Radomir (Pernik)

Radomir (Радомир ˈradomir) is a town in the Radomir Municipality in the Pernik Province of Bulgaria. The town of Radomir is located at 764 meters above sea level in the Radomir valley, at the foot of Mount Golo Bardo. It is the center of the historical-geographical region of Mraka. The climate is humid-continental (Dfb). The town was first mentioned in a 15th-century source as Uradmur. The current form appears for the first time in a source from 1488. The name is derived directly from the personal name Radomir or its adjectival form. Not many names of priests and clergymen have been preserved in the history of the small town, but it is a fact that the Radomir valley was defended in the Christian spirit even after the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule at the end of the 14th century. In 1418 a wave of discontent broke out in the vicinity of Radomir against the heavy taxes imposed by the Ottoman rulers. At that time the population did not exceed 6-7 thousand people in the whole valley, but it gave good handicrafts. The locals were mostly farmers and stockbreeders, but the craft went hand in hand with them. Very famous were the so-called "katzars", who produced barrels known as far as the Aegean. In the village of Dren there were woodcarvers incomparable in mastery. 1831 Ottoman population statistics show that 41% of the Christians in the kaza of Radomir, which included Pernik Provice, were non-taxpayers and 82% of Christians were recorded as middle-class. The population has a vigilant national consciousness. The first schools in Radomir were established by people who devoted themselves to worship. One of the prominent personalities during the national revival was Archimandrite Zinovii Poppetrov, who developed his vigilant activity in this area. In 1918, Bulgaria was ruled by Ferdinand of Bulgaria, under whom Aleksandar Stamboliyski had been imprisoned for opposing Bulgaria's participation in the Balkan War and its alliance with the Central Powers in World War I.