Batak

The Bulgarian town of Batak is located in the north-western slopes of the Rhodope Mountains (1036 m above sea level). It is surrounded by loads of peaks and dense forests. The climate is characteristic for its southern warm wind. Batak became a town in 1964. Its population now is about 6000. There are quite many ancient monuments of old times in the region of Batak. A find of the Old Stone Age was discovered in 1958. About twenty Thracian, Thracian-Roman, Byzantine and Slav fortresses, churches and monasteriesand other archaeological sites were recorded.

The origin of Batak is unknown, due to lack of historical data. The origin of the name of Batak is not clarified, too. In the old legends it is related to the Tsepino chieftain Batoi, while the historians professors Yordan Ivanov and Vassil Mikov suggested that Batak is Potok – a settlement of Kouman origin existing during the XI-XIII century. But one thing is certain and it is that the name of the village is Bulgarian, not Turkish as some other historians suppose.

Today Batak is a renovated modern town distinguished for its historical monuments and is a resort and a tourist centre. A great hydropower system – Batashki Vodnosilov Put with five dams and hydro-electric stations were built during the 50s. Rest houses, tourist complexes and villas are constructed along the dam banks. Other interesting sites in Batak are St Nedelya Church in the centre of Batak, the Historical Museum, Osvobozhdenie Square (Liberation Square) - the new centre of the town.

The Historical Museum in Batak is the main building of "Liberation Square" at the centre of Batak. Other monuments also included in the square are the historical church, the newer Virgin Mary church and Batak's Ethnological museum.