GENERAL INFORMATION

Geography 

 Parvomay Municipality is a municipality in Plovdiv Province, Bulgaria, with an administrative center Parvomay. It consists of three districts, a large city and two suburbs, Debar in the south and Ljubenovo in the northeast. The municipality is located in the easternmost part of the Plovdiv-Pazardzhi field - part of the Upper Thracian lowland, with a total area of ​​470,057 decares.The Municipality encompasses 17 settlements with population of 32,131 people. Villages in Parvomay Municipality in the Plovdiv Province are: Bryagovo, Bukovo, Byala Reka, Dalbok Izvor, Dobri Dol, Dragoynovo, Ezerovo, Gradina, Iskra, Karadjalovo, Vinitsa, Voden.

 Two rivers run through its territory – the Maritsa river and the Mechka river.The Mechka River runs through Lenovo, Poroyna and along the southeastern edge of Parvomay Town. Falling from the Mechkovets Hills, the Kayaliyka River runs North through villages of Iskra, Bryagovo, Dragoinovo, Ezerovo and Bodrovo joining the Marista 8 km to the east of Parvomay Town. The Byala River runs through Byala Reka village and Karadzhalovo.  Valuable water resource are the thermal mineral springs in Dragoinovo, Biala Reka and Lenovo. The surroundings of Vinitsa village is the unique place in Bulgaria where Leucojum is to be found in the wild.

 The main crops in the region of Municipality Parvomay are grain production- wheat, barley and sunflower. Agriculture and especially vegetable growing are of great importance for the Parvomay region it is one of the biggest producers of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and aubergine (egg-plant) in the country. There are considerable crops of commercially grown grapes in the south around the village of Iskra, also Oriential (often known as Turkish Tobacco) and Large Leaf Tobacco in the area. The soils are predominantly black humus. There are also vast areas of oak and conifer forests on higher ground in the south. The lowland of the Maritsa river are mainly meadows with cinnamon soils. 

 The town of Parvomay has excellent built infrastructure – technical, transport, manufacturing and social infrastructure.

Climate and weather 

The territory of Parvomay Municipality belongs to the area of ​​transitional Mediterranean climate. The average temperature in January is 1˚C, and in July around 25˚C. The summer is dry and hot and winter is relatively mild.  The snowfalls are light and do not last long. The precipitation is highest in December and May, and lowest in August and February-March. The relative humidity is particularly low – up to 60%. The strongest wind comes from the North-West, mainly in May and June, when it blows for weeks with average velocity of about 3 m/s. Thunderstorms and hailstorms are quite common in summer. Fogs happen along the Maritsa river but they are not common. 

Population 

The municipality covers 17 settlements with a population in 2008 of 32,131 people.

Religion

According to the Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the following: Orthodox Christianity 85%, Islam 7.5% , Protestantism 1.1%, Catholicism 0.3%.

Government

The Mayor of Parvomay, since 2019, is Nikolay Mitkov

Archeology 

In 2015, archaeologists discovered a 1st century AD Greek inscription printed on a clay vessel at an excavation in the town of Tatarevo. The vessel was a balsamarium (an ancient vessel for holding balsam), and has been found inside a grave. The inscription was a verse from the poem “Prayer to the Muses" by Solon.

Fossils of sea shells have been found in the limestone rocks near the village of Ezerovo (to the south east of Parvomay town). A full skeleton of a prehistoric Deinotherium was also found in this area which is on display in Asenovgrad Paleontological Museum. 

Sometime from the 5th century BC to the 3rd century BC, this area became part of the Thracian Odrysian kingdom. In the quarters of Debar and Liybenovo on the outskirts of Parvomay town, archeologists have found Thracian mounds. By the 1st century AD, this part of Thrace was annexed by the Roman empire, and later it remained a part of its Eastern Roman Empire. Roman graves dating to the period of the 1st–4th centuries have been also discovered around Parvomay. Through the history of Bulgaria the area has been Thracian, Greek, Roman, Byzantium, Slav, Bulgar and Ottoman.

Archaeological finds in 2004, 2005 and 2006 relate to a Thracian cult complex of a collection of tribes known as the Odrysian kingdom in an area to the south of Dragoynovo at the Goliama Dragoyna peak. The peak of Goliama Dragoyna is the highest point in the area at 813,60 m. A high concentration of Thracian tumulus (burial mounds) have been found in the area. A golden ring was found in Ezerovo, near to Dragoyna archaeological site. The ring has an inscription in Thracian Language with Greek letters. It indicates that the relatives dedicate the ring to the deceased. Numerous dice were also found.

A settlement was located close to the village of Dragoynovo near to Iskra. This religious complex is one of the many sacred places, established by the Thracians on high mountain peaks. Sanctuaries of this type originated and developed as religious centres in the period between the Late Bronze Age and the end of the Roman Empire. The sanctuary complex on Dragoyna peak, established by the Thracians, was first studied and recorded in the first half of the 20th century since when the site has suffered at the hands of numerous treasure hunters. No formal archaeological excavations were conducted until 2004. Two periods of occupation have been identified from the archaeological evidence:

• 13th century BC – 5th century BC: the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, but also the Dark Ages in the Aegean and Anatolia. At this time, the hill had no floral and soil cover. The archaeological finds from the period are fireplaces, which served as altars for various fire-related rituals.

• 4th century BC – 3rd century BC: the Late Iron Age or the period of Classics and Hellenism. In this period, the region of the Eastern Mediterranean had its cultural consolidation provoked by the military campaigns of the Macedonian rulers Philip II and Alexander the Great. This was also the period of the most active utilization of the sanctuary.

Four churches were discovered by archaeological excavations near the village of Iskra.