustvo. p. 206.
^ Чолева-Димитрова, Анна М. (2002) (in Bulgarian). Селищни имена от Югозападна България: Изследване. Речник. София: Пенсофт. p. 164. ISBN 9546421685. OCLC 57603720.