Pazardzhik

Pazardzhik (Bulgarian: Пазарджик, also spelled as Pazardjik or Pazarjik) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, Southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 71,979 inhabitants. Pazardzhik was founded by Tatars from what is today Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in 1485 on the left bank of the river Maritsa, near the market of the region, an important crossroad at the middle of this productive region, and named Tatar Pazardzhik (Tatar: Tatar Pazardjik, "small Tatar market"). Thanks to this favourable location, the settlement quickly developed. While it was very small at the beginning of the 19th century, it...