Municipality of Chavdar

Chavdar Municipality is a settlement - the village of Chavdar, with a territory of 70,797 decares. The village is located in the Sofia region in the Zlatitsa-Pirdop valley with an average altitude of 570 m, bordering the Stara Planina to the north and entering Sredna Gora to the south. It is located 3 km. South of Main Road 1-6 (Sofia - Burgas), providing direct access to the capital and other regions. Chavdar Municipality is one of the smallest municipalities in Bulgaria. The land of the village of Chavdar is 69,500 decares, of which 50,850 decares are forest fund.

The holiday of the municipality is held on the first Saturday after Easter in the area "St. Petka". Especially revered by the citizens of the village is St. George's Day, which is celebrated every year at the chapel "St. George".

The village of Chavdar is the heir of the oldest population discovered by scientists in Srednogorie, as evidenced by the archaeological excavations of the settlement mound near the river Topolnitsa, which showed that there was organized life here 7000 years ago. The study of the Neolithic culture "Chavdar" began in May 1968, and with a one-year break, ended in 1980 under the guidance of prehistorics from the Archaeological Institute and Museum Prof. Georgi Georgiev and senior researcher Kancho Kanchev. Extremely valuable painted pottery was discovered, which was later provided to specialists for research. Archaeologists from Great Britain were involved in the work on the settlement mound, which in prehistoric times was a settlement on pile dwellings by the river, and with their study stratigraphic drilling of the terrain was carried out, which in turn proves the existence of seven cultural layers.

According to some historians, during the Middle Ages in the area "Kyoy dere" there was a Bulgarian settlement called Markovo. About which he writes in the famous Dobreishev Gospel from the XIII century. The first written information about the present-day village of Chavdar dates back to 1430 in the Ottoman register of timars, zeamets and hass from the Nikopol Sandzak. It is written under the name Kolanlar (derived from the plural of the Turkish word kolan - "horse", i.e. a place with many horses, horse pasture), with 29 taxpayers - Yuruts.

The village bears the name Kolanlare until 1899, when during the rule of the Liberal Party cabinet its population accepted it to be called Radoslavovo, after the party leader - Dr. Vasil Radoslavov, who over the years held various political positions, including that of the Prime Minister. Legend has it that when Radoslavov visited the village, sat by the Topolnitsa River and tapped the river stones with a cane, he exclaimed: "If there is a paradise on Earth - this is Bulgaria, if there is a paradise in Bulgaria - it is here." The village is also sung in the folk "Song - celebration for the village of Radoslavovo - Pirdop region". On February 5, 1946, Radoslavovo was renamed Chavdar, which still bears its name today. By presidential decree № 250 of 15.08.1991 the village of Chavdar became an independent municipality.