The history of the resort Pamporovo is quite interesting, so it sounds like a fairy-tale. The modern ski resort Pamporovo was established in 1933 and first hotels were built in 60ties. The name ‘Pamporovo’is derived from the ancient Bulgarian word ‘’Pampor’’ which means caravan. However, local people associated the caravan with the train. Legends say that many merchant caravans from the Aegean area passed through the lands of today’s Pamporovo. Pamporovo has been constantly evolving and the unique thing is that it was a subject to many transformations and improvements which increase its value, but didn’t change its authentic appearance and typical hospitality of the local people. Nikola Chinovski built the first boarding house in Pamporovo in 1933. According to the data from Bulgarian encyclopedia, the establishment of Pamporovo is closely related to the construction of several villas in 1936. First skiers from Sofia came in Pamporovo in 1936. According to the figures, about 23 000 tourists visited the resort until 1939. Nowadays holidaymakers choose Pamporovo for both ski and all year-round tourism. In 1939 Pamporovo was attractive only in summer due to the lack of infrastructure for practicing winter sports.
The infrastructure of Pamporovo was further developed in 50ties. The first ski track ‘Stenata’’ was also constructed during this period. Another legend says that the lush meadows and thick forests under the slopes of Snezhanka Peak were popular as Bukova Mountain. However, it was renamed because of the interesting nickname of their proprietor- Raicho HadzhiBelev. The locals called him Pampora. Raicho was one of the most influential merchants in the region. He often travelled to the Aegean region. After the sultan /Bulgaria was under the Ottoman Yoke/ permitted the construction of Orthodox temples in 1858, residents of Smolyan region decided to build a church. Smolyan was divided into two regions and residents decided to compete whose church will be built first. The greedy local builders wanted a part of the amount to be paid in advance. People from Dolo Smolyantsi collected half of the amount; however, they couldn’t prepare the second half of the amount for a day. They were desperate, but Raicho Hadzhibelev shared his idea to go to Xanthi, Greece and collect the rest from his partners. His friends didn’t agreed with this idea, because one needed at least two days to get to Xanthi. Raicho decided to go and put all his efforts to arrive in time. Finally, he brought with him the respective funds and the local residents were pleasantly surprised as their church would have been built first. They said that Raicho is as fast as a train and called him ‘Pampora’’. Soon after the area has become popular as ‘Pamporovoto’’ /area that belongs to Pampora/ and formed the today’s modern resort which attracts many holidaymakers from all over the world.
българска версия
