Ognyanovo, Blagoevgrad Province

Ognyanovo Огняново
Village
Ognyanovo
Coordinates: 41°37′N 23°48′E / 41.617°N 23.800°E
Country	Bulgaria
Province	Blagoevgrad Province
Municipality	Garmen
Government
• Mayor	Dimitria Gyurova (Reformist Bloc)
Area
• Total	10.394 km^2 (4.013 sq mi)
Population (15-12-2011 [1])
• Total	1,528
	GRAO
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	2947
Area code(s)	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 towert remains have been unearthed near the village. The Roman town Nicopolis ad Nestum is just few kilometyers south of the village.

Before 1934 the village was named Fotovishta. 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

After 1912 year the village was gained from the Ottoman Turks and the region became part of Bulgaria. Refugees from the Greek part of Macedonia came to Fotovishta. 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 scholl "Peyo Yavorov" was opened in 1929 and was named after Boris Sarafov. In 1944 the school was renamed 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, colorless, with a slight smell of hydrogen sulfide.

Tourism

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

2. 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. с. 40-41.
3. Извори за българската етнография, Т.3. Етнография на Македония, Съставители: Маргарита Василева и Колектив, София, 1998, стр.79.