http://www.bulgariainside.com/ Articles from category: Velingrad from bulgariainside.com http://www.bulgariainside.eu/en/articles/Velingrad/378/index.html <img src="http://www.bulgariainside.eu/images/galleries/th_126x95/21a51d66aa601d506e368d9ff1073a25.jpeg" height="95" width="126" border="0" hspace="5" vspace="0" align="left" > Situated in the western part of the Rhodope Mountains, Velingrad is a small town surrounded by the beautiful mountain nature. It is located 50 km away from the town of Pazardzhik, 80 km from the city of Plovdiv and 140 km away from the capital. Velingrad&rsquo;s territory was populated long time ago and the settlement probably appeared close to the mineral springs in the region. It was part of the Roman Empire. Thracians and Romans lived there, Slavs settled later on. Bulgarians were the last group to settle in the area. During the middle ages, the settlement often changed its state belonging and was part of either Bulgaria or the Byzantine Empire. It finally became part of Bulgaria during the reign of tsar Kaloyan. The region fell under Ottoman reign in 1373 or 1374. Some of the locals were forced to accept the Muslim religion. Yet, many Christian traditions were... Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:14:00 +0200