MUNICIPALITY OF SIMITLI

Simitli Municipality is nestled between four mountains Rila, Pirin Vlahina and Maleshevska, crossed by the Struma River, endowed with bizarre forms of nature, colorful historical heritage and rich cultural background.

Simitli Municipality – the “clover” of international corridors. Here cross Bulgaria’s and the European Union’s strategic roads to Greece and Macedonia. Here goes also the road to the winter capital of the Balkans – Bansko. The municipal territory is part of the National Park “Pirin” and “Rila”. Protected areas are a resource for ecotourism and mountain trekking. Dozens of mineral springs with their curative properties are real wealth and a prerequisite for turning the municipality into a developing balneological center. The Komatinski Rocks are the emblem of Simitli Municipality. Stunning rocky forms up to 100 meters high are sites of national importance. The majestic rock formations, known as “Komatinica”, rise above the village of Brestovo in Vlahina Mountain, 25 km from the town of Simitli and 42 km south of Blagoevgrad.

Simitli boasts the name “Holy Mountain Pirin”. On a handful of area are marked dozens of consecrated places, energy spots, centuries-old trees and places with a magnetic force. Over 50 are the churches, chapels and monasteries. In the area are located the church “St. Archangel Michael”, Krupnik – build in 1932 – the only church in Bulgaria, which is domed, cruciform and ship formed, and the church bearing the same name “St. Archangel Michael” in the village of Brestovo – built on the place of the Troskovski monastery in 1149 in an unique way where the ancient masters brazed the stones with mortar dampened with milk. On the territory of the municipality there are many archeological monuments from the Thracian-Roman, the late antique and the Middle Ages.

The municipality has a rich cultural heritage and is a guardian and preserver of the Bulgarian traditions. Every year in January, the Simitliya – The Ancient Land of Kukeri International Festival of Kukeri and Masquerade Games takes place at the stadium in Simitli. During the festival from Bulgaria and abroad, kukeri, babugeri and quails are gathering and creating in front of the numerous audiences an unprecedented Kukeri gorge that has come from ancient times.