Sapareva Banya

Sapareva Banya
Сапарева баня
Town
View of Sapareva Banya
View of Sapareva Banya
Sapareva Banya is located in Bulgaria
Sapareva Banya
Sapareva Banya
Location of Sapareva Banya
Coordinates: 42°17′N 23°16′E / 42.283°N 23.267°E / 42.283; 23.267
CountryBulgaria
Province (Oblast)Kyustendil
MunicipalitySapareva Banya
Government
 • MayorSasho Ivanov
Elevation
983 m (3,225 ft)
Population
 (13.09.2005)
 • Total
4,425
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code
2650
Area code0707
License PlateKH
Websitewww.saparevabanya.bg

Sapareva Banya (Bulgarian: Сапарева баня, transliterated Sapareva banya) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Kyustendil Province. As Ancient Germanеia (in Dacia), a former bishopric, it is a Latin Catholic titular see.

It is located at the north foot of the Rila mountains, 15 kilometers east of Dupnitsa. The town is known for its hot mineral (103 °C (217 °F)) and clear mountain water, as well as the geyser in the town centre that sprang forth in 1957.

History

The former Roman town of Germania (in Dacia) or Germane once stood at the location of modern Sapareva Banya and in the 3rd century was an important town in Dacia Mediterranea province.

According to Synecdemus, compiled prior to 535 by the Byzantine geographer Hierocles, the town was in Dacia Mediterranea province in Illyricum diocese, and the name was spelled in koine Greek as Γέρμαι (Germe) or as Γερμάη (Germai).

It was mentioned in the 6th century as Γερμανία, Γερμανός, Γέρμεννε and in various later sources, like Notitie Episcopatum, in the Leo VI the Wise's edition of a VII century notitia.

This, or possibly Germen, was the birthplace of the great Byzantine general Belisarius.

In 11th-century it was listed as Γερμάνεια (Germaneia) in the first of the three charters of Byzantine Emperor Basil II (Porphyrogenitus/ the Young).

Ecclesiastical history

Before the Great schism

Germania in Dacia was important enough in the late Roman province of Dacia Mediterranea to become a suffragan bishopric of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sardica in the provincial capital (now Sofia), in the sway of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. However, possibly due to the Huns, the bishopric faded away, and no historical resident Bishop of Germania is recorded afterwards.

At the demotion of the Bulgarian Patriarchate of Ohrid to the Archbishopric of Ohrid in 1018/1019, Germaneia is listed under the Velbazhd episcopate, according to the first of the three charters of emperor Basil II.

Catholic titular see

The medieval Orthodox St Nicholas Church in Sapareva Banya

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin Titular bishopric of Germania in Dacia (Latin) / Germania di Dacia (Curiate Italian) / Germanien(sis) in Dacia (Latin adjective).

It has been vacant for decades, with only the following incumbents:

Municipality

Sapareva Banya Town-hall

Sapareva Banya is also the seat of Sapareva Banya municipality (part of Kyustendil Province), which includes the following 3 villages:

Religion

According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following:

Religious composition of Sapareva Banya Municipality
Orthodox Christianity
 
 97.4%
Catholicism
 
 0.2%
Protestantism
 
 0.0%
Islam
 
 0.0%
No religion
 
 0.5%
Prefer not to answer, others and indefinable
 
 1.9%

Modern names and eponymy

Sights

The 12th-13th-century St Nicholas Church, the 18th-century St George's Church from the Bulgarian National Revival and the Forty Martyrs Church from 1859 are located in Sapareva Banya.

Balneotherapy

Mineral water of Separeva banya was highly regarded and used as a cure by Thracians and Romans. Saparevian mineral water is clear, colorless, with smell of hydrogen sulfide, hyperthermal (temperature 103 °C), hydrocarbonate, sulphate-sodium, fluorine, silicon and sulphide. Hydrogen sulfide is 15,5 mg / L. It is claimed that the water treats disorders of the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, and upper respiratory tract, and metal poisoning.

Notable locals

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gergov, Spas (1974). Bulgaria. University of Michigan: Naouka i izkoustvo. p. 206.
  2. ↑ "Saparevabanya.bg | Official site". Archived from the original on 2006-06-19. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  3. ↑ Parthey, Gustav (1866). "Hieroklis Synecdemvs, 663,2". Hieroclis Synecdemus et notitiae Graecae episcopatuum: Accedunt Nili Doxapatrii notitia patriarchatuum et locorum nomina immutata (in Latin and Greek). Berolini: In aedibus Friderici Nicolai. p. 20.
  4. ↑ Parthey, Gustav (1866). "Hieroklis Synecdemvs, 654,5". Hieroclis Synecdemus et notitiae Graecae episcopatuum: Accedunt Nili Doxapatrii notitia patriarchatuum et locorum nomina immutata (in Latin and Greek). Berolini: In aedibus Friderici Nicolai. p. 16.
  5. ↑ Parthey, Gustav (1866). "Notitia 1, 69". Hieroclis Synecdemus et notitiae Graecae episcopatuum: Accedunt Nili Doxapatrii notitia patriarchatuum et locorum nomina immutata (in Latin and Greek). Berolini: In aedibus Friderici Nicolai. p. 98.
  6. ↑ Martindale, John Robert (1992). The prosopography of the later Roman Empire. Cambridge (GB): Cambridge university press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-521-20160-5.
  7. 1 2 Дринов, Марин (1873). "Три грамоти, дадени от императора Василий II на българский охридски архиепископъ около 1020 лето". Периодическо списание (in Bulgarian) (I, 7–8). Браила: Българско книжовно дружество: 14–25. – In: проф. Васил Златарски, ed. (1911). Съчинения на М.С.Дриновъ. Издава Българското книжовно дружество въ София подъ редакцията на проф. В. Н. Златарски. Vol. II. София. pp. 203–214.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ↑ Prinzing, Günter (2012). "The autocephalous Byzantine ecclesiastical province of Bulgaria/Ohrid: How independent were its archbishops?". Bulgaria Mediaevalis (3): 364–365.
  9. ↑ /Municipality /About the municipality
  10. ↑ /Municipality /About the municipality
  11. ↑ "Religious composition of Bulgaria 2011". pop-stat.mashke.org.
  12. ↑ Чолева-Димитрова, Анна М. (2002). Селищни имена от Югозападна България: Изследване. Речник (in Bulgarian). София: Пенсофт. p. 164. ISBN 954-642-168-5. OCLC 57603720.
  13. ↑ "Специализирана болница за рехабилитация "Сапарева баня" АД, гр. Сапарева баня - Балнеология - Община Сапарева Баня". saparevabanya.bg. Retrieved 16 April 2018.