Blagoevgrad tourist info and hotels

Blagoevgrad is a relatively big town with 71 361 inhabitants, located at the foot of the Rila Mountain at 430m elevation. It is situated on the banks of the Blagoevgradska Bistritsa River and in the river basin of the Strouma River, 101km away from Sofia, 53km away from Razlog and 65km away from Sandanski. The town is an administrative centre of the region and a popular spa-resort due to the 30 mineral springs with temperature up to 55°C.
The Skaptoparski inscription, dating back to the year 238, reveals that the place was an ancient Thracian settlement, called Skaptopara. Later, the town became an important fortress, changing the names Gorna Dzhoumaya (1502) and Banya (1576). In the 17th century, monk from the Rila Monastery founded a monastery school there, and during the 18th and 19th century the town became a great centre of commerce and crafts. After the Berlin Treaty, the town (then called Gorna Dzhoumaya) became a part of Turkey and the people there took a big part in its liberation in 1912.

The truth is that there are not many hotels in Blagoevgrad – the Alen Mak Hotel (3 stars in the city centre), the Bor Hotel and the Riltsi Motel – both of them only 2km away from the town. In compensation the town has to offer many restaurants with tasty meals and cafes.

Blagoevgrad Spa

As mentioned above, in the town of Blagoevgrad there are numerous mineral springs. The mineral water from them is slightly mineralized, hyper-thermal, with alkaline reaction and high flow capacity. It is described as fluorine, silicon, sulfide-hydrogen sulfide, containing radon and lithium.

The mineral water is suitable for spa medical treatment and spa prophylaxis, when applied externally, in diseases of bones and joints, nervous system, skin, male and female reproductive system. More limited is the internal application of the mineral water in cases of gastrointestinal diseases, some professional types of intoxication that appeared on the basis of heavy metals in the blood, kidney-urological and metabolic-endocrine illnesses. Salutary effect is registered when inhalation procedures are applied to pulmonary problems. Irrigation procedures with the mineral water are beneficial in cases of dental, gynecological and rectal chronic inflammations. The water can be utilized also as a substance for initial prophylaxis of individuals with osteoporosis and tooth caries, as well as for sports and common prophylaxis.
Facilities
In Blagoevgrad there is a central spa hospital with men and women wards. Visitors of the resort can stay in hotels and private lodgings.
Prospects
With its location and its highly esteemed mineral water, the resort is prospective for medical spa tourism. Appropriate would be establishment of a bottling company for production and supply of this type of curative-prophylactic mineral water to the market. The flow capacity allows construction of sports prophylactic water facilities for organization of sports and common prophylaxis. Because of the high temperature of the water, it can be utilized for obtaining of thermal energy.