Yambol

Infobox Settlement
official_name = PAGENAME
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = BUL
subdivision_type1 = Provinces
(Oblast)
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3


image_caption= The roofed market Bezisten
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position =
pushpin_map_caption =Location of Yambol
pushpin_mapsize =
leader_title =Mayor
postal_code_type =Postal Code|image_shield =
|subdivision_name1=Yambol
native_name=Ямбол
population_total=85966|population_footnotes=
population_as_of=2006-01-10
elevation_m=114
postal_code=8600
area_code=046
blank_info=Y|blank_name= License plate|
latd=42|latm=29|lats=|latNS=N|longd=26|longm=30|longs=|longEW=E|leader_name=George Slavov (independent)

Yambol ( _bg. Ямбол) is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha in the historical region of Thrace. Today, the town has 85,966 inhabitants as of 2006. It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.

The surrounding area has been inhabited since the Neolithic and was the location of the Thracian royal city of Cabyle (later conquered by Philip II of Macedon and the Romans, but destroyed by the Avars in 583). What is today Yambol was founded by Roman Emperor Diocletian in A.D. 293; though it was named "Diospolis" ('city of Zeus'), the name also reflected the emperor's name. The name later evolved through "Diampolis", "Hiambouli" (in Byzantine chronicles), "Dinibouli" (Arabic chronicles), "Dbilin" (in Bulgarian inscriptions), and "Diamboli" to become "Yambol". There is a trend today to reflect its original connections by calling it Yamboli, but that remains unofficial.

As the Slavs and Bulgars arrived in the Balkans in the Middle Ages, the fortress was contested by the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantines until 1373, when it fell to the Ottomans after a prolonged siege.

Yambol (Ottoman Turkish "Yanbolu") was an important centre of the Ottoman Empire until liberated by Russian forces in January 1878 to become part of Eastern Rumelia and later Bulgaria after the Unification in 1886.

The predominant religion is Eastern Orthodoxy with a number of churches being present (among them one of the Holy Trinity, one of St George; the largest one is the cathedral of St Nicholas) consecrated in 1888; there also exist Eastern Rite Catholic and Protestant religious buildings. It also has a recently renovated 15th-century mosque and sheltering the tomb of Ismail Hakim Pasha who is reputed of sparing the lives of the city's native Bulgarian population in the 1870s; after a Sultanic order to 'pass them all under the sword' he simply made them walk 'under a sword').

The city was affected by the turmoils of the early 20th century. Its Greek population (around 20 families) left during the exchange of populations between Bulgaria and Greece and it received in return Bulgarians from Greece. It also hosted Bulgarian Macedonian refugees from the failed 1903 Ilinden Uprising. During World War I, Yambol hosted a base for Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Army Air Service) zeppelins used for missions in Romania, Russia, Sudan and Malta. The town was chosen by the Germans due to its favourable location and weather conditions. [http://bezmer.info/Bezmer_guide_for_US%20military.pdf]

In the early 21st century, the city became the first one in Bulgaria to use natural gas for domestic purposes.

Yambol Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named for Yambol.

Notable natives

*John Vincent Atanasoff, the inventor of the digital electronic computer, has roots from Yambol
*Dimcho Roshmanov, composer
*George Papazov, painter
*Nikola Abramov, artist
*Georgi Gospodinov, author
*Volen Siderov, journalist and politician
*Radoy Ralin, poet and satirist
*Ivan Gazdov, artist, author, educator, former rector of the Bulgarian National Academy of Arts

Twin cities

* Villejuif, Paris, France
* Sieradz, Poland
* Izhevsk, Russia
* Berdyansk, Ukraine

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.obshtinayambol.org/ Official site of the municipality of Yambol]
* [http://en.zonebulgaria.com/southeast_bulgaria/yambol/ Article at Zone Bulgaria]
* [http://www.picturesofbulgaria.com/photo_gallery/yambol.html Pictures of Yambol]
* [http://www.guide-bulgaria.com/SE/Yambol/Yambol Tundzha (Yambol) municipality]