Garmen
Garmen is a village in Blagoevgrad Province in Bulgaria and is the seat of Garmen Municipality. It is located in southwestern Bulgaria in the Western Rhodope Mountains in the Chech region 75 kilometers southeast of Blagoevgrad and 127 kilometers southeast of Sofia.
History
Around 146 AD, after a series of conflicts between Roman troops and Thracians, the region surrounding Gotse Delchev came under Roman control. In 106 AD, Emperor Trajan established the city of Nicopolis ad Nestum to commemorate the conquest. Although the town was destroyed by the Slavs at the end of the 6th century, the Smolyani tribe later settled in the area. The Slavs contributed to the local economy as farmers and herdsmen, cultivating crops like millet, wheat, flax, hemp, and various legumes, and raising birds, cattle, sheep, and goats.During the Ottoman period, Garmen was frequently mentioned in Ottoman records, and a Turkish grange was constructed on the site of Nicopolis ad Nestum. Up until the 19th century, the municipality primarily functioned as a farming region, with some residents working as builders in the interior and the Aegean region. The Bulgarian Renaissance saw the establishment of the first schools and churches in the area. Notably, Garmen’s church, dedicated to St. George and built in 1898 on the foundations of an older structure, stands as a significant cultural monument of national importance.
During the Russo-Turkish War and the Balkan Wars, the population of the municipality joined volunteer troops to fight. In 1901, a volunteer militia was formed by Stoyko Pashkulev. The area was liberated from Ottoman rule in 1912.