About the name of the town…
The first settlements on Dimitrovgrad municipal territory can be traced back to the Aeneolithic Period (3300-2200 BC), the transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze ages. This is made evident by many archaeological finds such as stone and copper hatchets, ceramic containers, weights and cult objects. In the Copper and Iron Age (2200 BC – 1st century AD) there were settlements, as well, which may be concluded on the basis of many archaeological finds: metal hatchets, arrows and bronze jewellery. Due to its geographical position, since the Archaic Period, this territory has been an important location between the East and the West, which were connected in the 1 st century AD by the road Via Militaris , with its numerous horse-change and rest posts. On the basis of an archaic itinerary, from the 4 th century AD, one of such posts was MUTATIO TRANSLITUS , which could have been in vicinity or in the town itself. The closest surrounding of the rest-post was mentioned as the position of BALANSTRA – an archaic settlement on the same road. The evidence of the existence of archaic settlements is the find of ceramic candle holders and relief portraits of archaic gods Jupiter, Hecate and Mithra.
Three kilometres northwest from the town there is a fortification built in the 4 th century and reconstructed during the reign of Emperor Justinian. As it is surrounded with double ramparts, during the raids of many conquering armies the local people used it as a sanctuary. Many earthenware and glass fragments, as well as, tools, arrows and ornaments have been found in its acropolis.
The most attractive monastery complex in the area is the Monastery of St. John the Baptist (Poganovo Monastery), dating back to the Middle Ages, constructed in the 14 th century in the river Erma valley. This monastery was the centre of spirituality and enlightenment in the oncoming centuries and the difficult times of enslavement by the Turks.
In the year 1433 this region was enslaved by the Ottoman Empire . Many voyagers of different nations who travelled across the Balkans recorded their observations of the life in this region. Thus, Suleiman the Magnificent, Turkish Sultan who during his conquest of the North passed over the Ni šava valley in 1521, wrote: ‘Finally, I am in a settlement Czar Well (Tekvu binari)'
In 1555 Hans Derschwain stayed in Caribrod ( Czarford) on his way to Sofia and wrote: ‘I saw many Bulgarians who in groups of twenty after a nine-day journey and two-month work for the Sultan in Constantinople were coming home to gather the harvest...' (18 July). Furthermore, his writings read that on 19 July, on his way to Caribrod ( Czarford), he met many Bulgarians who were taking barrels of wine – Sultan's Tenth, to Sofia .
The traditional name of the settlement which has remained in common use, means ‘ Czar Ford ' (‘Carski brod'). The name ‘Spri brod' (‘Stop Ford' ) is mentioned by Sigmund fon Breuhen in 1643. According to some written sources from the period before the liberation from the Turkish rule in 1877, in the book ‘Dimitrovgrad 1877-1945' by Srbislav Zlatković , Dr. Cvetan Vasov and Dr. Gavrilo Vidanovnć, this settlement is mentioned as village named ‘Zaribrod' (‘Zar Ford') or ‘Zarin brod' (‘Zar's Ford'), and later, according to Turk sources as two villages Big and Little Caribrod ( Czarford) with 60 to 70 houses.
Roberto Benedetti mentions Caribrod ( Czarford) for the first time in 1584. Caribrod ( Czarford) was highly suitable for overnight or longer rest in the times when people travelled in caravans to Europe and the Near or Far East on foot or horseback and in horse or ox pulled carriages. In those times, fords were considered as sights suitable not only for crossing a river, but for rest, as well. The two rivers: the Nišava or Ginska and the Lukavačka river, boasted magnificent aptness for overnight or longer rest in Caribrod `hans` (inns) built for traveller accommodation. Nearby, there were stables for horses and oxen used for riding or as beast of burden.
Count Wirmond , an Austrian envoy who stopped in Caribrod ( Czarford) in 1718 on his way from Vienna to Constantinople describes: `There were two bridges over the Nišava in Caribrod. One had been made of oak – it was low and quite wide, and the other was high and narrow – made of carved stone`
Constantine Iritchek writes that there were many workshops and ‘hans' (inns). One of the ‘hans' (inns) was labelled as ‘ Vidlič Mountain ' – there he stayed with his travel companion A. Zlatarski. The author goes on to describe the common female attire of that period: ‘…women wore flower-ornamented white shawls over their heads, red or black skirts and red coarse woven aprons with accentuated upright edges, and around their bodies they wore ‘čiprazes' - plaques covered with red cloth, leather or silver-plated. Girls had ‘kočenes' – up to one meter long woven goat hear, beneath which there were tails covered with silver coins. On their feet they had plain moccasins…'
Up to now, it has not been unquestionably determined when this settlement was finally and officially named Caribrod ( Czarford). The contemporary name - Dimitrovgrad was assigned to Caribrod ( Czarford) in 1951.
