42°25′N 25°30′E / 42.417°N 25.500°E
Stara Zagora (Bulgarian: Област Стара Загора), formerly known as the Stara Zagora okrug, is a province of south-central Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of Stara Zagora—the sixth-biggest town in the country. The province embraces a territory of 5,151.1 km (1,988.9 sq mi) that is divided into 11 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 350,925 inhabitants.
The Central Balkan National Park (Bulgarian: Национален парк Централен Балкан) is a national park in the heart of Bulgaria, nestled in the central and higher portions of the Balkan Mountains. Its altitude varies from 550 metres (1,800 ft) near the town of Karlovo to 2,376 metres (7,795 ft) at Botev Peak, the highest summit in the range. It was established on 31 October 1991.
The park is the third-largest protected territory in Bulgaria, spanning an area of 716.69 km with a total length of 85 km from west to east and an average width of 10 km. It occupies parts of 5 of the country's 28 provinces: Lovech, Gabrovo, Sofia, Plovdiv and Stara Zagora. The national park also includes nine nature reserves, covering 28% of its territory: Boatin, Tsarichina, Kozya Stena, Steneto, Severen Dzhendem, Peeshti Skali, Sokolna, Dzhendema and Stara Reka.
Tylis (Greek: Τύλις) or Tyle was a capital of a short-lived Balkan state mentioned by Polybius that was founded by Celts led by Comontorius in the 3rd century BC. Following their invasion of Thrace and Greece in 279 BC, the Gauls were defeated by the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatas in the Battle of Lysimachia in 277 BC, after which they turned inland to Thrace and founded their kingdom at Tylis. It was located near the eastern edge of the Haemus (Balkan) Mountains in what is now eastern Bulgaria. Some bands of Celts, namely the Tectosages, Tolistobogii and Trocmi, did not settle in Thrace, but crossed into Asia Minor to become known as the Galatians. The last king of Tylis was Cavarus who maintained good relations with the city of Byzantium. His capital was destroyed by the Thracians in 212 BC and this was also the end of his kingdom. The modern Bulgarian village of Tulovo in Stara Zagora Province now occupies the site.
Republican Road I-6 (Bulgarian: Републикански път I-6) is a first class road in Bulgaria. It runs from Gyueshevo at the border with North Macedonia to Burgas on the Black Sea coast. With a total length of 508.5 km (316.0 mi), I-6 road is the longest road in Bulgaria. It is part of the European route E871 in the section Gyueshevo–Pernik and of the E773 in the stretch between the Petolachkata junction near Strazhitsa and Burgas. The road passes through nine of the 28 provinces of Bulgaria: Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia City, Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Yambol and Burgas.
Stara Zagora (Bulgarian: Стара Загора, pronounced [ˈstarɐ zɐˈɡɔrɐ]) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest city of Bulgaria.
The city has had different names previously, including Beroe, Borui, Irenepolis, Eski Zagra, Augusta Traiana, etc. The earliest traces of civilisation date back to the 7th millennium BC. Some scholars believe that the ancient Thracian city of Beroe was located on the present site of Stara Zagora. In 1968, Neolithic dwellings from the mid-6th millennium BC were discovered in the town, which are the best preserved and richest collection in Europe of its kind and have been turned into a museum.
Kazanlak (Bulgarian: Казанлък [kɐzɐnˈɫɤk] is a town in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria. It is located in the middle of the Kazanlak Valley, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, which forms the eastern part of the Rose Valley. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Kazanlak Municipality. The ancient Thracian city of Seuthopolis was situated near the town.
The town is among the 15 biggest industrial centres in Bulgaria, with a population of 44,760 people as of Dec 2017.
Seuthopolis (Ancient Greek: Σευθόπολις) was an ancient hellenistic-type city founded by the Thracian king Seuthes III between 325–315 BC which was the capital of the Odrysian kingdom.
Its ruins are now located at the bottom of the Koprinka Reservoir near Kazanlak, Stara Zagora Province, in central Bulgaria.
Pavel Banya (Bulgarian: Павел баня) is a small town in Stara Zagora Province, south-central Bulgaria, located between the towns of Kalofer and Kazanlak. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Pavel Banya Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 2,918. The place is famous for its mineral springs.