CITY OF STARA ZAGORA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R005700770007-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 14, 2011
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: September 15, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/14: CIA-RDP82-00457R005700770007-5
A(fTFLLOFA~ CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
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'
I
I n CD NO,.
40 V
CO U NT fi ' 3ulgar i.a.
SUBJECT City OP 8t.-??? agora
PLACE
ACQUIRE
DATE OF
INFO.
.I1
DACE ISTR. l s0
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
The city of Stara Zagora Is situated on the Dervent Pass on the southern
slopes of the Stara Planina Mountains. The two nearest towns are Chirpan
and Nova Zagora4 Half of the city is built on level country and half
on a southward slope of the Minor Balkan Mountain range. The city is
relatively new, having been rebuilt about 70 years ago when a fire
destroyed the old city, After 1945, the following construction took
place in the city-.
as, A textile factory, a three-storied building about 120 meters by
2U meters., was built in the East of the city along the bank of the
Bidechka Stream.. It has been in operation since autumn 1948 and
manufactures cotton underwear
b. The Lycee for Boys, a four story building with 100 rooms, in the
center of the city near the Municipality, which was started in
19411, has been completed. Its dimensions are 200 meters by 20 meters..,
c,. Ten buildings to be occupied by railroad employees were built East
of the railroad sty>tion. They are of three stories and each
building will accomodate five families.
The city was built according to a plan with stre:-ts running in straight
lines, The central boulevard and streets are 12 meters wide and paved
with square stones. The main boulevard, named Czar Simeon, is 16
meters wide. Outlying streets still have an earth surface. The streets
are lighted by electricity trans,:litted from Rakovski. Stara Zagora is
the only city in the country where doors of buildings carry plates with
the street names and house numbersn
2, The main buildings of the city are the Court of Justice, the Lycee,
the textile factory and the State Hospital. Most houses are three
storied and painted white or sky blue. The city is important as a
commercial. center and for its grain warehouses. The population figure
is a.pprox- atel. 40,000. Minority groups include
,rnte.nians There are eight churches in the city,
four Orthodox, one Roman Catholics, two mosques. and one synagogue.
CONFIDENTIAL
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CLASSIFICATION /CUI ` ? G M- U0S?0 ZQIALS ONLY
T'hts document is hereby regraded
CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with the
letter of IS October 1978 from the
Director of Central Intetlig?nce to the
ArchWIst of the United States. I I Aauth
Next DS!n- anng Date:
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/14: CIA-RDP82-00457R005700770007-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/14: CIA-RDP82-00457R005700770007-5
CONFIDENTIAL
__ZL. T/CC?NT 0 ,, - U. S. OFFICIALS ONLY
:3. The railroad station, located in the south of the city, is on the Sofia-
3v.r,gas, Gorna 0rehovitsa-Svilen};x.d lines. The railroad station building
is 60 meters long and 12 meters wide, is painted yellow, and has a covered
platform Each day two passenger trains arrive from the cities of Sofia,
'3urgaa,, Gorna Orehovitsa, and Haskovo. There is no civilian airport in the
city, but a military airfield is located south of the city. Government
owned buses operate between Stara Zagora and the cities of Kazanlik,
H a.skovo, }iarmanli, Chirpan, Nova Zagora and Topolovgrad.
It. Stara :agora was formerly the capital of the province, but is today a
town administrative districtE. The administrative District Council
the People's Town Council and the committee which purchases the town's
products are located in the old provincial governorship building, in
the municipal building, and. in the old provincial Chamber of Coa_merce,
respectively, The President of the Administrative District Council is
a Communist named Georgi Vssilev0
There is a >`iulg_;arian-Soviet Friendship League, which is located opposite
the city park, Visitors and various groups who come from the Soviet Union
are met and welcomed b, this league
There are no MVD headquarters or barracks in town. The !ilitia headquarters
is located in a building opposite the newly built Lycee for Boys. The tows
Militia head is Marin Cherkovski. In the city there are five Militia
stations, and. there is one Militia station in each big village and train
station within the town administrative district. in each of the ".ilitia
st:;. tiuns in Stara Zagora are 150 uniformed. Militiamen. About five kilometers
southeast of the city a large prison has been built. The walls are. five
.peters high with patrol towers. The State Security Militia, headed by the
communist Sec,heriko, is :located or. Czar Simeon Street in the ::enter of town,,
It consists of 50 ma sabers who go abcut in plain clothes in order to check
the political currents among, the people. There is no night curfew, but Militia
patrols operate at night and may ask identification papers from anyone whom
they might suspect,
7. There are three cigarette factories employAng from 200 to 300 workers,
:;me canned fruit and vegetable factory with 30u workers, and a cotton
textile factory employing an equal number of workers. There is no separate
:irzci_ustrial section in the city, these factories being scattered throughout.
The most modern slaughter-house in fiul._aria, employing some 300 people
and equipped with machines, is some two kilometers south of the city,
~13~. The local Communist Party is established in a former private house in the
central sects on of the city; it is a four-story building, brown in color
and with baL onles facing the street. Tacho T)askalov, who is also
a deputy to the National Assembly, is the Secretary of the local Party,
9., The only local rnewspaper, the daily $v:,temvri, is the organ of the Party.
The editor is a Communist named Sivriev.
l0(, A radio station is located in the vill,,q-e of Mogila 6.kilometers south the
city. It generally repeats the broadcasts of the Sofia radio. People listen
the broadcasts by~ means of loudspeakers installed at various places in
the city0
ZT1 s,C0NTli,-,1 - U. S. OFFTCIAT,S ONLY
CONFIDENTIAL
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/14: CIA-RDP82-00457R005700770007-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/14: CIA-RDP82-00457R005700770007-5
CONFIDENTIAL 50X1-HUM
ODNTfOL _= U.S,, OFFICIALS =')N,y
11, There are four hotels, the Imperial, the. Bulgaria, the l1oskva, and
the Baten'oerg, all situated in the center of town where Czar Simeon
and P:etodi Streets cross. The city has no institution of higher
learning
'/dCONTfOL, U.S. OFFICIAL) 0 ! I Y
CONFIDENTIAL
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/14: CIA-RDP82-00457R005700770007-5