Today, Dimitrovgrad, formerly Caribrod, is a settlement located in the southeastern part of Serbia, right on the border with Bulgaria. Together with Bosilegrad, it forms the only two settlements where the Bulgarian national minority is more numerous than the Serbian population.
The history of this place is very rich, precisely because of its geographical position, where important routes, both military and commercial, used to be, and still are today. Therefore, the culture of this region, folklore and customs, is influenced by two nations, which produced a special wealth and variety.
It is assumed that the old name Caribrod originated from the Middle Ages, from the habit of the Turkish ruler Suleiman the Magnificent, who called this area the IMPERIAL WELL. All later numerous travelogues can be linked to Suleiman’s name of this town.
In modern times, when the communist era began, the city changed its name to Dimitrovgrad in 1951 by decree of the FNRJ government at the time. The name Dimitrovgrad was chosen in honor of the then Bulgarian President Georgi Dimitrov, all with the aim of maintaining good relations with neighboring Bulgaria.
Since 2008, the citizens of Dimitrovgrad have launched an initiative to return the old name Caribrod to this town. Often the name Caribrod is quite accepted in the speech of the locals.
Each toponym carries a handful of information. Perhaps due to turbulent historical events, it is quite expected that the name of the settlement changes as well. Each new name remains recorded in the stories of the dreamers, and it is a history that is not written in books, but one that lives on in the people.
