Maglizh
Maglizh ( ) is a town in Stara Zagora Province, South-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Maglizh Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 3,426 inhabitants. Geography. Maglizh is located in the Kazanlak Valley at the foothills of the Balkan Mountains. Religion. The population is composed mostly of Christians. There are two churches in the town and a monastery outside it: After the invasion of the Ottoman Turks during the 14th century, the monastery was often plundered and burned, and then rebuilt. In 1834, the current church at the monastery was erected , which is a single-nave, single-apse construction without a cupola. A point of interest in the church is that some of the Bulgarian saints depicted by the masters on the church's icons are wearing traditional Bulgarian clothing. During the Russo-Turkish war (1877-1888), the Ottomans again set fire to the monastery, but the local residents were able to rebuild it in just a year and a half. The monastery maintained a school for rug weaving, and it also provided shelter for revolutionaries who fought to liberate the country from the Ottomans. Vasil Levski (1837-1873), known as  an apostle of the Bulgarian revolution, stayed at the monastery on several occasions. In 1922, the monastery was converted into a convent, and there are still a few nuns living on the premises. Events. Every year on Palm Sunday the citizens of Maglizh celebrate their town's holiday. Citywide celebrations with diverse cultural and musical program are organized. Honour. Maglizh Rocks off Smith Island, South Shetland Islands are named after Maglizh.