Anton is a village in western Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, part of Sofia Province

Sofia Province

Sofia Province is a province of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia however remains its administrative center...

. It is the administrative centre of Anton Municipality

Anton Municipality

Anton Municipality is located in Sofia Province, Bulgaria. The administrative centre is in Anton, Bulgaria-External links:*...

, which lies in the easternmost part of Sofia Province. Anton is situated in the Zlatitsa

Zlatitsa

Zlatitsa is a town in southern Bulgaria located in the Zlatitsa-Pirdop valley, between Stara Planina to the north and Sredna Gora to the south at 680 meters above the sea level. It is situated immediately south in the lap of the Zlatitsa -Teteven Mountain...

–Pirdop

Pirdop

Pirdop is a town located in South-West Bulgaria of Sofia Province in the southeastern part of the Zlatitsa - Pirdop Valley at 670 m above sea level. It is surrounded by the Balkan Range to the north, Sredna Gora Mountain to the south, and Koznitsa and Galabets saddles to the east and west,...

 Valley, 80 kilometres east of the capital Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

. The village is the only place in the eponymous municipality, which has an area of 76 square kilometres and includes the Vartopa area, part of the Central Balkan National Park

Central Balkan National Park

The Central Balkan National Park lies in the heart of Bulgaria, nestled in the central and higher portions of the Balkan Range. The Park contains rare and endangered wildlife species and communities, self-regulating ecosystems of biological diversity, as well as historical sites of global cultural...

. Anton's old name was Ladzhene (Лъджене).

A notable sight in the area is the Elenska Basilica

Elenska Basilica

The Elenska Basilica or Elensko Basilica is a large partially preserved late Roman Christian basilica in west central Bulgaria. Dating to the 5th–6th century AD, it lies northeast of Pirdop and from Anton, on the right bank of the Elenska River...

, a partially preserved imposing Late Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 or early Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 (5th-6th century) Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

.