Simitli

Симитли Симитли
Town
Симитли Location of Simitli
Coordinates:41°53′N23°7′E
Country	Bulgaria
Provinces (Oblast)	Blagoevgrad
Government
• Mayor	Apostol Apostolov
Elevation	323 m (1,060 ft)
Population (2005-09-13)
• Total	7,454
Time zone	UTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3(EEST)
Postal Code	2730
Area code	0748
Vehicle registration	E

Simitli(Bulgarian:Симитли[simitˈli]) also known asSimitliya(Bulgarian:Симитлия), is a town inBlagoevgrad Provincein southwesternBulgaria.It has a population of 7,454 and is located 17 km south ofBlagoevgrad.It is the seat ofSimitli Municipality.

Geography

Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God

The town is located in the Simitli Valley at the foothills of theRila,Pirin,andVlahinamountain ranges. Simitli is on both banks of the riverStruma,at the confluence with its tributary theGradevska reka.Geographical locations of note are the Komatinski Cliffs betweenBrestovoandSushitsa,theKresna Gorgealong the Struma, and the foothills of the Pirin Mountains atSenokos.

Transportation

Simitli lies along the parallelStruma motorwayand first classI-1 roadalong the Struma valley, part ofEuropean route E79,that link the capitalSofiaand the provincial centre Blagoevgrad with Greece atKulata.At Simitli the second classII-19 roadbranches off I-1 heading to the town and winter resort ofBanskoin theRazlog Valley.Simitli is also part of theBulgarian State Railwaysnetwork from Sofia to Greece.

Tourism

Some of the best whitewater rapids in theBalkanscan be found on the Struma river in the Kresna Gorge.The rafting and kayaking season is from April to July and there is guided rafting every weekend. Simitli is also part of the EuroCup circuit for the European Rafting Federation every year. Every second weekend of January, there is a Kukeri or Surva festival held in the local stadium by E-79 which rivalsRazlogandPernik's ownKukeriFestivals.

External links

• senokos| Tourism website for village Senokos
• ternipe-simitli.org| Website for local Roma NGO that creates monthly magazine for Simitli
• hoteldimario| Website for Hotel DiMario, a local hotel in Simitli