Susam is a village in Southern Bulgaria. It is situated in Mineralni Bani municipality, Haskovo region.

The village is located on the northern slopes of the Eastern Rodopi mountain. It is 2-3 km north of the village of Mineralni Bani (municipal center), 20 km west of Haskovo, 70 km. southeast of Plovdiv and 185 km southeast of Sofia city. It borders with the lands of the neighboring villages: Bryastovo, Tatarevo, Svetlina, Bodrovo, Mineralni Bani and Voden.

Terrain is crossed by ridges, hills, valleys and lowlands. The climate is temperate continental, hot summers, cold winters and little rainfall. River flows through the village. The altitude ranges from 200 to 299 m.

The village has water and electricity and Radiofication. The streets are paved. The main public buildings in the village are town hall, community center, school, kindergarten, "St. Anastasius" church and "St. Ilia" chapel. The community center "Budilnik" was established in 1903, with a male and female singing group. The kindergarten was built in 1966, in 2010 is visited by less 10 children. the first school was built in 1896/7 and had two teachers. The new school was built in 1930, but it stopped functioning in 1985.

The permanent population is about 500 people.

The nearest GP and dentist work in the neighboring village of Mineralni bani. Specialized medical assistance you can get at the hospital in Haskovo.

The village is connected to Haskovo by a first class road. There are direct road links with Kardjali and Dimitrovgrad and through an international highway Istanbul-Sofia-Belgrade with other places in the country and abroad. With the neighboring villages there are also well-maintained roads, the only one dirt roads are to the villages of Voden and Bodrovo.

We don't know exactly when the village was founded, but it is supposed that this was in the 18th century. Different sources agree that the name of the village comes from the sesame plant, which together with silk, cotton and tobacco was the main production in the region around Haskovo. The population is entirely Christian, and Bulgarian. In the woods near the village is the church "Sveta Nedelia" (Holy Sunday).

The village celebrates St. Ilia with annual Festival of Ilinden (August 2) or the closest Saturday. Traditionally, families get together to bake lamb and in the evening celebrations continue to the square of the village where people play horo -  communal dance of Bulgaria, which is played for enjoyment at festive gatherings and has many varieties, the moods of which range from solemn to exuberant.

Sources:  http://bg.wikipedia.org

Pictures: http://commons.wikimedia.org