The town of Yambol is located in southeastern Bulgaria on the banks of the river Tundzha (called Tonzos in the past).
The fertile lands along the river valley have been populated since antiquity. The Yambol district encompasses an area of 4,400 km?. It accounts for 4% of the country area and is 304 km east of Sofia and 106 km west of Bourgas.
The evidence for it are the discovered more than 30 settlement mounds in the region, of which well-explored are the ones in the village of Veselinovo, Racheva and Marcheva mounds, dating from the Neolithic period (6,000-4,000 BC), the Eneolithic (4,000-2,700 BC) and the Bronze Age (2,700-900 BC).
The history of Yambol starts before the foundation of the Bulgarian state. In 293 Emperor Dioclecianus embarks on a journey in these lands.
The emperor’s route passed exactly through the place where Yambol is located now and probably there was a little settlement there.
The emperor was amazed by the fertile lands, the beautiful scenery, good living conditions and decided there should be a town at this place – Diospolis – town of Zeus.
During its perennial history the town of Yambol had different names: Diospolis, Dampolis, Yanboli and finally its modern name - Yambol.
In the western historical sources it is known under the beautiful name of Grenboel.
The town is one of the first on the Balkans to show resistance to the turks and was conquered in 1373 after a long siege.
Part of the impressive fortress walls and towers of mediaeval Yambol have been preserved to date. From the period of the Ottoman rule in the town, two magnificent architectural monuments from 15 c. have been preserved:
the shopping centre, which is the only preserved covered market in Bulgaria
the Ottoman temple Eski mosque.
Also well-preserved are the churches Saint Georgi and Holy Trinity, which kept the Bulgarian traditions in the time of a five-century Ottoman yoke.
Yambol was liberated in January 1878 by Russian troops.
To commemorate this, on Mount Bakadzhik near Yambol, the temple Saint Alexander Nevski was built and consecrated – the first monument to the Bulgarian-Russian friendship in Bulgaria.
