Brestovitsa () is a village in the Rodopi Municipality, southern Bulgaria. The village has a population of 3,718. The village is famous for its grape-growing and wines. There is a recreation villa zone mainly owned by citizens of Plovdiv. Geography The village is situated at 18 km to the south-west of the municipal center Plovdiv. It is located on the northern foothills of the Rhodope Mountains on the geographic border with the Upper Thracian Plain at an altitude of 297 m. The forests around the village cover an area of 2,500 ha. The relief is rugged with woods, meadows, ravines and rounded peaks. The village is characterized with transitional continental climate. The main soil types are cinnamon forests soil, the light brown forest soil and the mountain-meadow soil. The highest point in the village lands is at 930 m in the Bryanovshtitsa area. The region has large biological variety. Most of the tree species common in the European temperate zone are presented. Forests occupy 2/3 of the village lands and 1/5 of them are artificially made – mainly pine and fir. The most common species among the deciduous trees are hornbeam, hazel, oak, beech, elm, lime tree, dogwood and crataegus and among the coniferous are several species of pine, fir and juniper. Around 5% of the forests are used for timber industry and the rest 95% have specific ecological purpose. The fauna is also very rich and includes species such as hare, fox, wolf, wild boar, golden jackal, European badger, roe deer, deer, mouflon as well as many bird species including eagles and owls. History The village exists since the 12th century. In the village lands have been discovered traces of a pre-historic settlement. Votive tablets with the Thracian horseman, silver coins and other objects have been discovered. There are also the remains of the St Nicolas Monastery constructed during the cultural apogee of the Second Bulgarian Empire during the 14th century. The monastery was destroyed during forceful Islamization in 1666. Some of the monastery books are still preserved in the episcopal library in Plovdiv including two gospels from the 15th and 17th centuries. There is a theory that the St Nicolas Monastery used to be a literate center. The village was mentioned for the first time in an Ottoman register from 1576 with the name Birestuviche. Religion The Church of St Theodore of Tyron was constructed on the place