Feniks Imoti +359 899 811 735

Kyustendil

A town where the water comes out of the ground hot, the forest starts above the rooftops and the town is more than 1,900 years old. A guide for anyone thinking of moving here – to the town or to one of the villages around it.

Kyustendil and its valley with mountains on the horizon, seen from a stone tower on Hisarlaka among blossoming trees
Kyustendil in early spring, seen from Hisarlaka.

Kyustendil at a glance

Population
34,000 in the town and 46,000 including the municipality’s 71 villages (NSI, end of 2025)
Altitude
527 m, at the foot of the Osogovo mountains
Mineral water
40 springs at 74 °C in the town itself
To Sofia
About 100 km – an hour and a half by car; there are also trains and buses
To the border
22 km to North Macedonia

A town for more than 1,900 years

Thracians, Romans, Bulgarians and Ottomans all lived here – and many of them left traces you can still see today.

  1. 5th–4th c. BC

    Thracians found a settlement by the hot springs.

  2. 106 AD

    Emperor Trajan grants Pautalia town rights and it becomes Ulpia Pautalia. Later the town mints its own coins.

  3. Late 4th c.

    The Hisarlaka fortress is built on the hill above the town. Emperor Justinian I rebuilds it in the 6th century.

  4. 9th century

    Velbazhd is now a Bulgarian town, and after the conversion to Christianity it becomes an important bishopric.

  5. 28 July 1330

    In the Battle of Velbazhd, Tsar Michael III Shishman is badly wounded and dies three days later.

  6. 14th century

    Despot Constantine Dragaš rules here. The name Kyustendil comes from him – “the land of Constantine”.

  7. 29 January 1878

    Kyustendil is freed from Ottoman rule.

  8. 1909

    The railway links Kyustendil with Sofia.

  9. 1943

    Dimitar Peshev of Kyustendil and a group of fellow townspeople oppose the deportation of Bulgaria’s Jews and help to save them.

The medieval cross-domed Church of St George, built of brick and stone, in the Kolusha quarter

St George’s Church

A medieval church from the late 10th – early 11th century.
Pirgova Tower – a tall medieval stone tower in central Kyustendil

Pirgova Tower

A defensive tower from the late 14th – early 15th century, next to the Roman baths.
The minaret and dome of the Fatih Mehmed Mosque in central Kyustendil

Fatih Mehmed Mosque

An Ottoman mosque, probably built in the mid-15th century; the date 1531 on the dome is thought to mark a later rebuilding.

The water the town was founded on

Forty springs in central Kyustendil give mineral water at 74 °C. It is why the Thracians settled here and why the Romans built baths, whose remains still stand in the centre, next to the Ahmed Bey Mosque.

The Chifte Banya bath was built in 1489 on the foundations of the Roman asclepeion, and a modern town bath was completed on its site in 1913.

The stone remains of the Roman baths, the Ahmed Bey Mosque and the dome of the town bath
The 2nd–3rd-century Roman baths, the Ahmed Bey Mosque and the town bath – right in the centre.

A forest and a fortress above the rooftops

The Hisarlaka forest park begins just above the central neighbourhoods. A footpath starts at the Osogovo stadium and climbs through pine forest to the late-Roman fortress, built in the late 4th – early 5th century, about 2 km from the centre.

The park has paths, playgrounds, sports grounds, drinking fountains and a view over the whole town and valley.

The stone walls of Hisarlaka fortress among tall pines and autumn leaves
Hisarlaka fortress in the pine forest above the town.

The mountains start at the edge of town

The Osogovo mountains begin just south of town. The highest peak, Ruen (2,251 m), sits on the border with North Macedonia. The Osogovo hut is about half an hour away by car; from there trails lead out for hiking and cycling.

The green wooded slopes of Osogovo above a meadow of dry grass
Osogovo seen from the village of Garlyano.

Bulgaria’s orchard

The Kyustendil valley is famous for its cherries and apples. Bulgaria’s first national fruit-growing exhibition was held in Kyustendil back in 1896.

Two festivals show off the harvest of the whole region – the Cherry Festival in June and the Harvest Festival at the end of September.

Woven baskets of red and yellow cherries on a red woven tablecloth, with a “Cherry Festival – Kyustendil” sign
Cherries at the Cherry Festival in Kyustendil.

A reason to celebrate all year

  1. 29 January

    Kyustendil Day

    The town’s liberation in 1878 is its official holiday.

  2. 21 March

    Kyustendil Spring

    Celebrated since 1966 with an outing to Hisarlaka and the “Miss Kyustendil Spring” contest.

  3. June

    Cherry Festival

    An exhibition and celebration of Kyustendil’s cherries in the town centre, revived in 2008.

  4. 15 August

    Panagia

    On the feast of the Dormition the town celebrates “Panagia – raising of the bread” with an exhibition of ritual breads.

  5. Late September

    Harvest Festival

    Stalls of fruit and vegetables from the whole Kyustendil region in the town centre.

The foundations of the Early Christian basilica in Hisarlaka fortress, with the town and mountains beyond
The Early Christian basilica in Hisarlaka fortress.
The domes of the Church of the Dormition behind an ornate iron fence and green trees
The Church of the Dormition, built in 1816 – its feast day is 15 August.

The town of the Master

The painter Vladimir Dimitrov, known as the Master (Maistora), went to school in Kyustendil, and from 1924 to 1951 he lived in the village of Shishkovtsi, painting the people and landscapes of the region. The gallery that bears his name in the centre holds the largest collection of his work.

The town also has the Regional History Museum “Academician Yordan Ivanov”, the Emfiedzhieva House, Ilyo Voyvoda and Dimitar Peshev house museums, the Krum Kyulyavkov Drama Theatre and the Bratstvo community centre, founded in 1869.

The pink Church of St Michael the Archangel with two bell towers in the village of Shishkovtsi, under a blue sky
The Church of St Michael the Archangel (1895) in Shishkovtsi, the Master’s village.

Day trips

Distances are by car from Velbazhd Square.

  • Kadin Bridge

    15 km

    A stone bridge over the Struma from 1470. One legend says it was a wedding gift for a brave Bulgarian bride.

  • Osogovo hut

    17 km

    The start of the trails to Ruen peak.

  • Zemen Monastery

    38 km

    An 11th-century monastery with frescoes from the 11th and 14th centuries.

  • Stob Pyramids

    73 km

    Rock pyramids at the foot of the Rila mountains.

  • Rila Monastery

    95 km

    Bulgaria’s best-known monastery.

  • Skopje

    137 km

    The capital of North Macedonia, for a day or a weekend.

The arched stone Kadin Bridge reflected in the calm water of the Struma
Kadin Bridge over the Struma.

A house with a garden, a short drive from town

There are 71 villages around Kyustendil – from the flat ones in the valley to the mountain villages of Osogovo. If you are looking for a house with a garden, nearby villages such as Zhilentsi, Bogoslov and Shishkovtsi are 7 to 16 minutes from the centre by car.

Gyueshevo is by the border crossing into North Macedonia, and Savoyski, Sazhdenik and Tsarvena Yabalka lie high up in Osogovo.

See all 71 villages on the map
The houses of Zhilentsi among fields and trees, with the wooded slopes of Osogovo behind
The village of Zhilentsi below Osogovo.

Close to Sofia, on the road to Skopje

Kyustendil lies on Pan-European Transport Corridor VIII and has a station on the Sofia – Pernik – Gyueshevo railway line. Distances are by road from the centre.

  • Sofia

    103 km

    About an hour and a half by car; trains and buses every day.

  • Sofia Airport

    113 km

    Flights across Europe.

  • North Macedonia

    22 km

    The Gyueshevo – Deve Bair border crossing.

  • Greece

    148 km

    The Kulata – Promachonas border crossing.

The lights of Kyustendil at dusk below the dark outline of the mountain

Let’s find your home in Kyustendil

Tell us what you are looking for – an apartment in the centre, a house with a garden in a village or a building plot. We will show you the right properties and check their documents.

+359 899 811 735 About the agency

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