General information and infrastructure
Territory - 854,00 sq. km
Number of population centers - 86
Population - 46,232
Administrative center - Smolyan city
Smolyan is located at 250 km to the south-east of Sofia and at 100 Ëm distance from Plovdiv. The main thoroughfares are: Road II-86, Road III-197 and Road III-865. The telecommunication services are relatively good, there are around 20,000 telephone posts. All residential areas on the territory of the municipality have electric power and water supply: 99% of the water supply network is completed. The sewerage system covers 50 % of the city of Smolyan, however it is underdeveloped in certain populated areas.
Economy and business
6,181 business entities have been registered, whereof 87 state-owned, 101 municipal and 5,993 private ones. The essential upstream industries in Smolyan Municipality are the light industry, comprising textile factories, tailoring enterprises, meat processing and dairy production enterprises, bread-making factories and bakeries. The production of cables and conductors is well developed. The machine tool plant is specialized in the production of machines and instruments, designed for the metal working and wood processing industries. The construction activities are characterized by closed production cycle - from the initial design to the end product. Wood production and wood processing are developed in line with the need to preserve and maintain the environmental balance. The available unemployed qualified work force and the potential fro closing the raw material-product cycle offer good investment opportunities in the furniture industry. Priority is ascribed to the tourism sector. The municipality's economy is based on the manufacturing of ecologically clean products in all spheres. The municipality participates in the process of developing a tourist cluster in Smolyan Municipality. The farming land occupies barely 24.6% of the municipal territory. Potato harvesting is the key vegetable growing activity. The potatoes grown in the Rhodopes Region are well known throughout the country for their quality. The Smilianski type of beans is the hallmark of Smolyan owing to its characteristic features and unique taste. Private owners are involved in stockbreeding. There is a limited number of medium-sized stockbreeding and poultry farming farms on the territory of the municipality. Some of the most important enterprises are the following: Arexim åïïD - machine building; Gamakabel áD - cable production; åô Elitex - tailoring industry; Dyulger ïïD - construction industry; Zíí ïïD - machine building; Rodopeya Belev åïïD - dairy industry; Cocoimpex ïïD, Pamporovo áD.
Strategic projects and opportunities for foreign investments
A number of tourism projects are under way in Smolyan Municipality: Tracing, informative designation and developing walkways for hiking mountain tours; Creation of zone for pedestrian tours and cave exploring along the upper course of the Arda River; 34 projects under the Beautiful Bulgaria Program. They are aimed at solving the unemployment problem, developing the tourism potential of the municipality, more specifically of the small population centres, promoting the small and medium-sized businesses. Places and buildings, representing cultural or historical heritage, as well as those having a social function, have been renovated. The numerous natural sights turn Smolyan into a favourite place for tourism and recreation. The project titled Development of Sports Tourism Centre Perelik is one of the priority infrastructure projects, aimed at the development of the municipality. The project envisages investments for the construction of eight ski run networks with overall horizontal length of 29,775 m, servicing zones occupying an overall area of 5 sq. km, with temporary catering establishments with seating capacity of 1,550 and places for emergency accommodation with capacity of 200 people, building of towing lifts and chair lifts of length of 25,000 m, parking lots, ski tracks, sanitary equipment. Smolyan Municipality provides investment opportunities, related to accommodation, catering and entertainment facilities in the resort vacation spots - Raikovski Livadi, Ardashla, Stoikite, Smolyanski ezera (Smolyan lakes) - all located in close proximity to Pamporovo Resort and the future Sports Tourism Centre Perelik.
Natural sights and monuments of culture
There are a number of important protected areas within the municipality, including the following 4 reserves: Soskovcheto - famous for the rich biodiversity and picturesque scenery; ëÁzanite - distinguished by its unique wild nature, virgin forest, comprising fir tree, Austrian pine, beech, spruce; Momchilovski Dol- created for the purposes of preserving the century-old Austrian pine forests, whereas Amzovo is for the purposes of maintaining and recovering the Loddon lily. The areas Padala and Rozhenski klabuch are protected under a less strict regime. A number of natural sights contribute to the image of the municipality, which has been recognized as a region endowed with beautiful natural scenery. Some of them are Momata, Glavata, Lyatnata gora, Chernoka,Dalboki dol, Katsinsko blato, the famous Smolyanski ezera (Smolyan lakes) and Smolyanski vodopad (Smolyan Waterfall), the rock massifs - Neviastata, Tourlata, Orfeevite Skali.
Environmental Protection and Tourism
Pamporovo - the second largest winter ski resort is located only at a 15 km distance from Smolyan. It has various ski runs, designed both for experienced skiers and for beginners. The ski runs near the villages Mogilitsa, Gela and Momchilovtsi are designed for less experienced skiers. A snowboard park has been established near the village of Momchilovtsi. There are options for active recreation and tourism in the summer season. The region is famous for its numerous caves along the upper course of Arda River - Uhlovitsa, Nadarska, Golubovitsa, Garvanyovitsa, the passage cave Kaleto, Lednitsata. The caves and their neighbouring areas are suitable for practising extreme sports, such as rock climbing, mountain biking and exploring deserted caves. Local tourist associations and organizations provide the necessary outfit, equipment and well qualified guides. A number of eco and tourist walkways have been constructed and marked in the Zone for pedestrian tours and cave exploring along the Arda River valley in the following areas: Shiroka laka village, Gela village and Momchilovtsi village, the area of Haidushki polyani. The municipality has a rich cultural and historical heritage, represented by Smolyan History Museum, where a constant exhibition is displayed under the following sections: Pre-history, Middle Ages, Arts and Crafts, Traditional Costumes, Ritual Requisites, as well as Tradition and Contemporary Trends. In Momchilovtsi there are a historical museum collection and an art gallery, whereas in Shiroka laka there is an ethnographic collection. The following house museums are open to visitors: House Museum of Laslo Nagy in Raikovo residential district, Hadjichoneva Kashta and Madjarovata Kashta in Ustovo residential district, Alibeeviya police office in Raikovo residential district. The City Art Gallery offers paintings of Bulgarian artists from the 1930s to the present day, as well as of world famous painters. Exhibitions are organized in Petar Staikov Hall, and N. Vranchev Centre for Traditions, Arts and Crafts at the City Library. The mountain spirit has been kept in the feudal complex Agoushevi police offices in Mogilitsa village, architectural reserve in Shiroka laka village and Cheshitska mahala in Raikovo residential district. The traditional arts and crafts have also been preserved. In the former Centre of Coppersmiths in Oustovo residential district the coppersmith's tradition is still alive. Weaving by hand-weaving looms is typical for Shiroka laka, Mogilitsa, Ezerovo residential district, the city of Smolyan; wood carving - for Momchilovtsi and Boukata, making of small kegs and casks - for Mogilitsa. The unique traditions are observed also by the graduates of the High School of Applied Arts, Smolyan. The following festivals are traditionally held: Koukeri (mummers) Festival PESYATSI in Shiroka laka village, Orfeevi Praznitsi International Folklore Festival, Holiday of the Smilianski type of beans, Todor's Day in Momchilovtshi, Mastership in Playing Bagpipes in Gela, Stoikite, Levochevo, Smilian, Arda, Mogilitsa, Slaveino, etc. Planetarium - Smolyan and the National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen are unique for the country. There are over 70 observing sessions - popular, educational, designed for children, musical, in Bulgarian, English, German, French, Greek and Russian.
Associations, memberships, twin-cities and partnerships
Smolyan Municipality is a member of: the Association of Rhodopes Municipalities, National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, Ecoenergy - Municipal Energy Efficiency Network, RODOPI Cross-border Euroregion, Towns of Change Network, jointly with 9 towns from Central and Eastern Europe. Twinned cities: Xanti Municipality - Greece, the town of Suhl - Germany, Pendik Municipality, Istanbul - Turkey, the town of Eilat - Israel, Syu Chang - China, Sluik - Byelorussia, Belits - Moldova, Chispesht Region, Budapest - Hungary and Martinsicuro - Italy.
The municipality was awarded with the EU Golden Stars of Town Twinning Prize in 2000 for the relations between Smolyan town and its German twin town of Suhl.
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