town, southern Bulgaria. It lies in the northeastern foothills of the Rhodope Mountains. Founded about 1385 at the outset of the Ottoman period, it is located on the Sofia-Istanbul road and is connected by rail with the Belgrade–Sofia–Istanbul trunk rail line. Its populace includes many refugees from Macedonia and Aegean Thrace. Industries include the production of silk and cotton textiles, tobacco processing, vegetable packaging, and metalworking. A mineral spa with warm curative springs is located a few miles west of the town.

The surrounding region is a fertile agricultural area. Viticulture, tobacco and cotton growing, and silkworm breeding are economically important. The town has several museums, an art gallery, and a theatre.

On the outskirts of the town is the field of Klokotnitsa, on which in 1230 the Bulgarian army led by Ivan Asen II put to an end the attempts of Theodore Ducas to reestablish the Byzantine Empire (overtaken in 1204 by crusading knights) around the despotate of Epirus (Epirus, despotate of). Pop. (2004 est.) 34,102.