Breznik

Breznik (Bulgarian: Брезник) is a town in western Bulgaria, 50 km away from Sofia. It is located in Pernik Province and is close to the towns of Bankya and Pernik. It has 4,500 inhabitants. Villages in the municipality include Dushintsi. Breznik was first mentioned in the 11th-century Story of Isaiah and Bulgarian Apocryphal Chronicle as БР(Ѣ)ЗНИКЪ; it was already a city by then. The town was mentioned throughout the 15th-19th centuries, attesting its continuous existence. Its name is derived from the Bulgarian word breznik, referring to a birch forest, from the word for birch, бреза (breza). It is cognate to the Czech placename Březník. Breznik Heights on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Breznik.