The village of Brestnik is situated 8 km south of the town of Plovdiv – the second largest in Bulgaria. It is in the beginning of a Rhodopean hill, known as ‘Chernatitza’.

South-west of Brestnik is the ‘Sveti Georgi’ /’Saint George’/ Monastery. This is a Saint that is very honored in the region. South-east of the village, about 3 km, is the doll-monastery ‘St Kozma and Damien’, which is famous for its curative spring and consecrated ground, believed to get back from Thracian times.

Brestnik is on a slope of a mountain so there is a strong displacement between the north and the south end of the settlement.

History
During agricultural works in the beginning of XX century unique bronze statues of a horseman and ornaments were found. It is considered there were Thracian settlements in this region.

First historical data about the village of Brestnik dates back to XV – XVI century. The village was under the protection of the local Ottoman landlord and although it was entirely Bulgarian-populated, the settlement was never destroyed. It is believed that this was the case because of the regular payment of taxes.

‘Karaagach’ /Red Elm-tree/ is the Turkish name of Brestnik.

Written proofs, preserved in the Historical museum of Plovdiv, give evidence about Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski’s visits to Brestnik during his trips throughout Bulgaria in the period before the Liberation of the country from Ottoman slavery. There were followers of the Levski’s revolutionary organization in Brestnik but it is not clear whether there was a secret committee established there. The activity of such committees in the end of XIX Century was to prepare and organize the Bulgarian revolutionary movement against Ottomans and to support the liberation.

Epic battles, known as ‘the battles at Karaagach’, have taken place near Brestnik during Russian-Turkish liberation war. Russians have conquered and stepped back from the village few times in this period. Today, there is a monument in memory of the Russian soldiers killed.