Yambol

Yàmbol (Bulgarian: Ямбол) is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled Jambol.

The administrative centres of two municipalities are situated in Yambol. One is of the rural area of Tundzha Municipality and the other is of the homonymous Yambol Municipality that embraces the city itself.

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

History

The surrounding area has been inhabited since the Neolithic and was the location of the ancient Thracian royal city of Kabyle. It was founded or refounded by Philip II of Macedon as an Ancient Greek polis. Yambol was founded by Roman Emperor Diocletian in AD 293; though it was named Diospolis (Διόςπόλις in Greek 'city of Zeus'), the name also reflected the emperor's name. The name later evolved through Diampolis (Διάμπόλις), Hiambouli (Ηιάμβόυλι; in Byzantine chronicles), Dinibouli (دنبلي; Arabic chronicles), Dbilin (Дбилин; in Bulgarian inscriptions), and Diamboli (Диамбоюли) to become Yambol. It was destroyed by the Avars in 583. As the Slavs and Bulgars arrived in the Balkans in the Middle Ages, the fortress was contested by the First Bulgarian Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, becoming part of Bulgaria in 705 AD during the reign of Khan Tervel. It has been an important Bulgarian center ever since.

Yambol Province

Coordinates: 42°25′N 26°31′E / 42.417°N 26.517°E / 42.417; 26.517

Yambol (Bulgarian: област Ямбол, oblast Yambol, former name Yambol okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, neighbouring Turkey to the south. It is named after its main city Yambol, while other towns include Straldzha, Bolyarovo and Elhovo. The province embraces a territory of 3,355.5 km² that is divided into 5 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 138,429 inhabitants.

Municipalities

The Yambol province (oбласт, oblast) contains five municipalities (Bulgarian: singular: oбщина, obshtina - plural: oбщини, obshtini). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village (towns are shown in bold), and the population of each as of December 2009.

History and background

The motto of the town of Yambol is "Coming from the remote past, going to the future". Archaeological findings in the area date back to the year 6000 BC, to the time of Roman Emperor Diocletian's reign when the castle, called Diospolis, was built on the location of the present modern town. The best preserved historical sites, dating back to the fifteenth century, are the bazar "Bezisten" and the mosque "Esky Djamia", which have been restored and are functioning at present. Other historical sites of interest are the prehistoric tumulus by the village of Drama, the remains of Yambol Mediaeval castle and the Monastery of the Middle Ages in Voden.