Elin Pelin (town)

Elin Pelin (Bulgarian: Елин Пелин), previously known as Novoseltsi (Новоселци), is a town in central western Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of Elin Pelin Municipality, located in central Sofia Province. It lies in the Sofia Valley, with the slopes of the Balkan Mountains to the north and Sredna Gora to the south-southeast, 24 km southeast of the capital city of Sofia.

History
The number of Thracian, Roman and Byzantine artifacts and ruins in the area proves that the surroundings of Elin Pelin have been inhabited since antiquity. A Slavic settlement was founded in the Middle Ages and existed until the early Ottoman rule of Bulgaria.

Elin Pelin (then Novoseltsi) became to emerge as a local cultural and trade centre during the Bulgarian National Revival. In 1881, after the Liberation of Bulgaria, it was proclaimed the administrative centre of a district. Novoseltsi continued to grow in importance after the construction of the Sofia–Saranbey (now Septemvri) railway line and the establishment of the Izida ceramic factory, the first in the country. A class school and a chitalishte were founded in the late 19th century. Novoseltsi was renamed Elin Pelin in honour of the noted writer of the same name (born in the nearby village of Bailovo) in 1950 and was proclaimed a town in 1960.

Notable characters from Elin Pelin

 * Vasil Nikolov