Pancharevo

Pancharevo (Панчарево)

General

Pancharevo (Bulgarian: Панчарево) is a neighbourhood of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, it is an administrative centre of Pancharevo municipality and is situated 12 km southeast of the city centre, in the outskirts of Vitosha. Pancharevo is one of the most expensive parts of Sofia to live in. The residents are primarily wealthy business people, government officials, television stars and other prominent members of Bulgarian society.

Geography

Pancharevo is situated 12 km southeast of the city centre, in the outskirts of Vitosha. It is located near Sofia Ring Road, Business Park Sofia, Sofia Airport, Borovets ski resort, Tsarigradsko shose and Iskar Reservoir. The neighbourhood is mainly being constructed with modern city houses, apartment buildings, mansions and all kind of sport clubs. The thing's that make Pancharevo so unique are the mineral springs and its lake called "Lake Pancharevo".

History

The beautiful nature, healthy climate and mineral springs are a few of the top reason why the neighbourhood was well populated in antiquity times. There have been found many thracian and roman antique items in the area.

Pancharevo's mineral springs were known to the thracians who founded a village named „Риляник“ which means "abundant spring". Later the name was changed and by the time of the Roman Empire it was called "King baths" (Bulgarian: Бани Чезаре). Historians suggest that there was a big imperial mansion in the area but as of today it hasn't been located.

A big part of today's inhabitants of Pancharevo came from the historical village called "Glavisha" (Bulgarian: Главиша). This village existed during the Second Bulgarian Empire and after the fall of Bulgaria to the Ottoman Empire. The historical village "Glavisha" (Bulgarian: Главиша) was protecting the medieval fortress called "Urvich" during the Second Bulgarian Empire and the rule of Ivan Asen V of Bulgaria. Urvich was one of the main medieval fortresses that guarded today's Bulgarian capital - Sofia ( called "Serdika" during mediaeval times). As of today the medieval fortress "Urvich" is a tourist attraction and is located 20 km of the city centre. The old village "Glavisha" (Bulgarian: Главиша) continued to exist until the 19th century when it was completely destroyed. That gave birth to today's neighbourhood called "Pancharevo" (Bulgarian: Панчарево) which means resort (Bulgarian: курорт).

Population

Source: НСИ

Sports

National rowing base "Sredets" is specialized to conduct trainings and competitions in rowing disciplines. It was built in 1968 and has hosted multiple tournaments. The base is located in "Lake Pancharevo" and in 1977 was a host to the World Cup canoeing and later in 1981 was a host to the World Junior Championship in water sports.

Sports training base "Pancharevo" is a base of the famous Bulgarian football club called "PFC CSKA Sofia" (Bulgarian: ПФК ЦСКА). It is one of the best training bases in the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia.

Pancharevo is also a host to many other sport activities. One of the most popular is "Legion Run - Sofia".