The city is arguably the economic and cultural centre of southwestern Bulgaria. It is located in the valley of the Struma River at the foot of the Rila and Pirin Mountains, about 100 km south of Sofia, close to the Greek, Serbian and Republic of Macedonia borders.
Blagoevgrad features a pedestrian downtown with preserved 19th century architecture and numerous restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, and boutiques. Blagoevgrad is home to two universities, the South-West University "Neofit Rilski" and the American University in Bulgaria.
 Attractions in the surrounding area include the resort Bodrost.
History An ancient Thracian settlement called Scaptopara emerged on the site around 300 BC and was later conquered by the Roman Empire. The settlement was known for the hot springs in the vicinity.
Although the history of the settlement in the Middle Ages is not known, during the Ottoman rule of the Balkans it was initially a Muslim-majority town called Cuma-? Bala that means Lower Juma in Ottoman Turkish. A Bulgarian quarter called Varosha was formed during the Bulgarian National Revival, with many of its typical houses and the Church of the Presentation of the Mother of God from 1844 being preserved to this day. A chitalishte was founded in 1866 and the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 saw the occupation of the area from Ottoman rule and its integration in the Bulgarian state. Before the Balkan Wars, Cuma-? Bala was bounded as kaza to Serez sandjak in Selanik vilayet.
Many Bulgarian refugees from Aegean and Vardar Macedonia arrived in the town in the subsequent decades as the town, then known as Gorna Dzhumaya (a partial translation of the Ottoman name), continued to grow in size and importance.
The town was renamed Blagoevgrad in 1950 after the founder of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Dimitar Blagoev, a Bulgarian from Aegean Macedonia.
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