Yambol is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha in the historical region of Thrace. Today, the town has 85,966 inhabitants as of 2006. It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.
The surrounding area has been inhabited since the Neolithic and was the location of the ancient Thracian royal city of Kabyle founded or refounded by Philip II of Macedon as an Ancient Greek polis. Conquered by the Romans, but destroyed by the Avars in 583). What is today Yambol was founded by Roman Emperor Diocletian in A.D. 293; though it was named Diospolis (in Greek 'city of Zeus'), the name also reflected the emperor's name. The name later evolved through Diampolis, Hiambouli (in Byzantine chronicles), Dinibouli (Arabic chronicles), Dbilin (in Bulgarian inscriptions), and Diamboli to become Yambol. Ottomans called the city "Yanbolu".
As the Slavs and Bulgars arrived in the Balkans in the Middle Ages, the fortress was contested by the Bulgarian Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. It has been an important Bulgarian center ever since.
The predominant religion is Eastern Orthodoxy with a number of churches being present (among them one of the Holy Trinity, one of St George; the largest one is the cathedral of St Nicholas) consecrated in 1888; there also exist Eastern Rite Catholic and Protestant religious buildings.
The city was affected by the turmoils of the early 20th century. Its Greek population (around 20 families) left during the exchange of populations between Bulgaria and Greece and it received in return Bulgarians from Greece. It also hosted Bulgarian Macedonian refugees from the failed 1903 Ilinden Uprising. During World War I, Yambol hosted a base for Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Army Air Service) zeppelins used for missions in Romania, Russia, Sudan and Malta. The town was chosen by the Germans due to its favourable location and weather conditions.
In the early 21st century, the city became the first one in Bulgaria to use natural gas for domestic purposes.
Yambol Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named for Yambol. |
