Zagore

Zagore ( _bg. Загоре, IPA2|zə.ˈgɔ.rɛ); also "Zagorie", "Zagora", "Zagoria") was a vaguely defined medieval region in Bulgaria. Its name is of Slavic origin and means "beyond [i.e. south of] the [Balkan Mountains| [Balkan] mountains] ". The region was first mentioned as Ζαγορια in Medieval Greek (in an Old Bulgarian translation it was rendered as Загорїа) when it was ceded to the First Bulgarian Empire by the Byzantine Empire during the rule of Tervel of Bulgaria in the very beginning of the 8th century. [cite book |last=Zlatarski |first=Vasil |authorlink=Vasil Zlatarski |title=Istorija na bǎlgarskata dǎržava prez srednite vekove. Tom I. Istorija na Pǎrvoto bǎlgarsko carstvo |url=http://www.promacedonia.org/vz1b/index.html |edition=2 |chapter=1 Epoha na huno-bǎlgarskoto nadmoštie: 2 Bǎlgarskite vladeteli ot roda Dulo |publisher=Nauka i izkustvo |location=Sofia |year=1971 |origyear=1927 |language=Bulgarian |oclc=67080314 |pages=p. 231 ] From the context, Zagore can be defined as a region in northeastern Thrace. [cite web |title=Tervel (700–721) |language=Bulgarian |accessdate=2007-04-14 |publisher=Rodovo nasledstvo |url=http://bgrod.org/Letopis1/index.php?p=Tervel ]

During the Second Bulgarian Empire, the region was also mentioned in Tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria's post-1230 Dubrovnik Charter which allows Ragusan merchants to trade in the Bulgarian lands, among which "the whole Zagore" (пѡ всемѹ Загѡриѹ). [cite book |title=Gramoti na bǎlgarskite care |last=Daskalova |first=Angelina |coauthors=Marija Rajkova |date=2005 |location=Sofia |language=Bulgarian |publisher=Bulgarian Academy of Sciences |pages=p. 30 ]

14th-century Venetian documents refer to Zagora as a synonym for Bulgaria (e.g. "partes del Zagora, subditas Dobrotice" in a document from 14 February 1384). [cite book |title=Venecianski dokumenti za istorijata na Bǎlgarija i bǎlgarite ot XII–XV v. |publisher=General Department of Archives at the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria |date=2001 |location=Sofia |editor=Vasil Gjuzelev |language=Bulgarian |isbn=954-0800-22-9 |pages=p. 136 ] Similarly, later Ragusan sources regularly evidence the active import of high-quality Zagoran wax ("cera zagora", variously spelled "zachori", "zaura", "zachorj", "zacora") from Bulgaria, often bought in Sofia. [cite book |title=Dubrovniški izvori za bǎlgarskata istorija |publisher=General Department of Archives at the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria |date=2000 |location=Sofia |editor=Ioanna D. Spisarevska |language=Bulgarian |isbn=954-9800-11-3 |pages=pp. 36-37, 90-91 ]

Today, the name of the region lives on in the toponyms Stara Zagora ("Old Zagora", a major city in northeastern Thrace, the capital of Stara Zagora Province) and Nova Zagora ("New Zagora", a city in Sliven Province). Zagore Beach on Livingston Island of the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica was also named after the region by the Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria. [cite web |url=http://apc.mfa.government.bg/peaks/zagore.htm |title=Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer: Zagore Beach |publisher=Antarctic Place-names Commission. Republic of Bulgaria, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |accessdate=2007-03-25 ]

ee also

* Zagorje
* Záhorie
* Zagora (Croatia)
* Zagora, Greece
* Zagori
** Central Zagori
** East Zagori

References