Kiustendil

Kiustendil, the chief town of a department in Bulgaria, situated in a mountainous country, on a small affluent of the Struma, 43 m. S.W. of Sofia by rail. Pop. (1906), 12,353. The streets are narrow and uneven, and the majority of the houses are of clay or wood. The town is chiefly notable for its hot mineral springs, in connexion with which there are nine bathing establishments. Small quantities of gold and silver are obtained from mines near Kiustendil, and vines, tobacco and fruit are largely cultivated. Some remains survive of the Roman period, when the town was known as Pautalia, Ulpia Pautalia, and Pautalia Aurelii. In the 10th century it became the seat of a bishopric, being then and during the later middle ages known by the Slavonic name of Velbuzhd. After the overthrow of the Servian kingdom it came into the possession of Constantine, brother of the despot Yovan Dragash, who ruled over northern Macedonia. Constantine was expelled and killed by the Turks in 1394. In the 15th century Kiustendil was known as Velbushka Banya, and more commonly as Konstantinova Banya (Constantine’s Bath), from which has developed the Turkish name Kiustendil.