KYUSTENDIL

also spelled Kstendil, or Kjustendil town, southwestern Bulgaria. It lies on the margin of a small alluvial basin in the Struma River valley at the foot of the Osogov Mountains. It was known in Roman times as Pautalia, or Ulpia Pautalia. Located on the site of a Thracian fortified settlement, it became an important town during the Roman emperor Trajan's rule but was later badly damaged by barbarian invasions. During the first Bulgarian empirefrom 1018 to the 14th century, when a local feudal lord, Constantine Dragash, established a short-lived independent principalitythe town was known as Velbuzhd. Kyustendil has developed from an Ottoman market town into an industrial centre that specializes in carpets and has factories for woolens, fruit canning, vegetable oils, and packaging. Hothouses produce early vegetables. The waters of local mineral springs heat the hothouses and serve the sanatoriums, which are popular as resorts. The town is the centre of what is called Bulgaria's orchardextensive orchards and vineyards surround itand a fruit-growing-research institute is located there. Pop. (1993 est.) 54,447.