Ognyanovo, Blagoevgrad Province

Ognyanovo Огняново
Village
Ognyanovo
Coordinates: 41°37′N23°48′E / 41.617°N 23.800°E / 41.617; 23.800
Country	Bulgaria
Province	Blagoevgrad Province
Municipality	Garmen
Government
• Mayor	Dimitria Gyurova (SDS)
Area
• Total	10.394 km2 (4.013 sq mi)
Population  (15 December 2011 [1] )
• Total	1,528
	GRAO
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code	2947
Area code	07523
Website	http://ognyanovo.com/ (In Bulgarian)

Ognyanovo is a resort village with thermal mineral water springs in Garmen Municipality, in Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria.

Geography

The village is situated in the valley of Mesta river in the skirts of the Dabrash part of the Rhodope Mountains. The village is 3 kilometers north of Garmen and together with Marchevo the three villages are almost merged. Ognyanovo is laying 72 kilometers southeast of Blagoevgrad and 125 kilometers southeast of Sofia.

History

The mineral water has been discovered in the Roman times. There are remains of Roman baths. Also a medieval village and a watching tower remains have been unearthed near the village. The Roman town Nicopolis ad Nestum is just few kilometers south of the village.

The village was named Fotovishta until 1934 and Ognenovo until 1966. ^[2] It was mentioned for first time in the Ottoman documents as Hotovishta in 1478-1479 as Christian village with 1 Muslim and 53 non-Muslim households. ^[3] In the 19th century people of Pomak origin came from other Muslim villages. In 1835 was built the church "Assumption of Virgin Mary" (Bulgarian : Успение Богородично, Uspenie Bogorodichno). Some of the icons were painted by Dimitar Molerov. In 1859 was opened the first school. In 1908-1909 there were 103 Bulgarian households with 303 inhabitants and 40 pomak households with 200 inhabitants. ^[4]

After 1912 year the village was gained from the Ottoman Turks and the region became part of Bulgaria. Refugees from Macedonia came to Fotovishta after parts of the region became part of Greece. In 1934 the village was renamed Ognenovo. In 1966 the village was named with its present name Ognyanovo.

Institutions

Ognyanovo is governed by Mayor. The current Mayor, since 2003 is Dimitria Gyurova. There is a post office. The health care is provided by two doctors - a general practitioner and a dentist, and also a pharmacy. The primary school "Peyo Yavorov" was opened in 1929 and initially was named after Boris Sarafov. In 1944 the school was renamed to "Asen Zlatarov". There is also a kindergarten and a community center with a public library. The amateur football club "Mineral" plays in the regional amateur league.

Mineral water

There are two groups of thermal mineral water springs. One of them, called "Miroto" is formed by 17 springs with temperature of 42°C. The remains of old Roman bath has been unearthed at that location. The other group of 7 springs are colder 16-40°C. The water is clear, colourless, with a slight smell of hydrogen sulfide.

Tourism

Mineral water swimming pools in Ognyanovo

There is a hotel, few guest-houses and a sanatorium. The village is not far from Kovachevitsa and Leshten - two villages with old preserved and reconstructed houses from the 19th and 20th centuries.

References

1. Таблица на населението по постоянен и настоящ адрес област Благоевград, община Гърмен. „Гражданска регистрация и административно обслужване“ (ГРАО), 15 December 2015, in Bulgarian
2. Мичев, Николай, Петър Коледаров. Речник на селищата и селищните имена в България 1878 – 1987, София, 1989, стр. 201.
3. Радушев, Евгений. Помаците - християнство и ислям в Западните Родопи с долината на р. Места, XV - 30-те години на XVIII век. Част II - Приложения. София, Народна библиотека Св. св. Кирил и Методий - Ориенталски отдел, 2005. ISBN   954-523-084-3. OCLC 166026970. стр. 40-41.
4. Извори за българската етнография, Т.3. Етнография на Македония, Съставители: Маргарита Василева и Колектив, София, 1998, стр. 79.