Dobrinishte is a balneological resort located in South-West Bulgaria. It is situated in a mountaineous region, at 850 m above sea-level, surrounded by three mountains – Rila, Pirin and the Rhodopes. 6 km west of Dobrinishte is situated the town of Bansko. 40 km south of Dobrinishte is situated the town of Gotse Delchev.

Hostorical review:

In the north-central part of Dobrinishte, there are remains of an early Neolithic settlement that was situated on an area of about 7 decares, about 150 m of the right shore of Valyavitsa River, not far from the mineral spring. Excavations revealed dwellings foundations, instruments of labour, ceramic articles, anthropomorphic figures. The discoveries are dated back to the end of the first half of the 6^th millennium BC, i.e. to the second half or the end of the Early Neolithic Era in the Central Balkan Area. In terms of cultural characteristics, the Neolithic settlement of Dobrinishte belongs to the Sout West culture-variant – Karanovo I that can be found also in the settlements in Rakitovo, Eleshnitsa, Kovachevo and Belitsa.

With the mineral water and its geographical location, living conditions in Dobrinishte had been created many years before the Thracians came to these lands. In the area of the village and the region surrounding it, Thracian and Roman ceramics has also been found. In the area of Domatarsko ruins of a Thracian settlements can be found, and coins of the time of the Roman empreror Neron (I century AD) have been found in the area of Gumnishta (where once there had been an ancient settlement).

There are mineral springs by the river that flows through Dobrinishte and it is exactly there that ancient pools have been found. The foundations of two of them are of Roman construction, while their upper part follows the Turkish model of construction.

In the VII century, the local Thracian population in Dobrinishte starts to mix up gradually with the Smolyani – Slavic tribes, invading the area at that time, that settled permanently by the shores of Mesta River and mainly in Razlog Area. It wasn’t long before the proto-Bulgarians also became part of that population, so that the foundations of the Bulgarian nationality were created.

The village is mentioned in some Ottoman sources of 1605 by the name of Dobrushtene. According to academician Ivan Duridanov, the etymology of the name of Dobrinishte is connected to the original patronym ending in –ishti of the personal name Dobrin.

In the first years of the Ottoman rule, the population of Dobrinishte started to leave their homes and look for salvation in Pirin Mountain, settling in the former Thracian settlements. A very small part of the Bulgarians remains in the villages, in the area of the ‘Holy Virgin Mary’ church, further away from the public baths and the mineral springs. Thus, Dobrinishte disapears and for more than 100 years no mention is made of its name. It is not until the XV century, during the rule of Sultan Bayezid II (1481 – 1512) that the name of Dobrinishte appears in a Turkish document as a settlement, part of the Nevrokop Nahiya.

During the Renaissance period in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian population in Dobrinishte once again started to increase. Gradually, the people living in the mountain hamlets started to go back to the village. At the end of the XVIII and the beginning of the XIX century, Dobrinishte experienced economic growth and successfully trades with countries like Serbia, Austria, France, Spain, etc.

According to legends and popular songs, from the 7^th to the 16^th century Dobrinishte was a fortified village that served as a barrier to the attempts of Byzantine emperors to pass over Mesta River to the inner parts of Bulgaria. In 1846 (at the time of the Ottoman rule) the villagers built a school, organized revolutionary groups and took an active part in the the fight for national freedom of the Bulgarian people.

In 1896, a revolutionary committee headed by Gotse Delchev was founded in Dobrinishte by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. From 1928 to 1934, Dobrinishte was governed by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, and it had its church, school and community center built at that time.

In 1912, when the Balkan War broke out, 35 people from Dobrinishte took part in the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps.

In October 2006, by a Resolution of the Council of Ministers, Dobrinishte was declared a town.

Local famous people:

Georgi Vitanov, writer

Georgi Lazarov Temelkov, volunteer in the Russo-Turkish War, flag-bearer of the 4^th Bulgarian Revolutionary Volunteer Group

Grigor Kostov Matsin (? - 1898), member of Botev’s revolutionary group

Dimitar A. Angelov, member of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps, 37 years old, worker, with a 4-year school education, part of the revolutionary group of Yonko Vaptsarov^[11]

Ivan Kozarev, communist partisan

Ivan Punpalov, leader (voyvode) of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization

Ivan Sakarev, Minister of Construction, Rector of the Higher Institute of Architecture and Construction from 1987 to 1990

Mariya Boyadzhiyska (born 1977), acting mayor of Sofia

Nikola Veshkov, member of a volunteer revolutionary group

Hristo Lazarov, member of Botev’s revolutionary group

Ekaterina Grigorova, scientist, specialist in Neo-Hellenism

Interesting facts:

By the shores of the River of Dobrinishte, the mineral water pool ‘Rimskoto Banche’ (The Roman Bath’) is located. Another interesting thing worth seeing in the area is the ‘Saint Nicholas’ Waterfall. The only one edelweiss garden in Bulgarian is also located in the town.

The church of Saints Peter and Paul was built in 19^th century.

Located in Pirin, 4 km Nort-East of the village of Obidim ans 3 km South-East of Dobrinishte, the working Monastery of Saint Panteleimon can be found, established in the 1920s. It is a complex, comprising of a church, a residential building and a farm building, which was declared a cultural monument.

Dobrinishte offers a combination of the best conditions for the winter and summer holidays: picturesque landscape, the friendliness of local people, ski tracks and opportunities for rural and ecotourism. ‘Gotse Delchev’ rest-house is located 11 km of Dobrinishte (1412 m) with a ski lift from it to ‘Bezbog’ rest-house (2236 m). Tourist routes lead to the Tevnoto Lake, the Popovoto Lake and Bezbog summit. There are 12 hours of walking from ‘Bezbog’ rest-house to Melnik. There is a ski track from ‘Bezbog’ rest-house to ‘Gotse Delchev’ rest-house.

Statistics:

Territory: 80 356 square meters

Height above sea level: 842 m

Postal code: 2777

Phone code: 07447

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