Svoge

Town in Sofia, Bulgaria

Svoge Своге
Town
View from the "Three Pines" area
Coat of arms
42°58′N 23°21′E / 42.967°N 23.350°E / 42.967; 23.350
Country	Bulgaria
Province	Sofia
Municipality	Svoge
Government
• Mayor	Emil Ivanov
Area
• Total	21,932 km² (8,468 sq mi)
Elevation	679 m (2,228 ft)
Population (2015)
• Total	8,258
• Density	0.38/km² (0.98/sq mi)

Svoge (Bulgarian: Своге, [ˈsfɔɡɛ]) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the gorge of the Iskar River, at the place where the mountains Mala planina, Golema planina and Ponor meet, 40 km north of the capital Sofia. Svoge is the main town of the Svoge Municipality which is one of the largest municipalities in Bulgaria and includes also 37 villages & the town of Svoge itself. By Decree No. 546 of the Presidium of the National Assembly on 7 September 1964 Svoge was declared as a city.^[1]

Etymology

Svoge's name comes from the Bulgarian word svod (свод), meaning "vault, arch", due to the town's location as a vault where the rivers Iskar and Iskretska meet. In the local vernacular, svod got transformed to svoge.