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ABOUT THE LEGEND
The most fabulous legend, which the residents of Kalofer lovingly tell today is the one connected with the founder of the town in the beginning of the XVI century, the famous Kalifer Chieftain. For many years the Chieftain and his fine crowd were holy terror for the enslavers and real protectors of the local residents inhabiting the area under the Iumruk Chal peak. After Kalifer Chieftain concluded a peace treaty with the other rebel chieftains, sultan Selim I concluded a peace treaty with Kalifer. He granted him the right to choose a place for a new settlement and also sultan privileges for the future guardsmen village near the Strajata Pass.
Kalifer Chieftain spent a lot of time in search of a suitable place for the settlement until he finally chose the dense forests along the Tundja River, at the foot of the mountain, not too far away from the rich and fertile lands of the Thracian valley. The rebels cut the forests down, built houses and decided to settle down to married life by stealing beautiful and hard working girls from the town of Sopot.
In the Turkish documents of 1576 the town was mentioned under the name Kalufer Derbent.
The legends tell of the famous guardsmen village, which the Turks used to call Ulzunoluk (the long riverbed). In the years of the Revival period, thanks to the industrious residents of Kalofer the town flourished. The crafts and trade, stockbreeding and agriculture developed and the town became popular within the Turkish Empire under the name Altan Kalofer (Golden Kalofer) – with woolen braids and homespun, tufted rugs and laces, ironwork and woodwork, rose oil and silk, with beautiful and abundantly arranged Kalofer houses, with churches and monasteries, schools, teachers and students.
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