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This article is about the Bulgarian city once known as Beroe. For other uses, see Beroe.
   Stara Zagora (Bulgarian: Стара Загора) is the sixth largest city in Bulgaria, and one of the nationally important economic centres. Stara Zagora is known as the city of straight streets, linden trees, and poets. According to the city's chamber of commerce, it is one of the oldest settlements in Europe, being at least eight thousand years old. According to an unofficial study, Stara Zagora ranks second among the cities in Bulgaria by average salary.[2]
[edit] Geography and climateStara Zagora is the administrative centre of its municipality and the Stara Zagora Province. It is located about 231 kilometres (144 mi) away from Sofia, near the Bedechka river in the historic region of Thrace. The population is about 151 941. The city is located in an area of transitional continental climate with considerable Mediterranean influence. The average yearly temperature is about 13 °C (55.4 °F). [edit] HistoryStara Zagora is considered one of the oldest settlements in Bulgaria and Southeastern Europe.[citation needed] It was founded by the Thracians under the name Beroe (meaning iron) about 6th-5th century BCE, with the Neolithic dwellings and the copper mine near the city being the oldest preserved ones in Europe. The area has been a mining region since Antiquity. Under the Roman Empire, the town was renamed to Ulpia Augusta Traiana in honour of emperor Trajan. At the time of the Byzantine Empire, it adopted the name Irinopolis after Byzantine empress Irene. The fortifications around the town were reconstructed because of fear of Bulgarian attacks, but Irinopolis and the whole Zagore region were incorporated into Bulgaria in 717. The land was bestowed on khan Tervel as a Byzantine gift in acknowledgement of the Bulgarian help to fight back the Arabs besieging Constantinople. The region was the first Bulgarian territorial gain south of Stara Planina. The town acquired the name Boruy. In 1122 Stara Zagora (Beroia) was the site of a battle between Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos and an invading Pecheneg army, the Battle of Beroia. The Pechenegs suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of John's Byzantine army, and many of the captives were settled as foederati within the Byzantine frontier. In 1208 the Bulgarians defeated the Latin Empire in the battle of Boruy. The Ottomans conquered Stara Zagora in 1371. A grade school was built in 1840 and the town's name was changed to Zheleznik (Железник; a Slavic translation of Beroe) in 1854 instead of the Turkish Eskizağra (Also called Zağra-i Atik), but was renamed once again to Stara Zagora in 1870. It was a kaza centre in Filibe sanjak of Edirne Province before 1878 as "Zağra-i Atik"[3]. After the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in 1878, it became part of autonomous Eastern Rumelia as a sanjak centre before the two Bulgarian states finally merged in 1886 as a result of the Unification of Bulgaria. [edit] Historical population
[edit] Districts 
[edit] Culture[edit] Landmarks
[edit] Famous Natives
[edit] Trivia
[edit] International relations[edit] Twin towns — Sister citiesStara Zagora is twinned with: [edit] Notes
[edit] See also[edit] External links
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